Favorite Online Nurseries

12 years ago

Hello! I just bought a house this spring and the yard is so very bare. Most people would see this as a bad thing, but I see this as an opportunity to finally plant all of the lovely roses I've seen throughout my life!

I really love David Austins and antique roses, but after doing some reading on this forum, it seems there are some virus issues. I tried to search to find the best disease free sources for these roses, but couldn't come up with anything.

Who are your favorite vendors for disease free roses? Is it indeed the vendor or are there varieties of roses to steer clear from as well? Are own root roses more disease resistant? Thanks...

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Comments (5)

cemeteryrose
12 years ago
Hi, Andrea -
You are in Sacramento - so am I, and so is the Historic Rose Garden in the old city cemetery! If you haven't visited it, come to 10th St and Broadway some day (we're closed on Wed and Thurs)to see a collection of antique roses.

We do a rose sale in conjunction with our open garden, which will be Apr 21 this year. We try to propagate only virus-free plants that do well in this area, and that are relatively unique. The roses go fast, though, so you need to be there when we open the doors at 930.

As far as mail order, my favorites are still Vintage Gardens, who unfortunately is closing in 2013, Burlington Nursery and Rogue Valley. You can get Austins from Garden Valley Ranch. Further afield, Texas' Antique Rose Emporium is still a reliable source.

Hope to meet you one of these days!
Anita

Here is a link that might be useful: Sacramento Historic Rose Garden
strawchicago z5
12 years ago
Hi andreajp: I asked the same question about own-root and better disease resistance. Roseseek (Kimm Rupert) took the time to explain that at a slower rate of growth, plants are better in handling adverse conditions. My Black-hill spruces grow really slow but handled drought, flood, bad soil... better than my fast-growing white-pines.

I have 10 own-root Austins: zero blackspots - it has to do with my limestone soil and my mulching with horse manure (has lime as deodorant from stables). Lime is a potent fungicide. So it depends on the soil and the climate. Alkalinity discourages fungal growth, and neutral to acidic soil encourages fungal growth (this is for blackspot only).

Definitely the slower growing one can cope with stress better. I like Roses Unlimited nursery for own-roots, but the shipping can be expensive, since I live far from them. I got 3 roses from Roses Unlimited on sale in July for $10 each, but the shipping cost made the total price to be $50 for 3 roses.

I have just made an order for 12 roses (5 regular and 7 minis) from Burlington. The total price came out to be $107 for 12 roses - I don't know what's the shipping cost is, but it's cheaper with band-size.
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Ok, the way I save money is to buy bonsai starts. I have bought them from various locations; Miniforests by Sky is particularly good. I have had a lot of luck with miniature roses, but the places I got them from you can't anymore (Sudden Oak Death has made California nurseries off limits to me.) Paying more than seven bucks for a miniature rose is too much. I don't see the point of buying huge plants to have shipped; the shipping is a bear. It is well worth one's money to learn how to propagate from cuttings, if only because of the shipping savings. Good bonsai starts grow FAST (a lot faster than you would think). I have also had luck with Edible Landscaping, who will also sell small plants. If you are west of the rockies, Forestfarm is not such a bad deal (I got some stuff from them too, but the shipping East is horrendous.) It is a good idea to get relatives or friends to put in on a shipment; it's less that way. Oh, and if you get stuff on Ebay, be sure and check on the shipping. Some of the people are ridiculous; charging for Priority (or Overnight) and sending in a first class package. Often, Feedbackers will tell of this (even a positive feedback can have a little note of expensive shipping. Read the things.)
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Sorry to find this post so late, but I've found the best place to go is Davesgarden.com and click on Garden Watchdog. Then either enter your zip code to find places close to home that mostly do mail order, or look at the list of top 30 mail order nurseries. I believe you would be quite satisfied ordering from any one of those top 30 sites. Read a lot of the feedback before you order. I've ordered from Bluestone Perrenials (waited for their big spring sale) and got exactly what people had said I would get = inexpensive, healthy, very small plants. I planted them July 4th after holding them 3 weeks, and now in Nov. they are huge! Here is a link that might be useful: Dave's Garden Watchdog
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Your list intrigued me for an odd reason: WHAT catalogue were you getting all that stuff from? A lot of those prices were positively off the wall! (At least two mail-order and several nurseries come to mind where you could get Rosemary 'Arp' for about $6., not $11.) Expense aside, the REAL issue, as many have pointed out, is WHERE are they all going? After just one winter of having to hold over a zillion pots of things I just HAD to have (but never got around to planting), and losing 75% of the batch to a foul winter, I learned my lesson. . .now, a master list accumulates during the current season, only after a definite location for that plant/plants has been determined; then, after much thought and/or second guessing, only plants from the remaining list can be ordered. Yes, I know, that sounds frightfully disciplined for one of us "wild and carefree" gardeners, but the payoff is SO worth it when Springs rolls around and I once again have to deal with reality. . . When will they finally introduce a Plant-Aholic's Anonymous. . .or, is that what all these confessions on GW are all about? Carl
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Pnkflyd - You said the magic phrase - ‘I get my twins to bed…’ [g]. Completely understandable that you’d rather order online. So, I’m not trying to talk you out of doing just that, I just want to challenge your perceptions or experiences with local vs online just a little bit. I also like to research plants, read reviews, ask on GW what other gardener’s experiences are with a plant and really know what I want to buy. But at the same time, I want to save money and I want to end up with a bigger, healthier, well formed and cared for plant. I’m not an impulse shopper either. I always have a list when I go local. I just would rather see what I am buying and choose the best plant of the bunch in person. I’m sure if I had twins, I’d change my mind. LoL But just as an example of online vs local - The last time I was shopping for plants was last fall, and I had a list of plants I was interested in, from research I had done online. One of which was a specific variety of Phlox that was at the top of a list of mildew resistant phlox, from a study done awhile ago. I was able to call around to two nurseries and both local nurseries had every plant on my list. And it was their fall sale and they were 40% off. Without shipping. In 2017, I purchased a shrub from Bluestone - Hydrangea Little Lime. I probably bought it on sale and it might have cost $20 or less. So that went in the ground in the spring of 2017. It was pretty small, as theirs usually are. Spring of 2018, the shrub came back and performed well over the course of the season. So much so, that I wanted to add another one, but by the time I decided that, it was early October and I didn’t want to wait for it to be shipped or to get the last of the season plants from Bluestone. So I went local and found an excellent, well tended, pristine example of the same shrub, that was 3x the size of the one I bought at Bluestone. It was $50. originally, but during the fall sale, it was half off. So by the time you add in the cost of shipping to the Bluestone order, they ended up costing about the same. But one was 3x larger. So I am very happy with both shrubs bought online and locally and I’ll be interested to see how each of them do over the course of this season. I do agree that some of the local prices are outrageous. And that it’s not easy to find a shrub in a small size. That is why I shop during the fall sale at many of my local nurseries, because that’s the only time I can afford them. Weston Nurseries has an online list of every thing they offer for the season, down to the pot size, the price and how many they have in inventory. They do offer 3 or 4 sizes on most of what they offer. And you can call on the phone and give them a list to check to see if they have the size you are looking for. And they can have it ready for you to pick up too. Starting from seed is an excellent way to stretch your budget and propagating as well. And a chance to stretch your gardening skills. One other suggestion is Winter Sowing, if you haven’t tried it. I did Winter Sowing for 3 years in a row and the sheer number of plants I ended up with was outstanding. I was at a point in my landscape that I had a lot of blank spaces, so that worked out well. And it is good for seed that need a cold spell to germinate. And I found it fun to do. Prairie Moon Nursery is a great resource for seed, too. :-)
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lavender_lass
12 years ago
I've had excellent roses and service from Northland Rosarium, Rogue Valley Roses and Heirloom Roses. Northland is in eastern Washington and the other two are in Oregon...I've never had any problems and only lost a few roses, due to our cold winters. I purchased all 'own root' roses, which has helped, since we can get down to -27 some winters. I know Northland Rosarium has some beautiful David Austin roses and I think Heirloom Roses has a large selection, too. Hope that helps :)
strawchicago z5
12 years ago
Shipping cost is a big factor in the price. Shipping charge was $20 for 3 roses from Roses Unlimited in South Carolina. Now Burlington, CA gave me a shipping charge of $25 for 12 roses, which is excellent for my Chicagoland area.
strawchicago z5
12 years ago
Andreajp: I forget to answer your quality question. Roses Unlimited in SC, Chamblees in Texas, and High Country Roses in Utah are in the Gardenwatch TOP 5 as far as quality and customer service goes.

Roses that you receive from the above three nurseries are over 1 foot, good root system and often have buds. This summer I'm pleased with what I received from Roses Unlimited and High Country Roses. I'm ordering more Austins from Chamblees, and the customer service has been great - they patiently answered my questions as to the fragrance of each rose.

I have to warn you about own-root Austins: they need time and frequent watering to be established. Even with my 40" annual rainfall and planting in partial shade - they don't bloom unless well-watered. If your water is alkaline like mine (tested with fish-tank litmus paper sold at Walmart), fix the water with a soluble acid fertilizer high in phosphorus would encourage more blooms. The Chicago Botanical Garden stated their soil pH to be 7.4 (with composted leaves), and they use soluble fertilizer for their Austins and OGR's.

My soil pH is 7.7 - David Austins catalog put his roses into 3 groups: Leander, Hybrid Musk, and Hybrid Old Rose. Own-root Austins in the Hybrid Old Rose Group hate my alkaline soil - I had to amend generously with peat moss (pH of 4) and alfalfa meal (pH of 5). Own-root Austins in the Leander and Hybrid Musk tolerate my alkaline wet soil well.

Good luck on planting your own-root Austins. They stay more compact and controllable in growth, which is important for warmer climate. The grafted Austins at my zone 5a rose park are wild monsters compared to my tiny own-root Austins.

Favorite Online Nurseries

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cemeteryrose

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