It probably depends on the variety. Hettie and Awakening bloomed in their pots. Hettie rapidly grew way beyond a band. The others are sluggish. I think I wouldn't normally buy bands unless it was the only way or an exceptional outlet you know you will send you quality plants. It takes them too long to do much. Except Hettie. There seems to be a fine line between bands and some young roses like my Graham Thomas last year and my two Reine des Violettes this year. The latter weren't in very good shape when they arrived yesterday, but they will replace them if they don't come round by fall which is nice. I wanted them so badly, I'm willing to accept them as they are, and I wanted ones from that particular seller because not all are predictably the same even if they are named the same. IMHO.

Here are my results from Bluestone on what was delivered this year (this doesn't count hostas, etc., where the bloom is unimportant): Bloomed ASTILBE White Gloria ASTILBE Rheinland BUDDLEIA davidii Harlequin COREOPSIS verticillata Alba DIANTHUS gr. Bewitched (PP# 13,159) BUDDLEIA davidii White Ball HYDRANGEA Sadie Ray (one bloom) MONARDA Aquarius (one plant out of three) ERYNGIUM Sapphire Blue (bloomed until eaten by a groundhog) LYCHNIS coronaria Angel Blush (2 out of 3) HEUCHERA Chatterbox SEDUM spectabile Brilliant GERANIUM striatum Lancastriense (sparingly) Hasn't Bloomed/Doesn't Have Buds ARUNCUS sinensis Zweiweltenkind ALCHEMILLA Mollis ECHINACEA White Swan HYDRANGEA macrophylla Mariesii Variegata

Lots of them do if they the fans are big enough. But I Don't think the ones from Wilds will as I had heard that the fans are not that large. After they start growing and have new green fans give them some alfalfa. Couldn't hurt.

Thank you all for your advice and pictures. I just LOVE them! After a weekend of being laid up again (fell off a machine at the gym and totally wrecked my back but am finally feeling a bit better now), I am hopingto get out there and prune this coming three day (can you say YEA!) weekend! Still on the fence about my climber as she is throwing out all sorts of laterals right now so this could be a good bloom year unlike prior years. She may have just had to have more time to come into her own. However, I am seeing that there are all sorts of little oak trees and other plants coming up through my rose bushes due to the mulch and birds. UGH! I may have lost my Sharifa Asma because of it if I can't pull them out. I have a feeling my garden is going to be very sparse this year due to a bunch of new roses going in to replace my old ones. Evelyn and Ambridge are reverting back to rootstock, so out they go. I have oak trees growing up in my Sharifa Asma as well as Evelyn, Mary Webb and now one of my Brother Cadfaels! I also have another unidentified bush growing up in my Peach Blossom. So it looks like I pretty much get to start from scratch all over again. Looks like an expensive year!