Or you can leave the soil hilled up over the canes after planting and let Mom Nature wash it off. The new canes and leaveswill grow through the hill of soil. To protect the bud union during unexpected (in your area) bitter cold, plant the graft 2-4 inches below the soil surface then hill the soil over the canes above that. I'm one who advises planting as soon as you can work the soil. Your dormant rose will stay dormant in the cold ground until the sun warms the soil, promoting roots and leaf out. Better to store it there than potted in a garage. Even though it's cold, water it well. This settles the soil and prevents the canes from drying out. I soak mine in diluted fish emulsion, then pour it in the hole and on the bush when I plant. Although the wax is suppose to prevent the canes from losing moisture, it's often colored green to make the bush look fresh and blemish free. Either way it'll melt off in the sun as the weather warms. You'll probably have some dieback due to harvest damage. A grade 1 1/2 is suppose to have at least two canes 3/8 inch in diameter or larger. It can have more. Because you bought yours so early it sounds as if you may have gotten a pretty nice grade 1 1/2, depending on how the roots look. Most bagged roses I've ever got had roots no more than a couple of inches long. That's one reason it's a 1 1/2 grade and hidden in a bag.

Make a note because between now and spring you're going to see this question a lot! My answers are this: Tomatoes; like someone else said if you want early tomatoes you need to plant the ones that produce fruit earlier. I did almost all WSed toms. last year and the rest of my plants came from seeds that planted themselves, I assume that these would be the same as direct sowing, and both of them produced fruit at about the same time. As for annuals I did most of my plants in a mix meaning that I wanted that immediate color but I still wanted to use my WSed plants so in a lot of areas I mixed the two together. This experiment really convinced me that WSing is awesome because the WSed plants not only caught up in a hurry but they practically ran over the plants that I bought. This was especially true for the Cosmos, Marigolds, Salvia and Sweet Alyssum. In fact the Sweet Alyssum that I bought never caught up with the seeds that I WSed! I have some photos and when I get a chance I'll get them posted because this plant alone will make you a believer! Wow I almost forgot Morning Glories, Sweet Peas and Verbena these plants also way out performed the ones that I bought from the store. But once again if you want that instant color mix the best idea is to plant 1/2 of your WSed plants with 1/2 of your store bought because this will allow you to get the best of both worlds. You'll get that instant color with the store bought plants and at the same time you'll get those stronger bigger plants that you'll by WSing. It's kind of the best of both worlds at 1/2 price. Oh wow I almost forgot the other reason to WS & that's to get the plants that you just can't find around your area. I've got seeds for at least 10 plants from other people on this forum that I just can't find around here so WSing gives me a great chance to grow things that I couldn't find otherwise. Strouper

Yes, depending on the rose, and how big it thinks it should get before it blooms. Do you know the name or type of your rose? I had a Belle Portugaise which grew 15 feet tall (over 4 years) before it produced its first bud! Jackie

Toots, I'm like you, I just love old antique stuff in the garden. In my tin watering can I have Brachycome growing in it. Well, thank you Lisa. Yes I do garden in zone 2b, our winters can be very harsh and our summers very hot like it is today! You'd be suprised what us cold zoners can grow this far north. Check out the Far North Forum gallery and you're welcome to visit the tons of garden photos at my photobucket link below. I said I was going to cut down on wintersowing for next year. Geez, that has changed, I've already got a mile list of seeds I want to try next year. This madness never ends, I tell yah! ;) Dimorphotheca aurantiaca Spring Flash Orange African Daisy Seed is easy to collect and easy to wintersow. I just love orange in the garden ;) Keep those photos coming! Sharon Here is a link that might be useful: crazy_gardener's Garden Photos