Hello everyone, The bareroots from Parks are not so bad, either. I opened the cigars yesterday (the bareroots were bundled with spaghetti-like wood shavings and ceramwrap, eventually looking like over-sized cigars). Some have great root systems, like "Clair de lune", almost comparable to gallon-size roots (maybe 2/3 of a gallon), with multiple stems. The others have very good roots. I am almost positive that some would bloom this year! The only exception was "Princess Alexandra", which has very pathetic root system and looking frail, but hopefully, still alive. Lots of TLC required here. A non-Clematis bare root was the biggest surprise for $1.99, "Black Jack" sedum, which is huge. The root ball was as big as my fist with about 10 sprouts. Another site has this as bestseller for $13! Overall, I am very happy with the plants. I actually made another purchase yesterday, 2 more Viennettas, more roses, 4 Brunneras, shrubs, etc. My plant holding area will certainly be full, to say the least. Have a nice planting day! Carefree

If I were you, I wouldn't wait at all and would call your bank the first thing in the morning cancelling this transaction and follow all the steps that you were advised earlier for a debit card. I did a quick search on google images and the photo for this rose on their website is exactly the same as the photo on another website (rosomaniya.ru) but rotated by 90 degrees. This is very shady for any business and I think you should take all precautionary steps against potential identity theft. I don't know if this would happen, but better err on the side of caution. Hope all goes well for you and good luck. Edited: I wanted to remove the link to this other website, because frankly I wouldn't dare going there for it may also be an illegit website, but for some reason the link cannot be removed. I looked at it only at google images, so please don't go there.

Jena, my Perle d’Or did the bud drop thing it’s first year, the whole year. A lot of my roses also had chlorosis, including Perle d’Or, even though they were getting regular Magnesium-sulfate and I was alternating between Miracle Grown and a seaweed fertilizer, all in the hopes of curing them of chlorosis. Mostly it was the Polyanthas and Multifloras that had this problem. Finally I sent in a sample for a soil test. I had plenty of all the minerals and nutrients except for Nitrogen (which I already knew since its obviously devoid of any organics and so I was fertilizing) and absolutely zero Manganese (Mn) detected. Once I put a teaspoon of Manganese Sulfate dissolved in a gallon of water on each rose last fall the chlorosis completely disappeared and Perle d’Or stopped dropping buds. I will now do this once or twice a year; not too often since Mn is a minor nutrient and too much can be toxic. The Miracle grow I was using did have trace Mn, but somehow it wasn’t enough. I wonder if my soil was just binding it up? This just demonstrates that bud drop could be due to lack of an essential nutrient. It might not necessarily be Manganese for you. But since you mention the Kellogg soil might not be that great, I would give it a nice dilute liquid fertilizer once a week and see if it cures it.

Rae Anna, I do have the issue of thrips in certain roses, and have battled them for years. The worst affected roses in my garden are Evelyn, The Prince, Augusta Luise (a little), and occasionally a couple of other roses. Here are some things I've found out over the years: by the time you have thrips infection symptoms, it's too late. The tiny insects are inside the buds and blooms. They use rasping mouthparts to suck juices from the rose, and leave the ugly brown areas behind as the result. Spraying on surface acting insecticides, whether organic (like Spinosad) or non-organic, doesn't work. You have to use a systemic that gets inside the rose before the buds are made by the plant. What works for me is Bonide Granular Systemic Insecticide (on Amazon, and Walmart carries it, too). It has the ingredient: imidacloprid. This is a synthetic insecticide, but it works. I apply the suggested amount around only the susceptible roses and scratch and water it in. I do this at least 30 days before buds are formed (early spring). I had just a tiny bit of thrips in maybe three of the seven or so roses I treated. I don't think any so called organic treatment can get rid of thrips. It's a choice I've made, and I certainly have many beneficial insects and pollinators each year that are not affected. Often thrips will come around a second time later in the season. Prepare for this by doing the early spring routine. Good luck. I hope CeresMer reads this--I don't want to write it out again--ha. Diane