I believe my mom got the bare roots of Carding Mill and Queen of Sweden that she gifted me for Christmas from OSH. I went in later and saw some very familiar packages. The plants do look really good! Plus they're less than ordering from DA direct with the benefit of getting to pick from a selection of examples. My mom loves QoS and ended up getting a few for herself along with a Tess since the plant had 6 great looking canes.

Last year they had Winchester Cathedral, Tess, Mary Rose, and Graham Thomas. This year I saw Winchester Cathedral, Carding Mill, Tess, and QoS.

I bet you'll like Tess, Sylvia. I planted my mom's Tess "next" to a young Reve d'Or along a 10' wooden fence for her. I personally like the combination of Apricot and Dark Red, though it's not everyone's cup of tea.

Jay

This post was edited by ArbutusOmnedo on Tue, Jan 13, 15 at 5:09

That's great news for you guys. Just curious. What is OSH? How much did they cost. Can't wait until we warm up a bit more here in Texas.

How does QoS do for you?

OSH is a hardware store that is or was owned by Sears (can't keep up any more).

OSH is Orchard Supply Hardware. It was started in the Santa Clara Valley (now better known as the Silicon Valley) because of the many orchards in that area. When I was growing up in San Jose, there were still a few orchards left where one could go and buy peaches or cherries by the bushel or crate.

This post was edited by plantloverkat on Tue, Jan 13, 15 at 10:00

It's too soon to say whether QoS will be a great rose for her, Kippy. QoS is one of her favorites as much from picture as it is from her experience growing it or seeing it in person. It did well own root last year in its first season. Vigor and health were good. I didn't catch any rust on it.

The new plants are all grafted and much farther along than the own-root plant from Heirloom. I'll compare the performance of the own-root vs. the grafted plants and see if one is better for this area. I have heard the complaint that QoS can be a little stingy, but I'm hoping that may only be a problem in immature plants.

Jay

Congrats on the great find and accidental Tess. You folks in warmer zones have a much better chance at these kinds of finds with healthy roses than we do in colder zones. By the time those same body bags have sat around for months in warehouses before being trundled off to our zones in April, they're usually pathetic little dessicated runts that have only a 50/50 chance of making it to the garden alive. Not that babying can't pull some of them through, but we don't usually have the kinds of fortunate finds that you can with first pick of relatively freshly packaged roses.

Have fun with Tess, and may her time in your yard not be as tragic as in the book - is there a more depressing book that gets required in high school literature classes? OK, yes - The Plague comes to mind, but sheesh.

Cynthia

The Weeks roses at osh are in paper 2g pots. They are not at cheap as body bags but better chances. I think this year the Austin's are potted similarly but I did not look too closely

Thanks, all! Yes, the OSH roses are in paper, not plastic. Nippstress, if you want a more depressing book, I nominate Jude the Obscure, also by Thomas Hardy. When I taught high school English, I avoided those two like the plague.
Shopshops, sorry I was so provincial -- I thought OSH was nationwide. It's just another version of Home Depot/Lowe's, only smaller and easier to negotiate.
I put Tess in the largest pot I have -- 20" -- and I wonder how long she'll be able to stay there.
Sylvia

Sylvia - thanks for the warning about Jude the Obscure. Why on earth they have impressionable adolescents reading such depressing books is rather beyond me. Even by 5th grade, we contacted our son's teacher to see if there were a less depressing and/or scary book he could read beyond the standard curriculum assigned by the State reading list. She was very helpful and even adjusted things with that in mind for the rest of the class.

Cynthia

Well, we had to grind through Macbeth in high school. I think I'll take Hardy. And was there ever a poem so boring as Young Lycidas (Milton)? I believe Britain continues to this day to exact its vengeance on us for the Revolution. Diane

English literature is fraught with pitfalls, isn't it;)
This gives me an idea, though -- what roses would you like to see based on classic characters, in addition to what's already out there?
The Mr. Darcy rose would sell, I'm sure. I'm imagining a dark crimson, formal in shape, perhaps with a ruffle or two to the petals.
The White Whale -- Big and blinding, with nasty thorns but possessing a fragrance that leads people to follow it anywhere.
For 'Middlemarch' fans, the Dorothea and Lydia roses are obvious.
Suggestions?

How about the Mr. Kurtz rose? Obviously, he's a pitch black rose that Austin must develop, straight from 'The Heart of Darkness'. I'd be interested in that one, but not dead, of course. The Mr. Kurtz rose would sell for only a penny. OK, I'm getting a little too involved in all this.
I love the White Whale, seven inches wide, blindingly beautiful until you touch the horrible thorns. Diane