This is one of the roses from my first order after 7 weeks. The green growth has since died and the canes have browned. And please I start all my bare roots in 5 gallon buckets that are drilled for drainage after soaking them accordingly. It works wonderfully for me.

The bag should have been closed, perhaps then they would not have dried out. I did get bare roots from Palantine and they were wrapped in a lot of plastic and the roots were wet (but not soggy) when I received them. And they went from Canada to Georgia. So maybe something is lacking in DA's shipping regimen.

You may very well have received a bad plant or one that somehow got opened up and dried out, cjrosa--but what we are trying to tell you is that none of that is typical of a DA rose. We have all received good roses, well-cared for in their plastic bags, from DA, and our roses did NOT have to spend half a year "playing catch up," as you put it.

I'm sorry you received a rose that somehow managed to dry out. NOT typical of DA practices, however. But I don't think we will ever convince you of that, so it is perhaps better if you just order from some other nursery--since that is what you want to do anyway.

If the rose survives and blooms, let us see pics later on--OK?

Kate

I've ordered from them three years in a row and this year I have been somewhat disappointed.

I felt like the roses I received this year were smaller and more spindly than in the past. And Ive gotten a lot of die back since plating them in Feb.

I usually pot them up first and then plant them in the ground. They did great in the pots, but so far have been struggling since I planted them in a prepared bed.

One was completely missing a label (no label in sight) and one other was unlabeled and the tag was at the bottom of the bag. I of course took a guess and guessed wrong, so I had to move them a couple of months after planting.

Those two took a while to get going again. But they all look somewhat sad. The only one that looks ok is gentle hermione. But she has not bloomed at all. Bell story has bloomed a bit considering how skimpy she looks. Princess Alexandra of Kent looks dismal!

I planted a Tiffany body bag rose from Aldi in the same bed and that one is doing amazingly. She's 2-3x the size of all the Austin's and has had 3 good flushes thus far.

From all who bought and received roses this year, your comments are not promising. This is the first time I have placed an order with DA for 7 roses. They said they would ship mine next week and I hope mine will not dry out as some of you have noted. It will be a real bummer and discouraging if the plants are in bad shape to begin with.

I placed an order last week, they were packaged and shipped and I received them Wednesday. They are Austins, own root bare root. I'm pleased with the root development and the health of the canes.

I am pleased at their offering own root roses of a good size.

Which do you prefer? Here are two photos. The smaller rose is Munstead Wood and arrived from DA 7 weeks ago in an open plastic bag. The larger rose is Twilight Zone from another vendor which also arrived at that time wrapped in a moist paper towel-like wrap. Both were soaked and planted at the same time. As for the dead DA, a replacement was sent also in an open plastic bag and was bone dry. If it takes off and does well I will definitely post pictures. I get that many of you love DA and have been pleased with your orders and I am happy for you. But there is no denying the difference and with the price of roses these days, I'm going to put my money where I will get the best return.

Well, of course Twilight Zone is twice as big as Munstead Wood. TZ is a (non-Austin) grandiflora--they often look like a cross between HTs and floribundas growing on steroids (although grandiflora is its own class supposedly) --bigger and more vigorous than your average HT however. In contrast, Munstead is a short Austin shrub. They have completely different growing habits. In fact, Austin shrubs often start out slowly, sometimes for the first couple years. In about 3 years, they will both be approximately the same height (nearly 3 ft) but one will probably be more shrubby-looking than the other one and have a somewhat old-fashioned looking bloom, and the other will probably have larger "modern" blooms and grow more like modern roses do.

Different roses grow differently, just as me and my two sisters did--my older sister is taller than the rest of us, I was blonder, and my young sister had nearly black hair but with none of the musical inclinations that the rest of us had, and my younger sister and myself had higher IQs than my older sister did. We are all from the same family but still individual and different from each other. Same with roses.

Kate

I've never ordered from DA, but I have ordered several times from Palatine nursery and have never been disappointed. Huge bareroot roses that are wrapped in plastic. Their roots are moist, never dry or too damp. I would highly recommend them.

I like Palatine also, but places like Palatine only sell a small selection of David Austin roses, so depending on which DA rose you want, particularly for the newest DAs, you have no choice but ordering them directly from DA--or waiting 2-4 years for them to get into general circulation so you can order them from someone else--if some other place decides to carry that DA rose.

Kate

I have to agree with being disappointed with David Austin's bare root rose quality as well as customer service. They arrived quite late - I also had to drop them a line to get them to ship my roses last week, well after bare root season for my zone. When they arrived, all of the roots were obviously chopped as Steve mentioned on the four roses, though not quite as badly as his were. I'll be contacting them about The Lady Gardener, who literally had no roots on one half of the plant (chopped and broken off), with fairly spindly roots on the other half.

Frankly, the only bare root company I've been happy with this year was Palatine, whose bare roots were huge and gorgeous and healthy. Both Regans and Edmunds sent bare roots that were badly cankered over at least half of the canes, and a few of them needed all the canes pruned off before planting. I think they'll survive, but I'll be sending a few of those pictures to those companies as well. I'm usually not that picky about plants, realizing that roses are living things and variable, but they need to have at least a fighting chance for survival when they arrive.

On the other hand, the own root band plants from Rogue Valley and Heirloom both were absolutely huge and well branched out, better even than some gallon plants. Heirloom in particular has really stepped up the quality of their bands and it really shows.

Cynthia

TBH, they are a bit rubbish in the UK. I don't use them (cost too much) but standards seem to have dropped a bit - overstretched? If I wanted an Austin rose, I would rather buy under license from a grower of choice (it would not be DA) and sacrifice the latest varieties for an older variety, grown and handled well (Trevor Whites or Pococks for example)

I am new to roses and planted my first rose last year. I bought John Clare (because I wanted thornless and not too big) from David Austin. I really didn't know what I was doing, but I followed the instructions, soaked it and planted it and I had beautiful roses. It survived our terrible New England winter and has a lot of leaves on it now. This year I ordered Queen of Sweden (also thornless) from David Austin. I planted it a week ago. The bud eyes are still pink so I hope I have success again. In sum, I have been happy with David Austin.

Thank you everyone for your comments. Nippstress, I truly appreciate your very thoughtful and level headed comments. I'll give Palatine a try and I do agree with you about Heirloom and Rogue Valley roses as well. I'm luck to have both pretty much in my backyard here in Oregon. Good to know others experiences. Dublinb, you crack me up. Okay, I'll go out and take a picture of another DA in my garden that was planted at the same time and will exactly match the growth structure of Munstead Wood so it will be a fair comparison. Not. You don't own stock with DA do you? Ha! I always enjoy reading your comments on this forum and learning so much from your extensive rose knowledge. Keep it coming. As for DA, good luck everyone. Here's my Christopher Marlowe.

I just received my DA roses today! :-) The plastic bag was closed, still had water inside, all the roses were wet when I took them out. I was pretty worried, it's a long way from TX to NY. I ordered 4 this time: The Albrighton Rambler, Malvern Hills, The Wedgwood Rose and Wild Eve. Malvern is a prefect "slingshot". 3 of them are own root roses, Good size for own root compare to the own root I just got from Edmund's ( a rose band size). The Albrighton is the only grafted one, it's pretty big (last photo). One question, do you guys think the root of "slingshot' Ok(2nd photo)? Is that normal?

I feel sorry for cjrosa, the person who packed her roses didn't do a good job.

Those look great, summersrhythm. I hope mine will be just as good. Thanks for showing your roses. I feel really hopeful.

summersrhythm - Wow! Those sure look different than what I got. Keep us posted about how they do. That one does look odd to me that you mentioned. Anyone else?

Thanks Karen and Cjrosa. It's just Malvern's root looks freaky, gives me goosebumps.......

Anyone else think Malvern Hills may be showing galls? Doesn't look right to me.

Me, thats the first thing I saw when I looked at the picture

Thanks Vasue and Patty. I just called DA, they are sending me a replacement. That was nice of them.

cjrosa--I don't know why you felt you needed to indulge in extended ridicule and mockery of me just because I tried to give you some helpful information that didn't feed into what you wanted everyone to say.

You will notice that the rules of the forum forbid being rude and insulting to other posters. You might want to start following those admonitions.

I promise you that I have better things to do than hang around here and be insulted by you, and I will never again inflict upon you my viewpoint or any information I possess about roses. I'd rather chat with pleasant people who truly want feed back.

Kate

Kate - Whoa! I'm not really sure how to react to your last comment. Extended ridicule? Mockery? I was joking around. I certainly did not mean to insult you. I was also sincere about what I said to you in my last comment. I do value you extensive experience and knowledge and enjoy reading your comments on other threads. Am not really sure what set you off here. But rest assured it was not intentional. I appreciate your helpful information. It did seem that you were rather tenacious about your opinion of DA and explaining away my concerns and opinion though. People do disagree and that should be okay for folks on the forum to express. Tolerance for humor and giving someone the benefit of the doubt when they are commenting is important as well. I am sorry that you felt I was making fun of you. No harm was intended.

I receive my Austin roses order today. Thankfully, all the plants look great and fresh, not dry out. Though the canes are quite chopped off, the roots look great and there are many canes on the plant. They packed all the roses in one big plastic bag and put them in the box. Maybe the batch from which my plants came from are in better condition than others.

Glad to hear that Karen. What did you order? I will receive my replacement on Monday, hope for a good root. :-)

I received my DA's back in March (zone 6 in Missouri). These are my first attempt at roses and I put all in pots. I recall mine seeming dry when I opened the box but soaked them for at least 24 hours. They've been planted for probably 8 weeks now. Of the 4 I ordered, Charlotte and Boscobel are looking good. I can't say the same for Lady Emma Hamilton or Munstead Wood. Both of those look a whole lot like cjrosaphile's picture above. Started putting out leaves/canes, but they've started dieing off. My mind was going towards pest or disease but can't seem to identify anything. Thought maybe I was overwatering, but the soil is moist, but not water logged. Might make sense that the bare root roses just weren't healthy enought when they were sent. Thoughts? Is it time to reach out to DA?

Lady Emma Hamilton (so sad looking)

Munstead Wood (on its way to looking like Lady Emma!)

I ordered own root roses and got them yesterday. They came in very good condition in a plastic bag and were moistened. The roots are in good shape and look better then grafted I have bought in the past from them. Just wish they weren't so expensive

AJ, I'd call DA and send them the photos. They shouldn't look like that. Lady Emma is pretty much gone with the wind.

Karen, You got some nice collection there!

Just called DA and they're sending some replacements. Since it's getting late for bare root planting and I don't want to shock the new plants since they're coming out of refrigerated dormancy to 80 degree weather here, I opted to delay receipt until next March. Don't want to take any chances at another failure!

AJ, I am glad that you are able to get replacements for the bad ones. It is evident that DA tries to correct their errors. Though it may have been better if they did not send out the bad ones in the first place.

AJ - Hang in there. For this to be your first foray with roses, your diligence and perseverance is impressive. Hope that all works out well for you.

HI folks - I thought I'd check in and update my comments on disappointing bare roots this year since I'd mentioned several companies. I had an immediate and lovely email back from Regan Nursery saying there's no excuse for bad roses, and offering credit for the ones I'd mentioned in passing looking the worst. They said they collect from several growers and it really helps if customers pass along these comments so they can get word back to the growers. I replied that none of mine had died yet (two since have though) and I'd let them know which I'd need credit for, and they have been nothing but lovely to deal with. Edmunds also dropped me a short email saying to let them know which ones needed credit.

Nothing however from the email to David Austin, even with pictures, so I'll have to call them as several others have done. I don't think they have the excuse of multiple growers either.

Cynthia

I got my Queen of Sweden and Jubilee Celebration today. They were packed much the same as Summersrhythm's were. They're soaking overnight to plant tomorrow. I do wish there had been some moisture in the box. Even just some wet newspaper around the roots would be better.

I agree Seil. In fact, I find it incredible that they don't.

I was shocked to see my Austin roses (3 Bishop's Castle) arrive bare root in a plastic bag with nothing else to retain moisture, and the bag just folded over just like the photos above. But mine arrived plump and the largest own-roots I've ever purchased. Roots were 2-1/2 feet long! They arrived 4/6/2015 and I soaked them for 3 hours, then planted them immediately (in the dark, with a flashlight). Here they are today, a month later:

Certainly not as big or blooming as the established roses, but I wouldn't expect them to be so, and certainly bigger and stronger than the bands I received from other own-root growers (not that I'm complaining, just comparing). Maybe I just got lucky. I only ordered Bishop's Castle, and no other roses.

Glad it's working out for you. When I compare mine to the other bare roots I've gotten this year, there is a difference in growth and vigor. Nice to know others experiences.

I'm happy to say that they were planted on Wednesday and I can see some budding out now on both of them.

On 5/1/15, I placed a phone order with David Austin for 6 own-root bare-root Munstead Wood. DA has discontinued selling Munstead Wood as own-root but still had some in inventory. I wanted them badly enough to take a chance with late-season planting. They arrived 5/15/15 mid-afternoon in a bag, moist. I immediately submerged them in water. I planted them all the next day (yesterday afternoon). Big holes, manure and bone meal in the bottom, the remainder of the fill comprised of 50% homemade compost plus Rose Tone, gypsum, bonemeal, Espoma Iron, perlite, Turface MVP. Each rose received a 30-minute soak in a SuperThrive solution just prior to planting. Watered each w 2 gallons root stimulator solution. Compost mounded over approximately half of the canes will be removed when the canes begin to leaf out. Unfortunately we have two 80-degree days today and tomorrow, and no rain is predicted until 5/24/15. Any comments on my procedures? What are my chances of survival?

[I wanted seven Munstead Wood for a formal border that is close to the patio, because they are small and fragrant. 3' H x 2.5' W. It's the one bed where I am trying a somewhat formal linear planting of the same cultivar, i.e. 7 in a row all the same. Two years ago I planted seven Love Song floribundas, grafted, and two reverted to root stock. I will NOT buy grafted roses again. . . So this year I am transplanting the 5 Love Song survivors to the "big garden", discarding the other 2 reverted ones. The patio bed gets 4 own-root containerized Munstead Woods bought locally plus 3 of the bare-root own-root Munsteads. The other 3 bare-root Munsteads are extras for the front of the big garden. If I don't get 7 surviving Munsteads, then that patio bed will be going back to a more relaxed and informal design.]

Keep the roses well watered and even mist the canes and leaves to aid in cooling them off in the heat. They should be ok. Do not fertilize again this year. You really should not fertilize newly planted roses. It can cause them to put on a lot of new growth before the root system is established and may cause dieback.

Grafted bare roots can be tricky. I have discovered this year that putting them in pots with potting soil that has growth hormones in it will help them put on feeder roots. You can then plant them in the ground after a few weeks. I think this will increase the chance of a successful bare root planting. Basically you make it into a potted rose with a larger rootball.

I was talking to a rose friend about DAs yesterday. We have some nurseries around us that get DA bare roots and then pot them up and keep them in a greenhouse and then sell them a few weeks later. The price is a bit steep, $35 a rose. But you get a rose that has already broken dormancy and usually blooms right after you get it. I bought 5 from one nursery (you get a 10% discount if you buy 5), not all Austins, but I did get Munstead Wood. The rest were HTs. All bloomed immediately and are very healthy. I've cut them back because they are still in pots and I will be planting them soon. I didn't want to transplant them while they had all those lovely buds. Besides, I don't have my new beds ready yet.

Yesterday I was at a nursery that I've never been to before. They had potted Austins. I have wanted Lady of Shalott so badly, and they had one. Not the best looking specimen, but healthy enough so I bought it. Unfortunately it had already bloomed, so no buds. I also got this amazing plant of Miss All American Beauty with tons of buds. It was so strange, we had just come from the South Metro Atlanta Rose Show and I saw MAMB and added it to my list, and there it was!! That was a Weeks rose and was $24.

So don't overlook buying potted roses from nurseries. Not Home Depot or Lowes, but better quality nurseries that will have DAs or Weeks roses. That way, the risk is all taken by the nursery if the bare roots don't take and you get a larger and healthier plant. After figuring in shipping and anxiety about planting, I think it's worth it.

I have two locally-owned nurseries near me. Both provide a handout that lists all their roses and their characteristics, including whether each is own-root versus grafted. Last year both sold some David Austins, but this year only one is selling DA's. Luckily, most of their DA's are own-root. Containerized, but own-root. Sitting in pots on the grass in the back yard are: four Munstead Woods in full bloom, three Harlow Carrs coming into bloom, and one flower has opened on one of my four EbbTides. The Munstead Wood flowers are breathtakingly beautiful. The petals have a lustre like a cross between velvet and rubies.

We don't have many DA roses in the local nurseries, and their price this year is $30-40 each. I once cleared 2 nurseries 10 Mary Roses, and shared one with a friend. Right now Wadeside Gardens has a good deal for northern gardeners, John has posted this great news last week, some of the DAs were mark down to $10.78! I bought 7 of them in total. There is a 10% off code in his thread also. If anyone interested please check out his thread.

I also live close to a nursery that sells potted DA roses for $28. They told me that they get them in early March and they pot them up in the greenhouse. When there are buds, they put them out usually sometimes in May. They sell them for $28/ea. They have a nice selection but these plants go quick. Last year I asked them to order Queen of Sweden and Lady of Shallott for me, one of each. They told me that they were required to order at least 5 of each variety. I told them not to worry that these would not sell. As I expected, before i could pick up my plants, all of them were sold out.

Interesting. The nursery where I bought said they order most roses in quantities of 5, and a few in quantities of 10. [I think they had a higher quantity in the KO section.] Their price for DA roses was $32.99. I had clipped a 10% coupon from the local "Shopper" which brought the price down a tad. This nursery sells right out of their growing greenhouse, so I probably could have bought way earlier in the season. My other local nursery grows off-site, then brings the roses onto an outdoor lot at the store; on May 1 they did not yet have any on the retail site.

I got a bare root DA Falstaff from my kids and dh for mother's day. It came from Burpee not straight from DA and it was actually in really great shape. I was a little worried about starting it here in FL this late in the year. It is already leafing out and looks really nice. I do water it everyday because its been hitting up in and near the 90's F this week. The rate its going it will be catching up to the earlier DA's I bought in March. The way Burpee had it packaged was definitely better than the way DA packed them. The Burpee Falstaff was in its own box and had pine packed around the roots and sealed the bag around them and it was moist. The roots looked very long, healthy, and intact. No weird smells.

The DAs were all thrown together about 13 in a box in plastic all tangled up together, many broken roots..no sealed bag. It was damp in there and the roots and graft area had white fungus-y stuff growing on it and a moldy odor. I rinsed and rinsed those things then soaked them and dumped the water and rinsed some more lol.

Karen, how disappointing! One of the nurseries here takes reservations for roses then you have a week to pick them up. Longer if you pay in advance. I put my order in the 2nd day and they were already out of Lady of Shallot. I had tried to order it from Chamblees as well. That's why I picked up the one yesterday.

Oh, sorry what I meant to say is the plants that were put out to display were all sold out even before I picked up mine. They did put the two that I ordered aside for me to pick up later. LoS and QoS did very well in my garden last year. They were my favorite. There are buds on them now.

Karen, I'm glad your roses did well! Queen of Sweden is one of my favorites, and Lady of Shallot is newly planted in our gardens.

Well -- I did it again. After three months in the hospital I was so
revved up to create beauty (and also had a 25% discount code), I ordered
a number of David Austin bare roots, mostly own root, and they arrived a
few days later. I was still too incapacitated to inspect or plant them
myself, but they're leafing out and one has even bloomed -- Princess
Alexandra of Kent. They were planted in April with temps in the 90s, and
I figured if they failed it would be a learning experience.

I
had another bout in the hospital last week, and since I didn't get my
fingers burned with the first round of roses, I ordered again after I
was dishcharged (I suspect David Austin's marketing team has taken
control of our hospitals here, and they hypnotize patients into
uncontrollably craving their roses). Last night I found the bare roots
on my doorstep, and with help, I inspected them and bucketed them in
pond water. I thought they looked fantastic -- lots of green canes,
good, long root systems. I'll post a picture later if I can. At Humpty
Dumpty House we get donations of plants other people don't want -- roses
that don't bloom, puny bare roots, and this year we even got my dream
plant -- a bare root David Austin rose tree with a big greenstick
fracture. So I'm used to looking at things that don't look so good. Our
philosophy is to take take things (and people) that are considered
broken and useless, and give them a new life; a chance to be beautiful
and to serve a worthy purpose. Not saying that anyone who pays good
money should have to accept an inferior plant. But reputable companies
will replace it, and you can send the bad one to us (big smiley face
symbol) because those ugly ducklings really can become stellar swans. I
find the challenge bittersweet, and it makes me love these gardens and
plants all the more. Plant donations are tax deductible, and your
facebook likes are helping us reopen the gardens in June, after my
lengthy hospitalization. Lots of pretty pictures, design ideas, garden advice:

https://www.facebook.com/HumptyDumptyHouse

http://www.humptydumptyhouse.org

. . .

Princess Alexandra of Kent. Planted from a David Austin bare root early April with temps in the 90s. I know David Austins don't do well everywhere, and feel sad for those who can't grow them 'cause they're magical here -- at least the ones we've planted so far. All our roses get fertile soil which we've been amending several years, and drip irrigation. Hot, blazing afternoon sun with morning shade. Many are planted against a white wall with a great deal of reflected heat. No spray. Great soil and adequate drip irrigation seem to overcome the negatives, because the roses are heartbreakingly beautiful. Many came from bad looking bare roots. Please see our website and facebook links in the post directly above.