I ordered three GCs a couple weeks ago and can't wait to get them in the ground. I've been growing a few other Austins here in Michigan. Jude the Obscure, Pat Austin, Bishop's Castle, and William Shakespeare 2000. I'm quite a novice, but have had success in Michigan planting bare root with either Austin's Rootgrow that contains mycorrhizal fungi or Espoma's Bio-tone® Starter Plus which is an all natural plant food enhanced with biostimulants, beneficial bacteria and mycorrhizae. These must be in direct contact with the root to maximize effectiveness at planting. So planting bare root is a great way to go when using this approach. The theory is the fungi tap back into the soil to draw massive quantities of minerals and nutrients, mainly phosphorus, which a Rose desperately requires to bloom. I follow a regular schedule of Bayer All-in-One (3x per season), Rose Tone(3x per season), and Alaska® Fish Emulsion(4x per year). I know I contradict my otherwise organic approach by using the All-in-One, but I'm not a sprayer kind of guy. Someone told me that the Mycorrhizae improve plant growth and help the root system be more resistant to soil borne diseases. The roots give the Mycorrhizae sugars in exchange. They supposedly help improve performance for less-than-perfect soil, watering, and fertilizing. Again, I'm a novice. Very much so, but so far, this has worked for me.

I bought The Prince, Tradescant, GC, GST, Charlotte, Ambridge Rose, Winchester Cathedral, Glamis Castle (before reading all the bad reviews on HMF), Molineux--I realize now that I only bought nine, so maybe I'm not so bad after all. I had only meant to pick up Golden Celebration and Molineux, but one thing led to another. I used to go by Chamblees and pick up roses when I still had family in that part of Texas. It was fun to be able to pick out the roses on-site and the roses were so much more affordable and substantial than ordering from elsewhere online. They used to carry far more old roses, including bourbons and some HPs, essentially the same ones as Antique R, Emporium. I suppose it made sense to streamline their product assortment. Later on I would buy more from other nurseries with more selection, but it was at Chamblees and ARE that I first really got hooked.

Below is what I notice in my garden of 150+ fragrant own root roses: 1) Own roots that can take high humidity with healthy leaves in my rooting bin, even with constant condensation (water) on leaves & stems. These can take extreme humidity yet have 100% healthy leaves, even with poor drainage if the soil is NOT acidic. Evelyn, W.S. 2000, Mary Magdalene, Christopher Marlowe, Pat Austin, Queen of Sweden, James Galway, Dee-lish, the Dark Lady, Spirit of Freedom, Tchaikovsky, Purple Lodge. 2) Own roots with healthy leaves with humidity, if the drainage is fast, plus liming on top to neutralize acidic rain: Abraham Darby, Crown princess Magareta, Tess of d'Ubervilles, A Shopshire Lad, Radio times, Well Being, Augusta Luis, Sonia Rykiel, Yves Piaget child. 3) Own roots that blackspots with high humidity despite fast draining or liming, and need constant potassium fertilizer to stay healthy: Golden Celebration, Carding Mill, the Squire, Gertrude Jekyll, St. Cecilia, Firefighter, Comte de Chambord. 4) Own roots with THICK LEAVES which rabbits don't eat: Evelyn leaves are thicker than Abe. Tchaikosky leaves are thick like Augusta Luis, Christopher Malowe leaves are thick like James Galway and Purple Lodge. Crown Princess Mag, Strike it Rich and About Face have thicker leaves than Cading Mill. Never see blackspots on Chris, Evelyn, Tchaikosky nor James Galway. 5) Own roots with THIN LEAVES which rabbits devour: Abe. Darby, Munstead Wood, W.S. 2000, Sonia Rykiel, Well Being Golden Cel., Firefighter, Boscobel, and Comte de Chambord. The above are my observation with own-roots in my garden plus rootings in humid bins of Evelyn, Dee-lish, W.S. 2000, Spirit of Freedom, Christopher Marlowe, The Dark Lady, The Squire, Augusta Luis, James Galway, Mary Magdalene, Abraham Darby, Sonia Rykiel, Dee-lish, Golden Celebration, Gertrude Jekyll, Radio Times, Pat Austin, Well Being, Tchaikovsky, Crown Princess Mag., Purple Lodge, thornless Yves Piaget child. *** Princess Anne is touted as very healthy, but as its roots mature in its 5th-year, it's prone to blackspots in my poor drainage clay. Some Austins have chunky & woody root that rot fast in standing acidic rain water like Princess Anne. Some own-root starts out as healthy cluster roots, then matures to chunky & woody (like Dr.Huey-rootstock) and become more Blackspot-prone in later years like Princess Anne. Other Austins like W.S. 2000 have cluster-root (similar to multiflora) that does not rot in acidic rain, thus zero blackspots even as 12th-year-own-root. Leaves of W.S. 2000 and Evelyn have NO blackspots in high humidity rooting bin. Evelyn can take high rain and poor drainage clay better than Abraham Darby (best bloomer for hot & dry and alkaline climate). A Abe. Darby & Sonia Rykiel & Well-Being need a higher pH and all 3 bloom well with my alkaline tap water at pH 9, thus best for hot & dry climate. Below are pics. of W.S. 2000 being healthy, it's right next to the rainspout dumping tons of acidic rain at pH 4.5, note the pale leaves: Below pic. of Evely was taken July 24, after week-long rain, I never see blackspots on it in its 12 years as own-root, if biochar at pH 8.6 is given before a rainy month. Note Evelyn's paler leaves than Abe. Darby:

In the past, I've paid way more than that for plants but not roses lol.. I wouldn't pay it nowdays. With Covid and the shut downs etc came a huge movement to become more self sustainable. The housing market has gone berzerk and more people are moving out of crowded city apartments and into homes. Many are starting their first gardens. There is also a HUGE homesteading movement in this coutry. Back to basics and farming on a small scale. So many people while exploring vegetable gardening, have also discovered a new love for flowers and America's best known and probably favorite flowers are roses! This is why seed companies and other plant companies can't keep up with the demand. We've been doing some building projects around the farm and have noticed the prices of lumber have gone crazy. Every few weeks 2x4x8's and plywood increase. I used to find cheaper plywood here (pre covid) for about $13..that same plywood today is $28. Houses are being built like crazy in our area and across the US causing wood prices to soar.