I sincerely doubt the garage is too cold, so that's where I'd put them. They should be able to handle anything above freezing. Then, after the cold goes away, they can hardened off to sunlight.

IME, overwatering a rose requires, skill, determination, and a will to win. Of all my potted plants, roses are consistently the least affected by sitting in a saucer for weeks. Drying out, OTOH, is a very real problem. So unless you are the type of person who waters things every time she walks past them, roses want a fairly water retentive mix. It looks like your potting mix has a lot of peat, which is quite evil if it ever dries out. So proper watering involves sitting the pot in a saucer, and letting it sit in the water filled saucer for a while.

Patty, you can also keep them in the house and set them in a sunny window after they've had a day or two to adjust and they should be just fine, though the little guy might need a bit of a prayer. I have hundreds of rose seedlings growing in my south window under low humidity conditions and such doesn't present a problem to them whatsoever. Receiving your plants early is okay if you have a place to accommodate them and besides, they'll be all that much bigger and stronger when you set them out. For now, just go easy with the watering until they've begun to establish.

Thanks mad I'll be sure not to let them dry out. They are in the garage right now so that is where i'll keep them. I honestly did not know if they could wait five or six days to get some good light after coming from a greenhouse.

Thank you Twros I appreciate the advice it's nice too know they won't be killed by the lack of humidity.

Gee I'd be slightly pi**ed if a vendor sent me plants this early! lol Our new roses are coming mid May or later which is ok because we can get frosts up until Memorial Day... Last year I planted new flowers in mid May and they all got wiped out by frost...

Best of luck Patty how ever you decide to do it!

Those look like the plugs wholesalers sell to commercial growers. Thinking it's to the plants' credit they survived the journey so well! I'd duplicate greenhouse conditions as much as possible inside for the time being. Not much difference in growing those than cuttings being rooted in cups. A tray of gravel kept filled with water to a level below where the pots rest on it would keep the humidity higher by evaporation, an old trick. Keep us posted & good luck!

Vasue, I would agree that since they had been actively growing in a greenhouse it would be best to keep them under somewhat similar conditions, rather than into lower light and prolonged cool temps ... dormant stock being a different story.

I'm with you, twros.

Echoing what Vasue said about a sunny window and tray of water. Misting the top and bottom sides of leaves with a spray bottle of water can help prevent spider mites. My friend said Michigan Bulb had good customer service. Let us know how it goes.

Patty, I get bands like you have there, and I grow them in 1 gal pots in my basement over the winter under grow lights. I will tell you that if you put them in the house, you may get fungus gnats from the greenhouse soil... (Picture crazy lady chasing hundreds of gnats in the basment with a vaccum cleaner, trying to suck them up!!! That would be ME!! ). I rinse all the roots off completely now, and then use coir mixed with vermiculite to pot them up. I keep my humidity at 35% over the winter, and they are never bothered.

When the roses get to be too big for my setup, I put them in a window well that is covered with a plastic cover, so the sunlight can get through. Right now, I have 1 gal Austin roses newly planted in my regular rose bed and covered them with a bucket and a rock with a blanket on top and they did just fine the other night with 17 degree temps.

You could harden them off by put them out for 1 hour the first day, then add an hour a day up to 8 and then you are good to go, keeping them in the garage on days that it's really cold... So there you have 3 different options. I think the window well is the best option. I have tomato plants growing in mine as we speak!! :)

Rebecca

How in the heck did that post twice. I'd like to delete one but I just came inside and it to late to delete.

There certainly are some great mind here. The window well was a great idea Rebecca. We have one that gets sunlight but my husband sealed the plastic top. Even sealed there is still some oxygen that gets in there. It has been a weed terrarium ever since it was sealed.

I took them out side today for a while but just gave them bright light no sun. They are inside now. Misted them again and placed gallon bags over them.Tomorrow I'll do the tray for the extra humidity. Thank you so much everyone. I do cuttings outside but have never had anything indoors yet.

Forgot to say that I always root for the underdog so i'm liking sticky who posted on top. His tallest stem had canker spots that circled the stem so I had to cut that one off. Little dude is now an inch tall. If anything else shows up I'll dab with bleach.

A dab of bleach did wonders for my new Ingrid Bergman rose that had a dark spot. Two treatments and it was gone. I couldn't believe it when I noticed several weeks later. Thank you sooo much for the tip (previous thread).

Gosh, Patty, the size of your underdog rose! What rose is it might I ask? I want to root for the little guy. Did you get a hold of Michigan Bulb?

Well Patty I just got an email from MB and mine will arrive on Friday! I knew they would be tiny, but was hoping for a later delivery. I have a bunch of stuff under lights, so I guess I'll chuck them in the basement with everything else. Hopefully our weather will even out next week and we can start moving stuff outside. Just keep telling yourself how much money you saved!

Julie

Patty, did the little stick make it?

Bonnie you have a memory that would rival an elephant. I've been a planting and dividing fool since the end of April. It is done now! I think I may not be around for a while. My computer is heating up something terrible. Poor thing is only 5 years old this spring and already outdated. With nearly nothing down loaded on it.

As for sticky she still lives on. Just began to grow again after placing in the ground. I'm a bit hopeless with pots so she stood the best chance out of the pot. I'll have to suck it up someday with those pots and make it work.

Sticky is so tiny. Thanks for asking.

Sticky may be tiny, but looks very healthy. I had been following this since the query yesterday, rooting for him (her?).

Good job!

I too am rooting for Sticky, as I know we all are. Good luck with your computer.

Patty, I don't have that great of a memory. My friend ordered from Michigan Bulb at the same time and when I visited her small plant, I also thought of your little stick. Do you know what rose it is? I agree, it looks healthy. Yeah! I'm also horrible with pots. Roses seem so much happier in the ground.

Maybe you can get a tablet for not too much, if your computer poops out. Thanks for the update.

This was the rose you guys were taking about when I ordered it. Its Tequila Supreme.

This apple computer is the most user friendly computer ever. But at 1,800 dollars divided by 5 not sure I can do it again. I did get the largest hard drive and memory available at the time. Talk about a money making business.

Tequila Supreme is my friend's rose too. I felt bad about the plug size plant, because I talked her into it. But she has a green thumb and it will eventually get there.

I hope your Apple computer can be fixed for not too much.

Me too!.

Julie if you see this how are your wayside plants doing. Watch they'll probably be a foot tall already. At least we're finally getting some rose growing weather in our spot of the world.

Hope you can update us on "sticky" and the other two bands. Were they all Tequila Sunrise? I don't see that on their list anymore.

Yes, they were all TS. I only kept them potted until the end of April. The 2 larger one around two feet high and sticky is maybe a foot tall. They were all doing very well until anthracnose made it their way. I finally did spray as most of the new roses had very few leaves left. Perhaps there is enough time left for them store some energy before winter. They are profuse bloomers and I like the bloom but it is a smaller bloom. No black spot or mildew this year.

If I received one now thou I would probably pot them then bury them in the yard until spring. I did that with a cutting once. It was in perfect shape when it was unburied.

Patty, wasn't it Tequila Supreme that you ordered (not Tequila Sunrise).

Tequila Supreme-starts off orange and yellow, fades to pink and finally to cream.

She did say Tequila Supreme earlier in the post. My bad. I just didn't read it closely enough. Sorry for the confusion. That's a glorious rose! I wonder if MB still carries it.

Your absolutely correct I did not notice the Sunrise only the S. I actually like the antique looking cream that it fades too.

I can't find a source right now for Tequila Supreme, but I'm sure it will be back. It has a looser form, so it's not for everyone, but I like it. The blooms stay on the bush a long time and I enjoy watching the changes. I hope it makes it through your winter, Patty.

Patty I just saw this post! My Tequila Supreme and Mother of Pearl are doing well - MOP is a great rose so far, I hope it over winters ok. TS is good, but not as good lol. They were tiny to start but did have good root systems.

Thanks Bonnie and Julie, Mine where do great until anthracnose hit. I also picked up MOP from Northland and it great so far. May winter be kind to us all.