Hi Cymraes: Chamblee is my favorite since the price is cheapest, but the shipping cost is $$$ to my Chicagoland, unless I buy many roses. I read the brochure sent by Chamblee and their focus is on organic care for roses. They NEVER recommend spraying with chemicals, but ask people to STOP fertilizer in hot weather, which induce pests.

High Country Roses in Colorado is another one which focus on organic-methods. I e-mailed them to ask about how they fertilize, and they use Daniels-low-salt fertilizer, made from soy. They don't spray their roses whatsoever, and out of the 5 roses I got from them, one has spider-mite infestation, which stopped when I moved the rose AWAY from hot brick-border.

Roses Unlimited do spray their roses to kill insects, and they use Mill's Magic (from alfalfa meal, fish meal, sewage sludge). Since my zone is 5a, our cold weather kill any thrips-infestation. But chili-thrips can spread from one region of the country to another, that's why nurseries have to spray insecticides to pass agricultural laws which permit their mailing own-roots across the nation. Roses Unlimited's own-roots are more expensive than Chamblee, but in June they have 1/2 price off on their gallon-size roses.

I am not sure about the specific chemical you are trying to avoid, but I highly, highly recommend Northland Rosarium. Absolutely the best customer service I have encountered ever, in any business. Even in the busiest months my emails are completely answered within 24hrs. I have ordered from Heirloom, Rogue Valley, Roses Unlimited and Northland. Northland ships band size roses which are much bigger, more developed canes-roots-leaves than the other nurseries. I find their packing of the roses to be excellent. The roses are well protected, are not dried out even though I am on the east coast, and the plants are SO much easier to get out of the box. I can't say enough positive things about Northland Rosarium.

I agree with you. It is best to get plants that have not been sprayed. So besides the spray question, you are satisfied with roses that you have received from Rogue? I have wanted to order from them, but have been hesitant because of some unfavorable reviews.

If I am as honest as I can be, RVR would not be my 1st choice at all. However, they propagate many varieties no other nursery grows. I would buy from them a rose I deeply desired, but couldn't get anywhere else. The roses from RVR arrived looking like they had had a rough trip, had been handled with less care than Northland and were so much more difficult to get out of the box. The plants were smaller, skinnier canes. I left them in their bands twice as long as Northland roses before planting. However, they are doing fine and growing and thriving and I am pleased. I haven't had to deal with a problem with RVR, but they don't seem as easy to work with as Northland.

Thanks for the honesty. My first choice is Rose Petals Nursery because they live down the street. They're good folks and I like buying local. Next would Antique Rose Emporium for big health plants. For varieties I can't live without I buy from Heirloom. It good to add another place for those hard to find varieties.

AntiqueRE imo, is a high-integrity nursery. Have had exceptional experience with them, but haven't done any business with them in several years. Continue to regularly drool over their website, though! I was a big fan of Heirloom, but in the past 2 years I have had about a 90% mortality rate in roses purchased from them. Don't know why and didn't contact them for replacement due to all the negative feedback about their customer service. Figured I would just take the loss rather than try to deal with them. My older roses from Heirloom, now starting 4th year in ground, are really healthy and survived being flattened by a falling tree! So, very mixed experience with Heirloom. I hesitate to say anything negative about any own-root nurseries, because we need all the remaining ones to survive. I will check out Rose Petals nursery. Always room for another rose...

Maybe I was just lucky with Heirloom last year, but the bands I received were of decent size and all 6 grew out well. The prices, however, can leave me feeling a little shell shocked, but a good rose bush as long as it survives, gives me years of enjoyment.

Valrose.....Yes, I was happy with the Rogue roses. They were small, but really took off and grew well. They sent along a free rose that looked pretty bad, but I planted it, and now it is thriving. I was just disappointed that I couldn't get an answer about pesticides. I recently ordered several more from Heirloom, so we'll see how they do. The ones I ordered in the past were also small and are growing slower than the Rogue ones. The pesticide I am trying to avoid is the one that kills bees.

I have an order from Heirloom also. They should arrive tomorrow, 4 gallons, 1 bands. I would've just ordered bands but the roses that I wanted weren't available in bands. Seems really important not to a pesticide that kills bees... Personally I won't use any chemicals on my roses.

I live near Northland Rosarium, and do my rose shopping there. I wish everyone could observe the diligence, care and dedication the staff puts forth. I have bought close to 200 roses from them, and have only the highest praise for this family owned company. The staff is knowledgable, and concerned that the rose you purchase is the right rose for your situation. The display gardens are spectacular. I've heard comments that they should charge admission. They don't, of course. I ordered 3 or 4 roses from 2 other well known companies mentioned in this thread last year, and was disappointed. They were in smaller bands than Northland uses, and the plants were the tiniest little twigs I ever saw. I will never do that again! Carol, at NR, is always willing to try to find a rose for me if it isn't in her catalog. I love that place and can't say enough positive things about it.

Northland Rosarium is my favorite, also. I recently had a Peter Mayle develop some weird leaves situation right after planting. I emailed a photo, received an immediate response with offer to replace the rose. I wanted to wait & see if mine pulled through, so they set aside their last Peter M to hold in case mine didn't make it! Happily, Peter pulled through after a couple of weeks. I am a definite member of the Northland Rosarium fan club!

I did a lot of research last year. Ordered from Chamblees, Palatine, and Jackson & Perkins. Palatine Roses by far were the best quality. Thick canes and just overall very healthy looking. The tree roses I received from J&P also grew nicely for me. Chamblees disappointed me the most because I too, went for the cheapest place and ordered most of my roses from there. They were all very tiny. One of about twenty roses that I ordered died and the guy gave my a hard time about replacing it. Wasn't happy with the customer service. I plan on trying Regan Nursery and maybe the Antique Rose Emporium. Hope this helps as I relied on feedback from this forum during my research.

I haven't used the Antique Rose Emporium in many years, but they were awesome when I did.

I bought a couple of roses from ARE last year and the quality/size was excellent.

Just tried High Country Roses and all went well with them. Wish they took Paypal but they had a nice website, fast shipping, and the plants looked great.

I'm going to pay attention to how their little quarts compare this season to the gallons I have been mainly getting in the past.

I bought from Rose Petals Nursery and loved them. I bought locally, so they weren't shipped.

My friend sent me a beautiful memorial rose from Sntique Rose Emporium when I lost my pet. It was a nice big healthy rose with buds that opened right away. It was really well packed for shipping.

I heard back from Northland that they still use the neonic pesticides, so that rules them out. These are the pesticides that are killing all the bees, so we really need to be aware of what we are planting in our gardens.

I ordered again this spring from Antique Rose Emporium. I bought the Pioneer Rose, roses special that they were offering a couple of weeks ago. I'm interested in seeing how these perform, Pioneer Roses are from their breeding program. They arrived early and were great as usual.

I also got roses from Rose Petals. They are just down the street from me and they have a fantastic selection of old southern roses and they don't spray.

I'm hoping to make the trek to Roses Unlimited so I can see their operation. I've mail ordered from them and the rose have been of decent size and quality. I just have to make sure that I relabel them because their labels fade quickly. They have an unbelievable variety and will custom root for no additional charge.

Cymraes, that's so disappointing to hear but thanks so much for letting us know.

I heard back from Chamblees and they do not use neonicotinoids, so I just placed an order. Am very happy to find a grower aware of the problems with using these chemicals.

That's great to hear. I've always liked Chamblees, great prices, good service and decent plants. Sometimes the plants look fuller and older than they really are because they have multiple cuttings in the same pot. This works out well for me as I gently separate the plants so I get 3-4 for the price of one.