Actually, in terms of blooming, you won't notice much difference over the course of the season. Bareroots grow quickly and soon catch up with your potted roses--unless the potted ones have been that way for several years or something like that. Kate

Mnkitty, I would send them that very photo after giving them a call... Their customer service seems very helpful while I have been rose shopping. Hopefully, that will follow through with problems as well. I have 6 shipping on Monday. If they look like that, I will definitely call them. I requested US Postal Service for mailing. They are much better in my book than UPS. Rebecca

So I went ahead and planted it in a pot. When I removed the root with the growth though it did feel a little cauliflower like. Hopefully I'm wrong and it will turn out to be just fine and I'll get an extra rose:) But I'm going to keep it quarantined until I'm sure. Not knowing anything about gall - how long should it take before I should expect to see further signs of it (if that is what it is)? Weeks, months, longer? I'm in zone 5 too so the sooner my roses get in the ground the better. I'm glad to hear you've had a better DA experience than me Patty. I've ordered from them every year for the last 5 and this is probably the worst condition I've seen. I do expect more from them though considering their prices are so high.

Well, doesn't look like there is any viable part to this rose: I sent photos to DA and they are replacing it in the fall. They agree that it looks like it got heat damaged in transit and want to wait until the weather cools down. Unfortunately that means more waiting. But then isn't gardening called the slowest of all the performance arts? I suppose I need to be patient. Matt, I did break it up and there were 3 cuttings in the pot just as you said. Unfortunately not one survived. At least I already have one Munstead Wood. Sheila, thanks for your positive attitude. I am used to receiving small bands, and you are right, the variety of plants from on-line/mail order vendors makes it worth it even if it is more expensive for a smaller plant. Own-root plants are not available locally for me. This experience will not make me shy away from ordering more roses by mail (I just wanted to know if others had the same or similar experience with the 2 qt. Austin product)! I'm bummed that I missed the ARE sale. Or rather, I didn't miss it, I just don't have room for more plants! The first bare-root plants I received from DA a few years ago were 3 Bishop's Castle, and these were huge plants, with many 2-1/2 foot long roots, so I was disappointed that this year's shipment didn't compare to those. When I planted that Abe, it looked like this: Now it looks like this:It's still much smaller than yours, Diane, but it is growing!