Hi Melissa Ah, true confession time! Normally I'd be sheepish about reporting these things but I lost a lot of roses over the Polar Vortex winter and I "only" ordered nine from HCG (so far, I still might be tempted): AC Navy Lady - I'd had my eye on this dark beauty for a while but didn't want to order from Hortico, so this was a great chance Fourth of July, Cl. - This one hasn't established well for me grafted so I want to try it own root, since stripes are a must. Ferdinand Pichard - same as above - hoping third time's the charm Zephirine Drouhin - also on my wish list for a while, and I still have fence space for climbers, particularly thornless ones Morden Blush - for my "East Side Survivors" bed Lilian Austin - because you can never have too many Austins in my climate Smoke Rings - russet color to die for Ruby Voodoo and Hula Hoop - colors sounded intriguing and I love to try new things to me. Besides for the latter, you can never have enough tributes to the late great Ralph Moore either. So your turn, Melissa - what did you buy? Cynthia This post was edited by Nippstress on Wed, Sep 10, 14 at 16:09

I live near Denver and have purchased nearly all of my roses from them. I saw an ad in the Rocky Mountain News 3 or 4 years ago for an Old Garden Rose sale sponsored by a Boy Scout Troup in Denver. I went there with my mom and a buddy and bought a Variegata Di Bologna (sorry if my spelling is off) and a Louise Odier. I was hooked! I didn't know much about old roses. I've been back to that sale every year since, collecting treasures. I was organizing my plant tags this summer and realized all my OGR's came from the same place - HCR's. So I visited their website and found the sale. I ordered my last 3, 2 Ausmary's and a Mountain Mignonette on 9/13, they shipped on the 14th and were at my door on the 16th, in great shape! I planted them the 19th, we had a light frost last week, so I put pots over them one night. We have our first hard freeze warning for tonight so I went to put the pots over them again. One of the Ausmary's has grown so much in the last week that the pot I used last week is too short! I didn't realize it had grown that much. I know there are a lot of great rose vendors on the east coast. I highly recommend HCR for those of you in the western states. Too bad my planting season is done!

I don't do the coldframe,mulch or anything. I don't pot up the bands first either, i just plant them. No book in the world or nursery for that matter will advise you to do that. We are not talking about cuttings, or at least i hope not, the bands should be 6-18months old, and well rooted, the summer is actually harder on them than the fall and winter. The roots will continue to grow until the ground freezes which really depends on your area. Where i live even though it is warmer is actually harder on them because we don't get a reliable snow cover. If you live in an area that constantly thaws and freezes would be harder on them. the worst thing is early spring if it warms up enough to break dormancy, and then it freezes solid for a week. That's why a later blooming rose or one that comes out of dormancy later will be more reliably cold hardy. It's really a part of the learning experience, as no one can guess the weather or control nature. Now if you are growing a tender rose out of it's zone, you need to take protective measures, even then you have to be diligent about removing the protection at the right time because even though nature can be very forgiving, many times it is ruthless. bad gardners like me have to rely on the more natural thing and avoid pots, and growing things out of their element, because they will surely die, it takes a more attentive and skilled person than I. and what i returned to say was that i have ordered a couple of times from high country also and they have always sent me really healthy plants that have done well whether planted spring or fall.

I've also had good responses from Matt at HCR so it's worth dropping him another email Patty. Sometimes people that run one-person businesses get distracted during the off season or when something else is claiming their attention and don't get back to things. Matt has responded back quickly each year during ordering season when I email to make sure he's holding the roses till spring, and he has problem solved with me well when I had a rose that didn't make it through the summer one year. Of course I ordered from him again - I love having this sale in the fall on roses he's willing to save till spring to ship. I ordered: Adelaide Hoodless (to replace one that didn't like my cold spot) - HCR is a GREAT source of the Canadian hardy roses Aunt Honey (also a replacement) - HCR is becoming a go-to source for Buck roses now that Chamblees is pulling away from them, Roses Unlimited also has plenty Betty Boop - a replacement from elsewhere that wants a little warmer spot Bull's Eye - I'm trying Hulthemias again on own root since they never made it past a few weeks in summer when grafted Cape Diamond (enabled by many of you) Cuthbert Grant (a new Canadian for me) Graham Stuart Thomas (one of the few Austins I don't have) Morden Belle (one of the few Mordens I don't have) Mr. Nash (a found climber that sounds terrific for cold zones) Pearlie Mae (mine gave up in my coldest spot after about 7 years) Sexy Rexy (another company sent me an incorrect replacement of this one) Will Scarlet (an intriguing hybrid musk that's a sport of Wilhelm that I love) An even dozen, which is relatively modest for me. Thanks for posting the sale, Matt! Cynthia