I've ordered from FilRoses, if you are talking about the Belgian nursery. They have a very interesting collection, with some real rarities,and the quality of their plants was quite good. However, I'm avoiding re-ordering from them because 1) their prices are high and 2) They made a lot of mistakes with my orders. Here's the story: the first time I ordered from them, they accidentally shipped me somebody else's order; this only consisted of two roses, which they told me to keep.When my order finally did arrive,by mistake they had given me two plants of "Rosa Delacroix",and had left out "Belle de Sardaigne". I wrote to them, and they subsequently sent me a BdSardaigne. Well, not bad; i wound up with three free roses, right? But it was a bit of a headache all the corresponding back and forth, and the fuss involved.Also, the two freebies from the other person's order weren't roses that I'd ever have gotten for myself: "Alibaba",and "Tchaikovsky". I have trouble just throwing out a valid plant, and at the time knew no one to give them to, so I planted Alibaba in my garden and Tchaikovsky in a pot. The next year I wanted to try the nursery again,but kept my order small. This time, instead of the dark red climber "Grand Award", they sent me a dark red miniature called "Grand Palace"(which also was of lesser monetary value than the climber.) I was tired of nagging and fussing and didn't bother to contact them about this error. Money-wise,the difference wasn't worth complaining about, and after all,the previous year I had gotten 3 freebies from them, even though two of these didn't really delight me.I saw on their site that "Grand Award" had disappeared from their list,so maybe it was sold out, but if this was the case I would've vastly preferred it if they had contacted me and asked me to choose a substitute :at present I have no use for miniatures in my garden. So, all in all, I'm not going to say it's a bad company: by no means. It's just that I found them a bit difficult to deal with. Also, I am kind of past the phase when the prospect of getting any rose whatsoever for free will make me happy. I'm running out of room in my garden,and want to conserve the space I have for roses that I really want; I 'm afraid I may regret having planted Alibaba (too orange for my colour scheme?) I've made friends with another woman who likes roses, but she only has space for pots (I wound up giving Tchaikovsky and Grand Palace to her). I also feel like I've got too much on my hands as is, and don't want to have to worry about trying to care for plants that I didn't choose for myself...

I have ordered several times from FilRoses and have never received a wrong rose but my last order which was at the end of last year my order was confiscated at the New York airport and I was told they were destroyed. I was soooooo mad. They have always let my roses go thru but this time chose not to. Instead of returning them to FilRoses they said they destroyed them. I'm sure someone in NY has them growing in their yard. Anyways FR returned my money and I am going to file a complaint with NY airport to,see why they were destroyed.

So what site do,you go to for Tantau?

Bart, I completely understand why you wouldn't want to go through that again! I have little patience for that kind of inefficiency. However, when they're the only ones that have a rose you want..... I'll have to give it some thought.

Prettypetals, I'm glad to hear they refunded your money, but small comfort since you didn't get your roses, and had the headache of dealing with airport personnel. I wish you luck with the complaint. Here is the Tantau website. I've never used it, so can't vouch for it.

Thank you both for responding. Was certainly hoping to hear of more positive experiences! Maybe someday we will have access to European roses here in the US.

Flowers, I would think every order from Europe (Bart lives in Italy) would be confisticated upon entry to the US. You have to have a phytosanitary certificate to import plant material; the plant goes to quarantine; and then the plant has to be inspected. According to roseseek (Kim), this takes a lot of $ and a lot of time. I learned this a couple of years ago and gave up. Tantau has to have an agent here in the US before it will sell newer, patented roses in the US. I had some hope that this year Palatine would sell Tantau roses, but apparently Tantau didn't think Palatine would sell enough of their roses to make it worthwhile (or some excuse of that nature). Cynthia (nippstress) can tell you first hand. I think she talked to Palatine about it. Diane

Well, that is disappointing. But, I'm glad I know not to bother with the process. I'm not up for all that nonsense. I will be satisfied with the roses I can get here and hope more European roses can be sold in the US in the future. Thanks, Diane. You always seem to know the ins and outs of the rose business.

Flowers, I have the same hope (the hope of the hopeless) that we can buy more of the wonderful European roses in the US. I don't know much about anything---I just absorb stuff from the knowledgeable people on our great Forums. Diane

There is a lot to learn, and I'm also grateful for these forums. Better than any book, which is only one person's opinion. Here, we get input from many perspectives. But, back to European roses ... I'm thrilled to hear Palatine may someday offer Augusta Luise again. I just hope I live that long. :)

My question is why has Palatine been able to sell Ascot all along, for years now, without any problem. I'm pretty sure it's still patented. Cynthia, do you know why? The inconsistencies are quite puzzling. But thanks, Cynthia for your efforts with Palatine. Diane

Flowers, I, too, would order from FilRoses once again if they prove to be the only nursery offering a rose that I want,but if I see one on their list that I want, I DO look it up on HMF to see if anybody else offers it. They are honest ,IMO, (though kind of spendy),just kind of inefficient and a bit bumble-y.

I always researched the roses on HMF too in case I could get it here. I hope we will be able to order from them again.

Bart, I understand the problems with spreading viruses and all those regulations that have to be met, but there must be a way to a more open distribution. It's not any one particular company's fault there are so many hoops to jump through. I'm happy to have found a couple of European roses I've wanted for a long time at Roses Unlimited. Ordering from them was a new experience for me, and a pleasant one.

Diane - no clue. They must have squeaked in Ascot (and hopefully Augusta Luise) under old Tantau policies. Heck, everyone sells Fragrant Cloud and that's a Tantau rose, so they haven't always been so illogical about their licensing policies. I sympathize with Rene and Rachel at Palatine though, since they're trying to offer the roses we're asking for. Perhaps their patience will pay off, particularly since they've invested in the mother plants shipped over from Europe.

Cynthia

Fragrant Cloud and other older Tantau roses are off patent and have long been available in the US. Ascot is a newer Evers hybridization. But you're right, they haven't always been so illogical. Tantau will even send us US citizens one of their beautiful catalogs, totally free, including shipping. Just fill in the form on their website. You can sort of make up a business name if you want to, and then you get a second catalog, too. But you can't order anything--hahaha. Diane

There are more issues with roses from offshore than just viruses. Rose Rosette disease came from Asia as did Japanese beetles. A couple of years ago the restrictions became even more difficult because of a beetle larva that can live in rose stems. Now the budwood I can import has to be less than the thickness of a pencil so that the beetle larva does not come with the roses. This beetle probably is not a threat to roses but it has the potential to destroy American forests. There is also another very serious disease attacking roses in Europe and
the clearance for roses from northern Europe is even more difficult.

I have has USDA quarantine sites for more than 20 years and I think that the caution that of USDA is well founded. Yes it can be frustrating, but the idea that someone would do illegal importation of roses just to have a rose not available in the N. America is reckless and a bit selfish.

I do not know why Tantau does not have an agent in N. America. I have long been friends with them, but since I work with the competition it is not something we discuss. Perhaps Palatine was not prepared to do the US patent and Canadian PBR that would be necessary to protect Tantau's varieties and this is why they are not able to offer these roses more than the size of the company. It is difficult and expensive work to protect the roses. Without protection Tantau is unlikely to have any financial gain from offering roses in N. America.

J&P was Tantau's agent at the time Fragrant Cloud was introduced and they patented the rose. It is now off patent.

Still, Augusta Luise and Ascot have been offered in the past (I grow both roses), and Ascot still is. They are patented. So how did they sneak through? Diane