We will just live vicariously through you Beth !! Bummer they didn't have anything good. It's almost time for me to bother my favorite local nursery for what they will be getting in . Last year they let me peek at the list so I could earmark money for what I wanted.

So true, all the nursery's around here get Pan American roses. I've looked at all of the roses they offer, and they're all old roses from long ago. Some are newer...but a lot of the older ones. I've always been impatient with the nurseries here, thinking...can't you order some fabulous new roses?? But now I know they get their roses from Pan American...and that they get the best ones they can from P.A.

Carol

Last night the 'good Lowes' by our house had some potted Kordes that just came in. I couldn't get a good look at the tags. DH said one was Princess of something..it was light pink. There was a beautful medium pink one with long stemmed fragrant full roses. I might go back today and see if they put them on the shelves for sale yet.

Oh Sultry, I wonder if that was Alexandra, Princess of Luxembourg. I posted pics from P. Schneider's garden of it growing alonside Florentina. It was a large rose and very healthy. I hope we get it here!

Oh that would be exciting! One I didn't order but is on my list of future wants . Do let us know !

I will check later dh has 2 go back 2 get something for a project.

I just picked up a Kordes summer sun from Lowe’s yesterday, as well as a (mislabeled) princess Alexandra of Kent, and one that’s ei Charlotte or teasing GA. They have Austin’s with other tags mixed in the regular roses on occasion. I love it!!

Just got back from Lowes and all the Princess ones were gone..they only had a dozen or so..still not sure the name and the store people were no help. They had some other potted ones that I think are older varieties. There are tons of fruit trees lined up outside that weren't there yesterday. So I will have to keep watching for them.

Darn I didnt think to dig looking for tags. I wonder if it was PAOK..but it was a light pink flower and not anything like my PAOK. It could have been a mislabel though. I havent been lucky enough to find any Austins hete yet. Maybe I should go shop by SoFl Rose's house lol.

Sigh. Those of us in cold zones rarely have anything but boring options from the big box stores. Coiner roses are virtually obtainable up here, and even if they wouldn't be hardy here I'd like to give them a try (heck, Stainless Steel isn't remotely hardy here either but they have no problems offering THAT one in zone 5). Our Lowes has very healthy roses but they are literally nothing but Easy Elegance and Knockout roses. I'm not complaining about EE roses but there are plenty of other reliably hardy roses that they could offer, like Canadians and Kordes roses for starters. Now we have to drool not only at your early planting times and huge roses without any winter die back, but also at the range of roses available.

You'd think that would mean that I should be like Beth and not buy any more roses then, but - ahem- that hasn't happened yet. Just one more way that I need to learn from Beth and other rose mentors on GW obviously...

Cynthia

I couldn’t agree more. These stores act like Knock Outs are the only roses available on earth. That or old Hybrid Teas that require constant spraying and the type of care that most of us don’t have time for. I think New Flora did a good job getting the Kordes roses to the big box stores and I’m hoping Star roses (distributors of KO roses) does just a good a job, if not better. Some of these Kordes roses perform so much better than knock outs that I jus don’t get it. And in such beautiful colors too, like Plum Perfect and Bliss. These two kick KOs butt any day in my area. I wish I could be the plant distributor for a store like Lowe’s. I’d get all the good roses for Florida and KOs would be nowhere in site.

You know what else upsets me? (Can you tell a nerve was struck here)? I read Peter Kukielski’s book “Roses Without Chemicals”, where he recommends at least 100 wonderful roses that can all be grown on their own roots without spraying. And you know what? I couldn’t even find 1/4 of the roses he mentioned for sale, either online or (no surprise here) locally. The only vendor that carried a good variety of the roses he mentioned was Roses Unlimited. I just don’t understand why, with so many roses on the market, we get the same crappy ones year after year. Stainless steal, Oklahoma, Tropicana, JFK, Christian Dior, Honor, Peace (which is almost always virused), Love? ugh!! im sick of them all.

I wish they offer Easy Elegance locally in Maryland. I've only tried Kashmir but it was completely healthy and bloomed in flushes all summer.

Our Home Depot had as huge section of Miranda Lambert, maybe 50 or 60 of them, a huge section of Knock Outs and a few Qween Elizabeth's. Geeze, who does their ordering?

What frustrates me about Lowe's, Home Depot, and their kin is that you never know when, if after having an unsuccessful rose hunting visit there in the morning, a truckload of choice roses comes in right after you left.

When you go back the next week, the recent arrivals are all picked over....nothing nice left. Incidents like this have happened to me so frequently, that I have long ago given up on running the Big Box Chase.

Your timing has to be perfect to get a decent rose. You have no way of knowing when a shipment of roses has just come in unless you are there at that moment or shortly thereafter. Don't waste your time asking an employee for a heads up on deliveries, no one knows, or cares to know anything.

Call ahead for shipment information at great peril to your mental and physical health. At best, you wait an unreasonable amount of time to speak with the nursery manager, and if successful your response is the same, "I don't know anything, I don't do the buying.". At worst, you don't even get through.

Every rose in my garden came through the mail, not from a local nursery, big nor little.

Moses

From my experience, the selection would be boring because it IS Home Depot and Lowe's. Listen, I've purchased from both, but NOT at the expense of local, family-owned nurseries (and on-line nurseries who specialize in, let's say, roses).

I'd hate for someone to mistake my yard for a Walmart parking lot. Think - and buy - outside the BB. After figuring in travel time, fuel cost and sales tax, shipping costs aren't always that bad.

Happy Spring Planting 2018!

I agree with you in principle, OurHighland Home, and I support our local nurseries when they sell anything interesting. The sad thing around here is that our local nurseries in town have very restricted offerings of roses. The largest of these nurseries has an even more restricted range of Easy Elegance roses and Knockouts than Lowe's, and no interest in expanding this when I've chatted with management. Another one only has about 4 varieties of David Austin roses, usually the most common ones. The third has recently expanded into a modest range of HTs, floris, climbers and shrubs including EE roses, and I try to patronize them in spring buying whatever they have that I don't already grow. The only place within a driving range for me that has a respectable variety of roses is up in Omaha (Mulhall's) where they have around 50 varieties of roses at pretty reasonable prices, including a good selection of shrubs that are hardy in our zone.

The trouble with having only boring roses (i.e. Knockout, Iceberg) or zone-5-impossible roses (like Stainless Steel or Don Juan) is that the general growing public perceives that to be all that is available in roses and never looks further. I think the average gardener around here can name more varieties of petunias than roses, because that's what they see sold in person. I can and do support dozens of online rose vendors - I'm on my 16th order for spring already and haven't yet hit two of my "regular" companies. I don't really need the local access to roses, but I can't easily convince my neighbors to try other varieties if they can't get them locally. I routinely give away roses if I get a great deal or mistaken delivery to encourage friends and neighbors to give other types of roses a try, and I've convinced my neighbors across the back fence that roses "aren't really that hard to grow after all and don't need all the spraying my mother used to do".

That only seems to work when I literally hand someone a rose plant with instructions and/or help in planting it, though. I've given people rose gift certificates to my favorite online vendors and they haven't gotten used, even when I offer to help them pick out those roses or when I give the certificates to people in driving range of those nurseries. There are sooooo many great roses for our zones that could be grown if that's what were offered for sale, but none of the nurseries I mentioned in driving range sells any Kordes or Canadian roses for instance. I can see once-bloomers not being big sellers locally, even though they're also fabulous for our zones, but a rose like Heaven on Earth or Poseidon would get just as many oohs and aahs when it blooms as Heritage or Stainless Steel, with better performance in our zone by far. It's just that there isn't the hype (yet) for Kordes roses. They did a good job of marketing Easy Elegance roses, which are fabulous for my zone, I'm just hopeful they'll continue to market other types of roses around here so the general public has a better chance to expand their taste for roses.

Cynthia

I was pleasantly surprised when stopped by our local Grange to pick up manure. They actually had a nice selection of Weeks roses. Not A knockout rose in sight. There were many that I had never grown before some very popular roses but after seeing Beth's Oklahoma rose I had to have one and lucky for me there was 1 left in stock. Boy was it exciting to see the roses . yea Here comes Spring

I wish I could shop elsewhere, but there are no rose nurseries in my area. Not one. And the local nurseries don’t get roses either. Only on occasion the will get an order from Nelson’s Florida roses, then I will visit those nurseries. Nelson’s updates their website to show when deliveries have been made, which is so great. But these deliveries are maybe 3-4 times a year

Otherwise I stock my local Lowe’s and HD. Mostly I’m hunting for good deals.

However I do most of my serious Rose shopping via mail order. It’s just the shipping kills me!

I like going to Lowes and the Ace Hardware Nurseries bevause I am usually looking for other plants. There are certain Lowes that carry a lot of pretty vines and fragrant tropical plants. Some are Monrovia. They carry some more non run of the mill stuff once in a while. If I find good roses, hey great but I don't expect to.

There are 2 Ace Nurseries that I can find great things but not roses. They have nice gingers, diff varieties of medinillas, orchids, epiphyllums, different varieties of hoyas, etc. I love going there. I have bought a few roses in the spring but I don't generally see many roses there.

There are 2 OGR type nurseries in FL that I order from. A Reverence for Roses and Rose Petals Nursery. I would order from Angel Gardens but they seem to be out of stock of stuff I have been interested in so far.

I think if you Call Pam she might be able to find the ones you want.

Aldi got their roses in on Wednesday here! Of course they are the "same old boring varieties." But they are fresh and healthy.

I am new to roses, so right now I am interested in about anything yellow or purple (I know latter is hard to find). Lol I found at Lowes a Royal Gold yellow climbing rose that I am excited about. Is that a good one??

Will Aldi advertise in their weekly ad when they get roses? I was just at mine yesterday, and there weren’t any. I should have asked when they were getting them.

i get the frustration with the same old stuff....I often feel that way about perennials at Lowes.

Here is the Help Me Find Roses page on Royal Gold. There are no comments on the rose, but there are several photographs that show tea-shaped blooms with a nice deep yellow color. It is pretty! Since it is a rose from the 1950's, it most likely was bred for its strong fragrance and not disease resistance.

If you are looking for a purple climbing rose, you could try Quick Silver, often sold as Quicksilver. It's a beauty. Twilight Zone is a nice, deep purple grandiflora rose. If you can't find these roses at Lowe's or other stores, their are mail order nurseries.

Carolina, don't be afraid to order on line , You get a much better selection and you can get exactly what you what . There are some wonderful companies out there sending beautiful specimens that you'll be very happy with.

Thank you both for the info! What are some good websites?

Petals from the Past, in Jemison, AL. I'll be the first to admit their website needs some serious work, but I visit them in person 2-3 times a year and their place is a gardener's dream. Jason and his entire family are so friendly and knowledgeable. AND, they specialize in antique roses! The are rated on gardenwatchdog if you want to look them up.

Good luck!

Link to PFTP

Palatine, Regans, Antigue Rose Emporium, High Country Roses

It looks like you are close To Jackson and Perkins

How about David Austin.

Check out Northland Rosarium. I also received a very nice own-root plant from Fresh Garden Living, an Etsy seller with a licensed farm in Oregon with a very nice selection. My plant arrived in a small 5-inch deep pot, but was very healthy and reasonably priced. I re-potted it and grew it on for a year before I planted it in the ground.

Wow...thank you for all of those sites. I am having fun looking.:):)

Wait until the catalogues start arriving. It is fun planning and dreaming.

Carolinaflowerlover: Aldi will announce when their roses arrive in your area via their online ad. Just make sure its the ad for your zipcode. They are shipped by zone. So I'm guessing you still have another 1-2 months.I check their ad online every week starting in January. This is my 1st year getting roses too!

Beth, my local Lowes and Home Depot has the exact same selection as yours. Walmart, still nothing in also. I miss most the Coiner Nursery roses from HD. They had interesting varieties and were always the healthiest with no wax as well. It looks like their website is down, that's sad if they are closed.

I'll second ourhighlandhome's suggestion of Petals from the Past. I've never ordered online from them, but love to visit in person. Wonderful people and wonderful plants. Their antique roses are 1 gallon own root and reasonably priced. They carry modern roses, too, but those are larger pots & I'm not sure if they ship them. Their heirloom perennials, herbs, shrubs, fruit trees and such are also great.

BTW, ourhighlandhome, RTR!!!

Thanks, everyone! I planted my yellow climber and put it on a screen-porch the other day. I figure this will give her time to stretch out before planting in the spring. I will watch Aldi and have had fun looking online. :)