Call them tomorrow morning, That’s a nice nursery.

Hi Rekha,

I'm not sure that Pat sends out updated availability lists. If you go to the RU web page and click on "Browse" at the top, it gives you the option to explore roses that they offer by class or by collection. Because the site uses some sort of template, when you look at the "classes" you will need to click "Older Posts" at the bottom of those pages to get to see all of the various classes on offer. Once you have looked through all of the many roses available, type up a list of what you want and email Pat to ask which of your choices is in stock. She will respond and let you know which roses on your list she has in stock. She only takes checks.

The system is a bit old-fashioned, but she offers a lot of great roses that are hard to get elsewhere.

Calling works too. I've gotten great plants there too.

KS. , that is exactly what I did. I typed up a list of Rose's I was wanting to order and emails them.

I will call. Thanks!

She takes credit cards now too, for a $5 fee.

Called and placed my order, paid with a credit card. Cant wait for April, now have to squeeze them in somewhere...

Glad they had the ones you wanted!

So... what did you get? ;)

Stephanie usually answers the phone - if she is not available, leave you number, she will return your call. I ask about availability when I talk to her, she earmarks them for me and I just mail a check that day or the next. Never had the first problem - great roses, great nursery, great selection - I am picking out my order now. You will be very pleased with your roses!

Judith

I ordered :

Julia’s rose

princess alexandra de Luxembourg

mystic beauty

Charlotte

It is so hard not to go crazy ordering roses. I’m done I swear !!!

Great choices. I have thought about ordering a bunch that I know nothing about just to see.

I bet there are a lot of great roses there that aren’t as popular because no one wants to be the first to try.

KS,

I ordered Lady Emma Hamilton, sharifa asma, broder cadfael and Sonia rykiel.

I am not sure how they will perform in our hot and muggy climate, but we shall see. I love david Austin Rose's, but never had much luck with them, most of the grafted ones are dead.

It's the 3rd time I'm trying Brother Cadfael...if he dies this time, I'm done.

Not enough space in the yard as well, I should not have ordered so many, but oh well, I'll find some place for them, or they go in containers

If you email them on Friday or the weekend they will reply by Monday or Tuesday. I pay by check.

I’m getting :

Lady of Shallot

Olivia Rose Austin

Indigo

Cardinal de Richelieu

Solero Vigorosa

Larissa

They did not have Bishops castle ( it was not on their list, but I had to ask) and if they had it, I would have bought that as well. And my husband would probably have me committed. I have no space...

Great lists everyone! Julia's Rose, Brother Cadfael, and Indigo are on my list of things I'd like to grow at some point too -- but I need to restrain myself. I hope you all post pictures at some point!

Rekha, I have Sonia Rykiel in a large pot and she is doing well. She is sort of elegantly floppy, and I like the way she looks draping over the sides of her container. A beautiful rose, and one of my absolute favorites! Because of that rose I've been slowly collecting other Massad roses from RU. I've also got Paul Bocuse and Versigny -- Versigny shows signs of being an excellent rose too, and I have hopes that Paul Bocuse will recover from whatever it was I did to offend him! Lol.

I am always tempted to try the "blue" roses, but would hate if they all were magenta in the sun.

KS, I noticed from some of your posts that you have at least a few in containers. Do you keep them in pots long term? If you do, I have some questions!!

I do have many in containers (due to space constraints) but hope to move to a place with a larger garden in the not-too-distant future so I can release them from their confinement. Some roses are better than others in containers (obviously the smaller the better). I find that giving them sufficient water (they dry out quickly) and some fertilizer most of them do fine, but I'm sure they would be better if they weren't cramped up and got their roots into real soil (as opposed to potting mix). I ought to root prune, but am putting it off again this year. Basically, roses grown in containers are bonsai plants.

KS, what size pots do you use? How long have you had them? I am planning to keep some permenantly in containers, so let's see how that works.

I'm (sadly) not sure of the exact size of the largest ones -- maybe between 5 and 10 gallons? They are the largest nursery cans I can get at Fred Meyer. I have a variety of sizes and mix of ages in containers, with smaller containers for smaller (younger) roses. The oldest ones have been in containers for maybe four years now, and I'm hoping they won't be in containers in perpetuity. I've seen it suggested that a half-barrel sized container is probably a good size for permanently growing a rose in a container, but I think you can get away with smaller containers if you are willing to root prune. My container roses are currently on a roof deck, making root pruning a bit awkward -- I'd be more willing to do it if they were in my yard. Barbara in Seattle grows much nicer container roses than I do: https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/5317962/gertrude-jekyll-grown-in-a-container#n=29

So does this guy: https://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/magazine/ct-mag-garden-2016-roses-20160324-story.html

I hope that helps with inspiration!

It's always exciting to see new roses being ordered, nothing else quite equals that feeling, and fortunately I get excited about other people doing that, with the hope that sooner or later their beauties will be posted here, and I can see them without having to do any of the work myself!

Rekha, let me know how you like Brother Cadfael. I shovel pruned him. Never liked the way he grew. Im north and west from Austin (8b), but he got so big and ungainly, so fast. His blooms were so big they just sagged. I was never happy with the plant itself. Loved the flowers. He was one of the first Austin's I ever got, and I didnt know back then just how big these roses get in Texas, lol.

Sharifa is a stunning rose.

So, I got my order today and I am a bit disappointed. The plants came in all tangled and squished, one of them without any tags and all of them in a small planter with only half of it having planting mix. Couple of them look very iffy. Maybe I just had high expectations...my previous orders were from ARE, and David Austin, Heirloom and a long time ago from Chamblees. ARE has the best sized plants, I was surprised by how nice the David Austin quart size plants were.

They will all go into their permanent homes tomorrow, just a bit nervous looking at them..

The tag might be in the soil......

I will check the soil, but given how little soil there is, I'm actually worried about transplanting, something I never worried about in potted plants. Anyways, crossing my fingers.

Good luck! :-)

I'm sure they will turn out well in the end. Sometimes the tags that they use around the plant's stalks slip down in shipping and as the dirt gets tossed around they get covered. I've had a similar situation in the past and found the tag when I went to plant the rose.

Same here - I always found the tag after some digging. I have always potted my RU roses up for about a year......do it right away. They recover and do well. They would probably do fine planted in the ground - I just baby them for awhile. Some can look a little scrappy at first but always grow out of it with care. Good luck!

I would pot them in 1-2 gal pots and grow them up a little and then plant in the ground. I'm sure they will be fine. Mine all arrived the way you describe and they did well. They are younger than the ARE and Heirloom plants, but they will look great in a month or so.

I put my RU roses straight in the ground and they have always done fine.

Do you notified of shipping from RU?

when you place your order they tell you the date they will ship, I think they give a tracking # when it is in the mail, I have an order coming in May so I can update with more details

I have an order that is supposed to ship today but didn't get a tracking number- that's why I was curious ha.

My HCR order is supposed to ship today as well.

No, I did not get a notification, but I am signed up for ups my choice and got a notification from them

Rekha, I just got my order today and now I understand what you mean.The plants themselves are GREAT but UPS trashed them.

I had 6 of 8 look great, although the soil was half full, like yours.

My 2 Abe Darby’s were completely crushed.

Is this just an accepted risk of online ordering? Or can I ask UPS to rectify?

Jc, I got 6 plants, and a couple looked ok. I plotted the rest up immediately, two have to go in ground I cant get to it until Sunday. The pots were all crushed..

Other orders from other companies had a bit more protection, and the pots themselves were sturdier.

Eventually things may be fine I guess.

Oh they will definitely be ok, I just hate to cut the growth in half after I waited 3 months because the shipper was too rough.

The others looked so good.

Here‘s Boscobel from the same order.

I’ve ordered others online that had some broken stems, but nothing like this one.

Wow. Those look pretty battered. I have to say I do a lot of online ordering and I don’t think I’ve ever had a shipment look so....disheveled

Let me edit this comment. This shipment was not from Roses Unlimited. I received an order of 8 plants today shipped via Fed Ex. The four plants in the bottom of the box were crushed and some canes were broken. I think that in the future I will order fewer roses at a time, unless ordering from David Austin or Antique Rose Emporium. If I remember correctly, they both pack each plant in its own cardboard covering.

This week I received 6 roses from HCR and they were perfect fitting snuggly in the box to avoid movement. That was also my experience with Burling. I received some crushed ones from Chamblees when I ordered from them 2016. ARE does pack each in its own cardboard section to prevent movement as they are so large and heavy. My Austin's were bareroot, so just in a bag. Did you not want to share the source Deborah? I totally understand as I don't like to trash any of these wonderful places. Now that I have more experience, I care less if they are crushed or even broken and more about the size of rootball. I know with a well-developed root system they'll race forward with top-growth regardless! : )) Just my experience.

Now that I’m looking at other orders, I think even once I cut mine back beneath the breaks that it will end up about the same size as every other nursery we discuss.

Vaporvac, this is my first order from this nursery, so I am reluctant to identify. I did let them know. Also, the plants look fine. The lesson I take from this is that shipping numerous plants in one box is often problematic, regardless of vendor or shipping method.