I'm sorry. That MUST be annoying as all Hell.

Oh how annoying, Ingrid! I’m sorry that happened to you, and sorry the imposter has taken 2 years to show it’s identity. That IS a lot of time and care to put into a Rose that’s not the one you ordered. Now you’re either stuck with it, or have to go through even more work removing it. What a crappy thing! We feel your frustration and understand it. I’d be peeved, too. Lisa

Back when we grew over 500 different roses, I had at least 25 that I called not-______. Some of them I never identified.

One thing I learned, the unidentifiables seldom died when I wanted them to so I could put something in their place that I wanted. DH finally got over his just give it one more year problem.

One of the vexations of planting roses. Sigh.

Since you have another plant of RJG that you love, I would just root new roses from that one. It was hybridized long enough ago (1908) that there are licensing or whatever issues. Rooting is easy, and fun. Even if you have never done it, learning to do it is certainly a lot easier than babying a rose for 2 years, and then discovering it is the wrong one! Also - there can be "better" and "worse" clones of roses - if you have a good one, that is another reason.

Jackie

I meant to say "there are NO...issues.", of course

I know the feeling, and it sucks. So sorry, Ingrid.

o, jeez, can I ever relate. I've managed to get rid of one "not- Ornement desbosquets -not belle vichyssoise-that was- instead -some- kind- of- Blush Noisette", gifting it to a neighbour, but that does not take away the fact that now I have to replace the soil it was growing in ( an enormous job). And there are others, dammit...and there's yet another faker yet to be dealt with...

Thank you for the tea and sympathy. Misery does love company, and I'm all better now. Jackie, I hadn't considered cuttings because every time I've tried to do that it's been a complete failure. However, you inspired me and I stuck three pencil-thick cuttings into the ground next to the mother plant. I know, very low-tech, but it's all I can manage. You never know, this time it might work like a charm. That would be awesome.

oh bart, that is awful, much worse in your case where your garden is far from home and an easy water source, not to mention the soil replacement with your issues of rose replant disease. It's not so common in American gardens but I've encountered it because of my (shameful) history of discarding too many roses before they've had a chance to prove themselves. I'd give a lot to start over again with what I know now (and with the climate as it was 13 years ago).

I tend to buy cheap roses so it isn't unusual for them to be mislabeled but when you are ordering an expensive rose online from a respected vendor it's really must be galling. Sorry, Ingrid. Do you maybe have a friend you could pass #3 on to?

I can imagine how frustrating that would be, to have it happen multiple times. Back in the day, it was possible to get just about any rose from multiple nurseries, but now more and more it seems like many things are only available from one or two--so if a nursery has the wrong rose, we don't have as many chances to get the correct rose elsewhere.

I second the suggestion to root cuttings from your correct one. I do cuttings the super lazy way. I hate dealing with misting, plastic bags on pots, etc. I only try water rooting, and it usually works for me. Just put cuttings in a vase of plain water, place it in a bright to sunny windowsill and wait. Sometimes it takes a long time (one time a cutting took four months), but as long as it has leaves or the cane is green, let it sit. I transfer the cutting to a pot/potting soil when the roots are about 1/4 inch long--not too long to damage in planting, but long enough to know it's well on its way.

I don't know seil, Lisa would be the closest victim, ah I mean possibility, and she has so many beautiful roses, and may not need more. I'll see how it looks in that location and when it's finally in full bloom. I'll take pictures and you all can tell me whether the rose should stay or go. It's always difficult to uproot a healthy rose that is reasonably good-looking and which was not cheap, and I'm not sure how I'll handle this situation.

belle, I doubt that I'll have the patience for your method, and we'll see if the three pieces I've stuck in the ground decide to grow. I'll be over the moon if even one makes it.

You could always gift it to Lily as a house warming present lol.

Hi Ingrid,

That four months cutting was an extreme case. They usually don't take that long. Two or three weeks ago I was trimming a jasmine plant and dropped a couple of trimmings in a little vase for the windowsill, and they've already rooted.

I sure can sympathize with you, Ingrid. But certainly not to the degree of time and effort you’ve invested! I only had my imposter for a few weeks before I learned his (MN) true identity...albeit happy to hear that Reve D’or is a lovely rose. Two years is a long time to invest! I do hope you can start a new plant from your own! That’s my next adventure with roses! :)

I'm so sorry Ingrid. I have had this happen multiple times too. I have kept the foundlings and ordered the real one again, and eventually I hope it all works out. I really am waiting to see my Triomphe this Spring. It really started to look like Maman Cochet last Summer. I am so excited that anything lives through the Winter, after my past cold weather gardening, that these mixups are tolerated. I bet if you ran a nursery, these mistakes would not happen.

That is so frustrating! Particularly the time and water you’ve spent on it! I hope you’re able to find the “real rose” soon.

Ingrid, that would be absolutely infuriating! I thought the rant was very tame considering the circumstances!

Hi Ingrid, same thing happened to me. I ordered three roses and all roses were the wrong rose. I requested a refund but never heard anythin back. I haven’t ordered from that source since.

Sultry, i was going to suggest the same thing! : 0 Ingrid, that is truly a drag! Infuriating really. Good luck with your cutting. I find even in my humid rainy climate that sprinkling my outdoor cutting with water has really helped their survival rate.

Just out of interest, Bellegallica, are the vases you generally find cuttings (or cut flowers) root best in clear or coloured glass, or some other material?

I ask because I always thought it needed to be dark for things to root, but saw something, somewhere, where masses of roots appeared unexpectedly from some cut flowers - don't remember now if they were roses - in green coloured glass vases, and I wondered whether perhaps they especially liked the green light.

That's interesting! I know plants like red light for growth. I'll have to check on root growth.

I am so sorry Ingrid! I have had the same thing happen to me. Only once or twice for that long. I certainly understand. I hope your cutting root for you. That would be so awesome for you. Best of luck!

Ingrid - as well as sticking cuttings in the ground, here is a way easy way to try: find a cane on the correct rose which is long enough to reach the ground if you pull it gently, with hopefully a few inches extra length so the top part of it can lay flat on the ground for a few inches. Dig a shallow (1-2 inches deep) hole a few inches long in the dirt where the cane can lie down into the hole and still have a few inches sticking up beyond the hole. DO NOT cut the cane. Gently scratch the surface of what will be the bottom side of the part of the cane which will be laying down into the hole. Gently pull the cane down, so that a few inches of the cane (including one or more of those bumps where leaves come out) sink down into the hole, and there is still at least 3-4 inches of the very top of the cane sticking up beyond the hole. Fill the hole with dirt over the part of the cane which you pushed down into the hole. Put a brick or rock as heavy as a brick on top of the soil over the now buried part of the cane, again leaving a few inches of the very top of the cane sticking out beyond the hole. Water it in well. VERY IMPORTANT (unless it is raining frequently): Every few days throw some more water on top of the area right around the brick or rock. WAIT. When you see new growth coming on the tip of the cane which is sticking out beyond the brick or rock (may take a few weeks or a couple of months,, depending on the weather), give it some liquid fertilizer. (DO NOT DIG IT UP TO LOOK FOR ROOTS!). After it grows some more, and looks healthy, you have a baby rose bush. Let it grow for a few months, then you can cut the cane between it and the mother plant, and dig the baby up and transplant it.

Sounds complicated, but it is really not. Works for me on roses, especially teas, which do not like to root from cuttings.

Jackie

Ingrid, Jackie's recommendation works really well and you don't have to worry about using cane if there's not a lot. I've done this with New Dawn and am currently trying with White Meidiland, one of your faves. : )) It also works well with other semi-woody plants.

Comtesse,

The ones I've been using are all clear glass. I have a blue one that I use for longer cuttings simply because it's taller.

I think I've read something similar about the color maybe making a difference, but I've never really experimented to find out. I do also have a ceramic one that I've used, which is what I guess you'd want to use if you think light is an issue. (I've heard, too, that rooting might be easier if light is excluded.) But I'm so lazy I prefer being able to look through the glass to check for rooting rather than having to pull the cuttings out to check.

I'd be more conscientious about it if I had things that were rare or endangered, but most things I have are available anywhere, and I'm just rooting for friends or I think it'd be nice to have another or new copy, etc. So it's no big deal to me if they root or not. No pressure, just for the fun of it.

I'm curious if there are any retailers from which people here have NOT ever received a mislabeled rose?

After reading your post, Jackie, I immediately rushed outside to check whether this method would succeed. I like the concept and understand how it would work, but RJG does not have a single cane that I can bend. I suspect it's more Bourbon or something else rather than a tea because the canes are very thick and stout, and very straight. It hasn't had a single new cane come up from the bottom, not this year and probably not even the last year, and all the new growth is near the tips. Another problem is that the rose is in a narrow bed with three other roses and several companion plants, and there would be no room to pull down a cane without having it land on the pavement. Of course it makes perfect sense to me that the rose that you want to propagate the most is the most difficult in every way!

Sheila that is my absolute favorite color combination! It looks so good in the photo I can’t even imagine what it looks like in person!

I agree—just stunning Sheila! I love that whole scene! You should blow that photo up and put it in a frame. :-)

Agree with Sheila, RU , and Longagoroses are mine. Never received a wrong rose from either of them.

My favourite colours, too!

Sheila, if those were the kind of "mistakes" I had encountered not a word of complaint would have passed my lips. That photo has so many layers of beauty that I want to revisit it over and over.

What about using rooting hormone and just sticking it in a pot of soil? I have successfully rooted cuttings that way.

Not only keen disappointment, but sometimes a size issue. Like when my Morning Has Broken shrub turned out to be... Madame Plantier. OOPS!

Oddly, I never did reorder Morning Has Broken.