I would leave them in the bag and soak and then plant tomorrow. Leaving them bagged outside in the shipping box should be OK overnight. They graft on multiflora at Palatine. Dr Huey roots which are so woody can take overnight soaking for sure, but maybe the mutiflora roots being finer and more fibrous don't like as long soaking. I did follow the directions for my Palatine order and they did well.

Mine were in the box for 4 days before I got them soaking. Just keep the box closed and away from light.

I soaked mine until the weekend then planted

Ok, I think I'm going to be fine with them. I did call Palatine because our weather is making things difficult. It rained yesterday so I was afraid the ground was going to be too wet to plant, but I left it all day and the sun was shining and I went out there a little while ago and tested it and it seems dry enough. I did start soaking them this morning at 10am, and they're still sitting in water, but I asked if I could take them out of the water and just put them back in the plastic and hold them until tomorrow and plant and they said yes. Which is what I am going to do. They also said it's also a good idea to put them in the refrigerator, as Pickering used to direct me to do. She said the reason they don't suggest it, is because most people can't really fit them in their fridge. I have the room and I may do that tonight.

Our forecast also calls for rain tomorrow late and again on Monday, so I really have to hit the right moment to plant. [g] She said if the weather really interferes that much I can take the whole bundle of 3 roses that are tied together and put them in a large pot and cover them over with soil up over the roots and the grafted bud union and water them in and hold them that way while waiting to plant.

Thanks for sharing your experiences, it's always good to hear that people have had good results doing them several different ways.

I got one of them planted today - but it's cold and raw out, and it's going to be 70 tomorrow, so I left the other 2 in the refrigerator and I'm going to do them then. :-)

I realized all I have to do is cover the area I want to dig in tomorrow with a tarp to keep it dry enough to dig. We're not going to get that much rain and it's going to stop by lunchtime.

The canes they sent me from Palatine are really excellent looking. Very thick and sturdy canes and a full root system on them. Very happy with them so far. First time I've ordered from them. Fingers crossed I get them in right and they produce a flower or two this year.

All done. All three roses are in the ground. The idea to put a tarp over the area I needed to dig to keep it dry actually worked well. I'm glad I just ordered three roses, planting bare root is a little fiddly. It took me some time and I had to dig a pretty deep hole. I can only imagine having to plant a dozen of these. I am going to try ignoring them until I see some growth. My established roses just started unfurling leaves, so I guess the season is off and running. Thank you for the help.

Prairie moon, which three did you get?

I bought Pope John Paul, a fragrant white - Beverly - a pink and Savannah another salmon pink? I am trying to find no spray roses that are hardy and fragrant that work in my yard and those were the three I settled on last fall when I ordered them.

I have three already that I consider very low care and no spray roses - Julia Child, Aloha, and Prairie Sunrise. I've tried maybe 10 different varieties already - some of which were David Austins that I really like, but the three I have now are the only roses that made the cut. Julia Child I've had the longest. Aloha is growing in not enough sun, so I still have to move that and continue to evaluate it and Prairie Sunrise for 3 years has surprised me with how healthy it is with no attention and is still pretty and fragrant. I hope I will find more keepers in this next batch.

PJP smells SO good-love it! I don’t have Beverly but Savannah is new to me. Very excited to see what she will be like but I might have put her in the wrong place.

I put her in the “cool” garden but everything I’m reading sounds like she is a warmer toned pink. Oh well. Not like I’m not constantly moving stuff anyway!

I couldn't pass on PJP because so many people feel it is one of the most fragrant. It's not really considered a 'no spray' rose, but it is said to be 'healthy'. So I thought it was worth taking a chance on it. And the different shades of pink, I don't think you can really judge by a description, you really have to see it in the garden with your other plants. I'm just hoping they are all going to be vigorous and healthy and if I ended up never moving any of them again, it would be a first. [g]

I had a number of priorities when I was looking for a rose, and I couldn't get them all. I started out wanting reds and violets, but in the end, the color of the rose had to be the least important.

Update: All three roses are growing great. Pushing out nice healthy foliage and PJP has buds.

Savannah just opened 2 blooms two days ago. I am reminded how much I like this rose. It's odd to me that last season toward the end of the season, it became obviously diseased on one cane. I left it alone and hoped for the best. This spring, it started to push out leaves on unpruned canes, which did not continue to grow, so I cut it back to the ground and though that might be the end of it. But, it surprised me by throwing up new canes. it was later than the other new roses because of that. But here it is in it's 2nd year. I imagine the disease issue has slowed down it's development though.

This photo doesn't do it justice. It is difficult to get a clear close up of the rose due to the buds all around them, but I'll post again if I am able to get a better close up later. it does show how healthy the foliage is and it has a lot more buds than last year so far.