4 Veilchenblau

1 Ramblin Red

5 Heritage

3 Tamora

I've never ordered from them before, but the customer service was exceptional.

Here is a picture of some purple ones. Probably your Veilchenblau isn't in this group. But it just shows how good the stock is. I should have lowered my camera just a smidge and I would be able to see what the front roses are.

I bet that one is Ebb Tide.

I think that is a Weeks tag.

Yes! I think you are right. I remember reading that name while snapping photos. There is so much to look at that it is a bit overwhelming. It is also therapeutic. Going down and seeing all the beautiful flowers when there are no roses actually blooming here in Denver right now made me feel good the rest of the day.

Wow they have gorgeous crop of healthy looking roses! Pretty purple roses too. I wish they sold Purple Skyliner.

I really want Purple Skyliner also, Sutlry. Mmmmm12, those are huge greenhouses!!!Each one looks to be the size of their old one. That's amazing. I'll spend all day next time I go! I just got my first order of 6 roses on Wed. They were regular ship, but arrived the next day! Gorgeous roots and cheater blooms! I did cut off the little developing one on La France, but left the others as they were already ready to pop! Mmmmm12, I think you would get too much die-back on Violet's Pride.... I did and I'm a good zone warmer. It is vigorous, though. I don't grow any other purples so nothing to suggest as a substitute. Quietness may do well for you with Denver's low humidity. It hates me so far, but very little die-back, so you may end up with a nice bush with this one. Please refresh my memory as to what you are looking for in terms of colour, size, bloom form and fragrance. Neil Diamond seems to love your area.

Here are my great plants and the cheater blooms that are now opening on Applejack. Love.......so fragrant! : )) Mat is the best. : )

VictorianMemory, Applejack, BordeauxCitiscape,

FelixLeClerc, Christian J, LaFrance

I’ve never ordered from High Country, I’m very impressed. I’ll definitely give them a try next year. To be honest I don’t hear as much about them, but this is a good reminder to keep them in mind in the future.

I love, High Country. Great plants and service.

sara ann, they have a special coupon great for gift-giving around Xmas: $75 gets you $100 worth of roses. I bought mine during the Fall sale and specified late April delivery. Six plants fit in one box. All those roses cost $75 WITH shipping! Best present this girl could get! : ))

Thanks vaporvac, that’s a great deal!

I should say that even without the coupon and discount, their roses are still a great deal and shipping reasonable, so if there's a rose you want don't wait. MMMmm12 said some she wanted were already sold out.

I've never seen the $75 for $100 deal. I think it is because I have never ordered on-line. Next time I go in I'm going to see if I can get put on the email list for that.

Yes, you have to get on their mailing list, but someone here always mentions it as well. It's a dangerous discount! ; ) , especially for you as you don't need to factor in shipping! You'd be able to get 8 roses with the two combined sales. Also, there is a smaller amount coupon so no need to go crazy if you don't want to.

Vaporvac, Thanks for the info on Violet's Pride. I will skip it. I have Love Song going and it didn't die back much at all so do have the purple/lilac color. It is in a protected location so I'll see how it does there. It doesn't get much sun so may not flower as much as they usually do.

In terms of what I would like, at this point, the lowest maintenance ones I can find that flower non-stop. I tend to prefer ones that go with Pretty Lady Rose but did branch out to some of the yellow/orange family last year. But I guess I don't really need more. I am probably going to relocate my Ice Berg and Gourmet Popcorn to a sunnier, hotter area. So with the 3 new ones that is at least 5 new holes my husband has to dig and 2 more to dig up the relocaters.

Matt did recommend we apply the Mile Hi Rose Fertilizer so we may do that this year.

Edit: Well maybe Dick Clark will get added....

I just went there last week to pick up my order. Plus came home with two extras (11 total!) the roses do seem happy in the new greenhouses. I’ve been so happy with the roses from there. I hardened mine off for a couple days (prob not long enough to do any good) and got them all in the ground this week. They haven’t seen phased by the sun or wind so far.

Sam,

I am fairly new to rose growing and all the rose bushes I have added are 3 yrs old or less so I'm not yet sure what is going to become truly established and do well. I've been trying to get hints from Matt. If you've got some that really do well would you mind sharing the ones that do the best and whether you live on the front range or elsewhere? I'm trying to put in hardier stock and not just be swayed by a pretty green house rose.

What did you get this time and any pictures?

I am currently hardening mine off by keeping them out during the day and in the basement over night. What method did you use? When I was there all 4 greenhouses had the garage door wide open so they have been exposed to daytime temperatures. The old place was never open and seemed moister. But I think this new set up has really agreed with the roses.

Yesterday they were saying some snow next week but this morning I don't see any in the forecast so maybe we will put ours in early next week.

Thanks!

I'm a big fan of the gaudy roses, unlike most on the forums here. =) I am drawn to the oranges and multi colored ones. I had a lot of roses that grew GREAT at my last house in Loveland, though I'm not sure of the names now. I moved to a new house last spring with horrible clay dirt. We had a semi truck full of compost brought in and tilled it in the best we could, but the drainage is terrible. Despite the poor drainage, and clay soil all but 2 of the nine roses from high country that I planted in the fall have come back (most from the ground or close to.) and the other two I'm still waiting to see. Many other perennials that I put in in the fall did not make it through the winter. I cannot say yet which ones will really thrive though. At my old house, I only grew shrub, minis and floribundas, all own root. Depending on the winter, they usually die back to the ground or near the ground, and I wait to cut them back until they are actively growing in spring, and the coldest part is done. I don't mind that they die back, as it keeps them smaller, which I prefer in my garden. Even my couple "drift" roses died to the ground this year. This time, I did try one hybrid tea (pretty lady rose) that I've read such great things about on this forum. Time will tell how it does. I also got:

Julia Child, Debut Sunblaze, Playboy, livin easy, scentimental, easy does it, oranges and lemons, life of the party (couldn't resist how good this one smells), and Freda Kahlo.

I didn't take individual pictures when I got them. they were all a nice size though.

I'm not very good at "hardening off" as I usually forget about them either outside or in the garage, and do more harm than good. I just let them get some sunshine for a couple days (bringing them in the garage at night) and then when it looked like a week without freeze days, I planted them. I figure if it freezes hard again, I'll cover them with buckets to give them a little extra protection. Since it's less than a month until last freeze, I figure even a little frost won't likely kill them.

Nice to "meet" someone else from Colorado on the forums! I love the roses you got too! Do you have luck with climbers here? I've never tried one, since my luck with most roses is they die way back in winter.

Sam

mmmm12, I may have mentioned before, but my in-laws do great with the ones they grow,if only they knew what they were. (( The only one I knew was oranges and lemons which was much prettier in real life than I could have imagined. They live in Greeley. I think I'll post to try and ID theirs. As I mentioned often, NeilDiamond looks great there and I've seen a wonderful red-flowered large bush (maybe a climber) growing around the entire area. It's really healthy and vigorous. I'll see if I find the pics for all you Co. folks. Nice to meet you too, Sam. My DH is from Co and we visit often.

Uh oh. We just cut down our big beautiful climber yesterday. It was Dr. Huey and very well established but only bloomed once a season. I saw the Weeks roses video with Lady in Red and started to covet one that blooms all season. So I was looking for it this year and HCR had it.

20 yr old Dr. Huey last year.

This is what it looks like now.

After seeing Fourth of July I bought that in addition to Lady in Red and am going to put Fourth of July in this space.

My husband was like, are you sure you want to take this out? Are you sure??? And I looked at Fourth of July and said yes! But I figured the new one would become just as established. I hope it wasn't just wishful thinking.

We don't have alot of places for climbers that isn't right up against the house like this one so I'm struggling to find a second place for Lady in Red. We may have to put up some sort of structure for it to climb on. I'll be disappointed if both these climbers die back every winter.

I looked up the ones on your list. I will be looking forward to your progress posts. Particularly Life of the Party. I will be interested in how the colors perform in the outdoor environment. Last year I put in Playboy and Oranges and Lemons (after vaporvac recommended it so highly for CO). Playboy bloomed alot on it's little twiggy self since I put it in late summer there wasn't alot of growth. But the blooms didn't last long. They kept coming one after another, better than some of my others.

Earlier Playboy bloom.

Aged Playboy blooms

Playboy blooms at various stages.

This year I thought it wasn't coming back until a few days ago (which was a couple of days after we had some rain) when I spotted a little red shoot coming up between the dead canes. So it lives!

I also put in Oranges and Lemons but then we promptly ran over it with the garden wheel barrow and broke it off at the base so no blooms. But it is coming back this year so we will finally get to see what it looks like.

I think you will be happy with Pretty Lady Rose. I put three in a couple of years ago and they have been great. None have died back to the ground. This year the two on my east side had hardly any die back. The one on the NW side had a little more.

These are the two Pretty Lady Roses on the east side (today).

I haven't trimmed the above yet so they will get a little smaller. The third one only has one living cane and the rest of the growth is from the base.

Pretty Lady Rose in June last year (same bushes as above but different angle of photo).

So you can see there wasn't really alot of die back.

Vaporvac,

I would love to get Neil Diamond but so far have not found it for sale anywhere.

Sam,

Your scentimental is similar so I would be very interested in progress reports on that one also.

Thanks!

Mmmm12, I practically spurted out my coffee reading about your travails with OnLs! What a sad tale, but I hope she rebounds and you like her. She's a very cheery looking rose. I wonder where ND was purchased. It's a tall, narrow rose so could fit next to your house. Once my climbers are in the ground I'll report back on how the Z4/5 do here. You would need something completely tip hardy. P.S. Your Dr. makes me realize why it was so celebrated at one time. In the right locale it's amazing! I always liked the flower, but after that nothing, not even attractive foliage.

I love High Country Roses, I've gotten quite a few from them.

Thanks Laura! Good to hear reports on those that do well in Colorado.

Fourth of July is in and headed for her trellis. We are supporting the long stem with the turned over plastic pot she came in. She is planted toward the front of this picture. The old rose was planted right up close to the wall. This will make her a little more exposed to weather but hopefully not enough to cause a problem. She is reputed to be a more upright climber so maybe will be easier to keep out of the walkway. :-)

The 2019 High Country Roses catalog just arrived! I found the History of Roses section in the front really interesting. It explains the difference between the species rose (naturally occurring, from which all other rose are bred), Old Garden Roses and Modern Roses which is how they have organized the new catalog. I also like the new layout where the pictures are next to each description and each section has a mini-history of that group of roses.

Matt mentioned the catalog had been delayed when I was out there and I figured I would just pick on up next time I go. But it came by mail so now I can really dig into it!

We put Lady in Red in during nice weather and she looked like this:

Then a few days later we got snow and both Lady in Red and Fourth of July got some buckets put over them.

Pope John Paul is relaxing in the heated basement. We may have a few more days of freezing weather. In the mean time I will enjoy everyone's gorgeous photos.

Sam, good luck to your newly planted ones!

That's a beautiful picture with the snow. I love the steps coming down. I hope I get a catalog usually I've just picked one up since I wasn't on their mailing list but now that I've received roses from the I hope they automatically send it.

mmmm12 Roses Unlimited in South Carolina sells Neil. I was going to get it last year when I was there, but it was sold out. As far as my opinion on HCR, I love them. Last year was my first time ordering from them, and they were excellent plants.

I couldn't cover mine as the wind was so bad here. My Neighbor’s glass patio table blew over and shattered! So fingers crossed they’re all ok out there. Luckily it didn’t get too cold. Just barely below freezing. Hope the snow kept them insulated. Last freeze is only two weeks away- woo hoo! Mmm Your yard and patio is beautiful!

Mmm, did you ever get Darlow's Enigma? I could really see a couple punctuating the fence line near the evergreens. The rootballs are HCR plants are really well developed, having just repotted mine. They completely filled their pots. More cheater bloom pics to follow.

Went out to check the babies, and they look just fine and dandy. a little slumped over, but they seem quite happy.

Easy Does it

Life of the party got a little beat up from the wind and snow, but still looks ok.

Pretty Lady Rose

Livin Easy had a bloom that was about done, and the wind finished it off.

Thanks Witchygirl for the tip on Roses Unlimited. I may call them to find out availability, cost and shipping.

Vaporvac, I bet you do get a catalog. I've never ordered on-line, just bought in person and got one this year. Because we are local ours was probably delivered over night and it might be a day or two before they get delivered to the rest of the country.

Sam, sorry to hear about the wind. We had some here but maybe not as much as you. Our plastic Adirondack chairs went over but not our glass table. :-) We did put two bricks on each bucket to hold them down.

Vaporvac, I decided against Darlow's Enigma after seeing it at the Denver Botanical Gardens. I just didn't love it enough. Would love to see your cheater bloom pics.

I'm still trying to figure out this rose thing. What I like and don't like. Whether to keep the ones I don't like that much. Will I regret cutting down the big beautiful, cane hardy once blooming red rose which may have been Dr. Huey??? Will Fourth of July be able to fill it's shoes??? How much trimming and care do I really want to give to the roses vs. putting in something lower maintenance??? My guess is I need to aim for lower maintenance roses which may mean doing better research and sacrificing some things like high repeating blooms for bushes that need less trimming.

Gourmet Popcorn falls into the bucket of one I don't like that much. I developed a dislike for it last year when my dog got caught up in it. It has a sort of sprawly growth pattern and she walked over one of the sprawls and got caught on the thorns. But then I looked back at my notes last year and I thought it was a good bloomer. It may get moved or get pulled for the swap this weekend.

Of the ones we put in the first year I know I love Sally Holmes and Pretty Lady Rose. I'm ambivalent about Robusta (low bloom rate, smaller flowers than expected), Chuckles (got moved to a shadier location last year due to frying) and Iceberg (might be moved to a sunnier location due to low bloom rate in the shade). As I mentioned above Gourmet Popcorn is on the chopping block for catching my dog in her thorns. But this is year 3. Some of them may really come alive.

I put in Dainty Bess, Dick Koster, Golden Wings, Oranges and Lemons, Amiga Mia (my profile picture) and Playboy late last year (Aug.) so this will be the first year to see what they look like.

This years adds include Lady in Red, Fourth of July and Pope John Paul II. I'm going to go back to High Country Roses when we have nicer weather to have another look at Dick Clark. I'm also wondering if I shouldn't pick up one of the Canadian roses just to see how they do in comparison to my current selections.

Ugh, I just noticed in the catalog that Pope John Paul II is zone 6! How did I miss that? Maybe Matt will let me swap it out.

My Sally died to the ground and is slowly rebounding. How did yours fare? I've really wanted Gourmet Popcorn.... maybe she'll make up for her entrapment. I wonder if you doggy learned not to mess with her... poor thing. I'm sure Matt will let you swap out PJP. Some of my Z6 from some nurseries are listed as Z7 from others. I'm worried once they get in the ground they won't make it. I'm so happy Maggie came through the winter.... I protected her, but was still worried.

Originally I put in 3 Sally Holmes. One died because the rabbits ate it so I replaced it with same. That one died this year. Since it is the second death from that hole I'm not replacing it. The big Sally Holmes half died back and half didn't, leaving me with a very unbalanced looking plant.

We cut some of the dead looking canes off from the left but they were green and white inside so left the rest of them to see if they leafed out. They had small dead buds from trying to come back earlier in the winter during one of our warm spells. So far no action from them. If we have to cut them all down I suspect we should trim back the right side also to keep a uniform shape. Not sure if Sally Holmes flowers on new wood only but I had wanted to grow this into a view blocking bush so keeping it small was not my intent.

This one died back to the ground. It also never got going like the big one did. I think it might have too much shade.

I find the flowers exceptionally pretty on Sally Holmes so I would like them both to make it. I tried rooting a cutting last year and it may or may not be alive. So far no new growth from it.

It blooms on new wood as far as I can tell. I wouldn't bother trimming for shape as it's a sprawler anyway. I hope yours all make it. I have another so I'm debating where to plant it. It grew from a cutting taken in 2017 and is big now in a pot. It roots easily.

I have 3 (new) Sally Holmes that are in exposed locations and get lots of shade.

I plan on only pruning them to keep them off the ground. But that's only because 2 people here had established ones that were self supporting.

I tried Easy Sprint in Laramie, WY and it did not survive the winter. It was not tall-growing or fragrant, but was really, really beautiful with tons of flowers that went all summer long! I'd love to have one if I lived somewhere a little warmer

Kudos to you Lane for even attempting gardening in WY! I've lived and gardened in many places and Wyoming was hands down, the most challenging. The wind is the worst! Cold windy winters and hot dry summers with lots of spidermites are very hard conditions. I also had high elevation which had intense sun in the summer (Cody area). Not to mention, deer and other wildlife eating and trampling everything. WY is still one of my favorite places but I would have to have a huge permanent greenhouse to attempt it again lol. Miss the hiking and trout fishing!

I saw the total eclipse by Laramie! : )) Beautiful country! : ))

lol. Yes to the above about Wyoming and gardening. We are more like western Canada and the prairie provinces than anywhere else in the USA. Anyway, yeah, I'm a pretty novice gardener and did no research whatsoever before buying Easy Spirit and some other hybrid tea roses (well my wife bought them in my defense). I ended up with a 'Hope for Humanity', thankfully, and that one is doing great and 'Blue Girl' and 'All of my Loving' survive and are growing back from just above the graft.

Anyway, I've had good luck with some cool conifers and a couple neat (for me) deciduous trees. Just got to find what will work here and go with it. I love Wyoming and have moved away a few time and come back and found it to be unbeatable, but it's not for everyone ha ha. Gardening is only one of my hobbies. Got to have a high tolerance for crummy weather. I need a greenhouse

Thanks Lane for the info on Easy Spirit. Was it grafted or own root? Any pictures of your full bush? It is one I'm still considering.

You may want to consider participating on the Rocky Mountain Gardening forum. If you look at the top of this post and click on that category it will take you there. We have 2 swaps per year and it isn't that far to drive down from Wyoming. Mostly things have been on the north side of Denver due to (it seems) most of the participants living on the north side.

Thanks. I mostly post on/follow the Far North and Trees forums, but I occasionally look at the Rocky Mountain forum and that is how I found this thread.

I would love to go to a swap. Sounds fun. I wouldn't have anything interesting to contribute though!

It won't let me copy/paste my pictures over here from an old thread and it seems I've deleted them off my phone so I can't repost, but there are a couple pictures in this thread. Not the greatest pictures, but it should give you an idea

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/best-way-to-protect-roses-dsvw-vd~5498934#n=11

Lane,

Thanks for posting the link to that thread. It gave me a couple roses, Therese Bugnet and Blanc Double de Coubert, that I hadn't heard of to check out at High Country Roses next time I am there.

You don't need to bring any plants to a swap. We just bring our extras that we don't want or those that are volunteering in the wrong spot so new gardeners are welcome because most of the existing crowd has seen alot of the extras before. Also they are fun and you meet alot of nice people.

Any plant related items are welcome. We have gotten house plant pots, house plants, extra outdoor pots, packages of seed, large buckets from a bakery (for use around the yard) and seen tomato cages etc. Some of the regulars have brought bags of greens, ripe produce or jarred pickles so garden products are welcome also. If you feel bad about not having alot of plants bring an extra good potluck dish. Or pick up a 10 pack of the great gardening gloves at Costco and put them in individual pairs for the swap. I bet people would love those.

You and your wife may enjoy visiting High Country Roses while you are here.

OMG! When is that! I'd like to come just for the fun of it! )) I don't know if we're coming again this year or going to OK.

Vaporvac, I would love it if you could come. But there aren't any other rose aficionados there. I brought Oranges N Lemons and Sally Holmes last year and there weren't really any takers. The Oranges N Lemons went in the free for all at the end where you just grab whats left but I brought the Sally Holmes home. This year I didn't bring the Gourmet Popcorn I gave away because we hadn't dug it up yet. Instead I advertised it on Nextdoor so someone could research it and really want it. If I thought there would be any interest we would have made more of an effort to get it dug up.

In terms of timing they are decided upon a few weeks in advance based on the schedule of the person volunteering to host.

BTW, my other Oranges N Lemons I tried to propagate died over the winter in our basement but the Sally Holmes appears to have hung on. It showed a small amount of new growth this spring but is back in the basement due to bad weather. I don't yet know where I will put it if I keep it.

The Oranges N Lemons in the yard showed great new growth a month ago but then got badly shredded by the hail. Right now it is looking iffy if it makes it with barely any green on it's little stub of a self. I think if it doesn't I won't replace it with another. We just have bad juju with that rose. First it gets run over with a garden cart the same day it goes in the ground, then the rooting portion dies due to neglect when my mom forgot to water the basement plants while we were on vacation. And now it gets hammered by hail.

I'm thinking after pulling through all that it deserves another chance! : )) I think my SHolmes is a goner. Now I need to really think where to plant her back-up.

Oh, no! What happened to your Sally Holmes? It is one of my favorites. Tied with Pretty Lady Rose.

Winter die-back. I'm hoping she'll pull through, but it's looking bad. I have a back-up that I rooted two years ago, but now I worry about where to plant it. i think I'll give it a better spot in the front.