Yikes is right, I thought my rose buying splurge was done so I could concentrate on the companion plant binge .

Oursteelers- Victorian Memory is lovely and suits it's name.

Lilyfinch you perpetually reign queen of enablers.

I crumpled up my list of 17 and threw it away, then fished it back out. Roses are so much like potato chips.

I have managed to resist moss roses because of the once blooming drawback, but Communis looks so wonderful and is rarely in stock. Will have to think this over.

They have such great offerings !! I really want a gloire Dijon , Morgengruss and boy wenlock is gorgeous!!

Berry pie I also really need companion plants . I’m trying but roses are way more exciting!!! I have this terrible shade area that needs filled but it’s pulling teeth to get me to spend money on that corner .

Lilyfinch, My shade area is no fun, but I put in a few Hostas that take up lots of room with their big leaves to make it look full.

Every year I look at Gloire de Dijon. There is a point I have to be realistic though and just can't have it until I make a nice warm greenhouse. You picked three I would love. I'm trying to be super careful and selective now because I want the new healthy Austins next year.

Lily,

High Country Roses revamped website is quite impressive. I hope HCR will continue to maintain its high quality rose standards and great customer service. It seems to be a rising star in the world of home rose gardeners.

Moses

You should get GdD, Lilyfinch. I was recently disappointed as I couldn't use the 10% discount and a gift certificate at the same time. That didn't make sense.

Stop it Jen!! Lol. Now I gotta go look.

Their prices are great! For example, I'm about to order a Baronne Prevost from Heirloom Roses for $45 for a gallon and High Country has it for $17 for a quart. I wonder now which one I should buy. Not sure how long a quart would take to catch up or if there are other differences to take into account.

I hope you're happy Lilyfinch, I have no room, but ordered Bliss from High Country Roses this morning. Good thing they're small! And the price is great. Now enough enabling! (For awhile)

I agree we can fit so many more High Country Roses on the patio than big grafted roses. They are so much easier to plant in the ground too, and seem to size right up in their first Summer. My last Summer planted ones all grew to full size already and are headed for bigger yet this year.

Dottie,

In two years a quart size and gallon size of the same variety will be the same size. In three years the originally smaller bush will be larger and more vigorous than its originally older, larger neighbor. Given a choice, always choose the smaller size. A smaller size will send out anchor roots more easily into native soil.

An older rose's anchor roots are already forming in the confinement of its gallon pot. If they are circling the inside of the pot at planting out time into the garden, they can be teased outward, but greatly stressing them and the entire bush, often stalling its growth. Alternately, the root mass can be cut into vertically, every 2 inches all around, breaking the circling cycle, and the abbreviated anchor roots will venture out with branching roots, but in a more restricted manner, and not to the more wide ranging extent as a smaller rose's anchor roots would, whose anchor roots are venturing out into native soil with no limiting, drastic shock occurring to them.

When anchor roots are free to grow out unimpeded, the bush can access more nutrients and moisture available farther out from the bush.

Moses

An own-root 'Garden Sun'! Wait, no, I am out of space for climbers! Must resist, must resist! They have some spinossisimias I've been eyeing that I'll probably break down and get though. And with a coupon, whoohoo! Thanks Lily!

Welcome back Judy, we missed pics of your roses, garden, and your handsome grandsons. Helen

Matt and his team are really good people, and great rose growers. All my roses from him have just thrived.

I’ve already placed an order, and I think I might add to it. I love supporting these kinds of growers. :-)

Buying the less expensive quart-sized rose is actually better? Music to my ears! Now after browsing my new library book, Antique Roses for the South, I need to narrow my cart down from 12 picks. :)

It is so hard being a rose addict !!! Because I realize I must try gloire de Dijon , after all who knows how long I’ll live in California where it should thrive ?! What if we move again and I have to live with regret that I never tried that rose? I shall not suffer ;)

I’m glad we have this nursery to feed our needs!! It seems much bigger now that I see the new website. I’m not sure I ever noticed a 1800 number before. I guess I thought it was just Matt and a small crew not such a large business!

Mossy , bliss is so beautiful you’ll wish you had ordered two !!

Ac : I also want garden sun!! I love that shade of yellow . Yum ! I don’t know where to put it either , who cares though.

Awesome Helen !! Beautiful order . I love jeanne lajoie .

If I had even just 6 more inches of space I would try fruity petals ! How cute is that rose !!

Vapor I am going to get it . Now do I try ghislane de feligonde also ?

My husband is going to be so upset if these all grow as big as they say . He won’t be able to get to the pool without fighting through them ! Haha

Yes! You definitely should try gdf. Antique Rose Emporium discontinue this Rose so let's give Matt some love on it! You know Lilly Finch I have visited High Country roses multiple times when I've been in Colorado and it is not really a very big business it's just him and his family and a couple of people helping him. His help is fantastic though and they're so into roses. I haven't really noticed that they're tearing more roses maybe it's just that there easier to find on the site? I don't know I pretty much know his stock inside and out because when you've been to a place and walk up and down the aisle of the greenhouse you just get to know the Roses. It's so great to see the mother plants also. I'm glad to hear you're getting gdd because you just never know! If I could grow some black spotty Rose's here and know they be clean I'd be on hquite right on that.im in a minute.

So fun!!! I also like the smaller sizes - I find the big grafted roses hard to plant - I feel like the graft root takes up so much of the good vertical space in the pot or hole.

Does anyone know if Bourbons do well without a winter freeze? I’m always tempted by them, but feel like I read somewhere that they need a freeze to bloom well. (That could be totally wrong - don’t take my word for it!!!)

Evil enablers all of you (but especially Lilyfinch for alerting us to the great changes at HCR!) I was already "done" ordering 13 roses from HCR for the spring, but with the new and restocked roses I ended up ordering another 10. Matt has some great plants and he's the nicest guy! A few years ago I had to call them about something and didn't reach them directly so I didn't leave a message at the time. Apparently Matt not only checked who had called and not reached him, but he called me back within an hour and said "Yeah Cynthia, when I saw the call was from Nebraska I figured it would have been you". Note that I've not been an annoying customer as far as I know to have Matt remember me. I think he just takes each and every customer seriously enough to get to know them and consider their perspective on roses.

Also of course his roses do extremely well when planted. Both HCR and Northland are geared well for cold zone rose growers, as well as of course the incomparable Palatine. For the record, the first 13 roses were: Belle Poitevine, Bill Reid, Champagne Arches, Fairmount Proserpine, Fred Loads, Hera's Song, Morden 6910, Morden Sunrise, Pillow Fight, Tintinara, Wilhelm, and York Street Yellow. New order was: Alice Flores Purple Hybrid China (apparently hardy to zone 5 - be still my beating heart!), Burst of Joy, Candy Land, Carefree Sunshine, Carefree Wonder, Firecracker, Ketchup & mustard, Sky's the Limit, Victorian Memory, and Wise Portia.

Cynthia

Well dang it I have really wanted Bliss

I guess that this is the right time.

Today if it isnt pouring rain I am working on my shade area

Elephant ears and bleeding hearts. Some lamium not sure what else

Maybe trillium?

My shade favorites are hosta, hydrangea, huechera and fuschia. Oh and my poor peonies. The roses have stolen all the sun spots but I can’t be without my peonies. They are all starting to wake up :)

Cyndita, given the tropical climate on the Isle de Bourbon from whence came the class of Bourbon Roses, I think you should be safe growing them! I've always considered myself lucky to grow Maggie and she does have some die-back. Some of the European OGRs such as the albas, Centifolias and Gallicas require winter chill, I believe. If this isn't correct, someone please correct me! ; ))

Thanks for the heads up on the sale

I ordered Bliss. I thought that I done ordering but have really wanted that one and the price was right. Now go scope out a place

even though I pretty sure that I have nothing lol

A little retail therapy is just the cure for the winter blues....so Firefighter, Sparkle and Shine, and Snow Pavement are joining my order. Spring is going to be like Christmas all over again!

How exciting Joey !! I saw sparkle and shine in person and it is such a cheerful vibrant rose bush ! Yay for you !!

Vaporvac - thanks very much for the information re Bourbon roses - I didn't know that they were from the Isle of Bourbon! (And, sorry for the late reply - just saw this now.)

Enjoy your roses, everyone!

Thanks for heads up, Lily. Ordered rosie the riveter, life of the party and dick and Margo koster, %20 off.

I was so excited to see some new varieties added and some restocked...I’ve been wanting Rugosa ‘Magnifica’ forever, and it is in stock! So I placed Another Order.

I also ordered Milwaukee‘s Calatrava.

:-)

I’m tempted by fruity petals on the high Country website. Does anyone grow this in a cold zone?

Sam if you decide to get it please let us know how it does for you, I am eyeing it too! Love those rich colors!

I planted Fruity Petals from Edmunds a few years ago, and being a climber in my zone it spent that time putting down roots and not blooming much that I recall. That's typical for me so all I can say is that it looked to have pretty robust growth. It has survived a couple of winters without trouble and at least some surviving cane. I have mine in part shade so I expect the blooms will be reduced under those circumstances. I recall a few modest sized blooms perhaps last year but I haven't sorted last year's pictures yet.

So bottom line - good survival for the winter but no ability to report yet on its impact in blooming. This year should be a good test of its blooming under poor conditions, with the understanding that under better sun it would bloom more.

Cynthia

Cynthia thank you for that! Hardiness over the winter was my biggest concern so if that is getting a positive review I might just have to put it on the wish list.

Joey,

If you want to make a road trip Matt is speaking at the March 7th rose meeting about roses for our climate.

https://denverrosesociety.org/event/2020-symroseium-the-eternally-resilient-rose/

The 2020 SymROSEium will be held on March 7th, from 9:30 am to 1 pm,
in Mitchell Hall at the Denver Botanic Gardens. Our theme will be “The
Eternally Resilient Rose.” Dr. Sheldon Drobot, Climatologist, will be
speaking on changing climate patterns facing Colorado rose gardeners.
Mr. Matt Douglas, owner of ‘High Country Roses,’ will be speaking about
the different kinds of roses that are available to help meet the
challenge. Consulting Rosarians will be present to answer questions.
Admission is free with paid admission to the Denver Botanic Gardens.

Admission is always free with paid entrance to Denver Botanic Garden if you’re not a DRS member or garden member.

Don’t miss the fun! Checks and credit cards will be accepted for sale items and a discount on 25-pound bag of Mile-Hi Rose Feed.

No pre-registration is required.

Just going through the new web site. They are finally carrying Neil Diamond! I am going to get it. There appears to be alot of new stock. I'll have to stop at the green house to see if they have expanded even further.

It looks like they have finally added a review section. Looking forward to seeing the reviews.

Are you going to his talk mmm? I was thinking it would be fun to go. I keep watching the updates on his website with the new ones. I already have 10 coming from them, and 5 from other places. and I don't even have a place for those. neil diamond looks amazing! Maybe I'll add that to my list.

Neil is great in Colorado! Very fragrant too.

Sam,

We are going to try to go. I had felt like I was coming down with something this weekend but now that is gone. If we are 100% healthy we will probably go.

Edit: Forgot to mention that they normally have great and numerous door prizes. I wouldn't be surprised if Matt throws in some free rose certificates.

Did anyone else make it?

I thought it was well done. My guess is 100-150 people came. Matt from High Country Roses gave a nice humerous talk.

And I won a door prize!

HCR and another outfit had roses for sale. These were the ones left toward the end on the HCR table.

Wow! That looks like it was so much fun and you won a prize!!! The building looks gorgeous just on its own. Jealous over here. : )) Did you get any roses? I think that's All Dressed UP on the far right. I've been considering that rose for the future so thanks for the real life image. It looks as pretty as its pictures. I wonder what other roses were available. What did Matt talk about specifically? Was the other outfit the one from Boulder?

Yes, I'm with vaporvac! Inquiring minds want to know! Ohh , how I wish I could have gone!!

It was held at the Denver Botanical Gardens and I think all the buildings there are pretty spectacular. Surprisingly the parking decks were almost full when we got there. I think it was because today was so gorgeous.

I didn't get any roses but there were a number of people leaving with garden carts to help them with their haul. I think High Country Roses must have grabbed various plants that were Colorado appropriate from their flowering stock and brought them. Everything had a bloom. :-)

Matt mentioned how Weeks Roses had cancelled their order but sold them a propogating license instead and so all his staff has been madly propagating the Weeks patented plants. They are even going out to member's gardens to get cuttings. I think he said they had 600 "parent" plants in house. In previous conversations he had mentioned that Weeks Roses sells them plugs that they then grow. It sounded like no plugs this year hence all the propagating.

Matt has a great presentation style and incorporated alot of humor in his talk.

There were alot of helpful 'science fair' style presentations for people like myself to come up to speed easily and quickly on all things pertaining to rose growing.

I think they thought there was less attendance than usual due to Coronavirus but I think there were more people there than I thought would be. However, this is the first time I have attended.

The other outfit selling roses was Bailey Bare Root Plants. They had bare root roses and peonies for sale. The bare root plants were pretty big, hence the garden carts.

Bailey Nurseries

I was pretty pumped to get a door prize but I was hoping for one of Matt's High Country Roses Gift Certificates. Some other lucky people got those.

In my door prize basket I am most excited to try the rose food. We tried Mile High Rose feed last year and it drove the dogs insane! They kept trying to eat it. This new one is liquid so hopefully won't have that affect.

My High Country Roses order arrived a few days ago. The roses are nicely packed and in good condition. There are two roses even have buds on them. Helen

Which ones did you get?

I ordered Charlie Brown, Marbrée, Rainbow's End, Fimbriata, and Jeanne Lajoie. Helen

Thanks! Loved looking them up. Fimbriata and Charlie Brown are my favorites and I had never seen them before.

Life of the party came with a bud! BenT is right. It smells heavenly. I could smell it even before the package was open!

RR oh, I am so jealous that is so beautiful! I resisted this year and decided next year they're just a few I'm going to get such as life of the party, James Austin and LA park. I did go ahead and get a small potted Moonlight in Paris but I figured for $9 I couldn't go wrong on that one.

VV please tell us how moonlight in Paris works out. I’ve been eying that one, too!

I got it at Menards if you have that store.