I can't believe this thread is still going, I posted this in January. January is our time to plant roses so that is why I do not order in the fall. We plant in January and prune in January, there is no harm in planting in the fall but it has to be late, late fall, it does not cool down here until the end of October. Anyway an update on the above Heirloom roses I ordered. I went ahead and planted all of them in containers. It is very hot here right now 110F, I have to water them everyday. My Heirloom roses are doing fine. In March I went ahead and planted 2 of them in my big rose bed, Brandy and Royal Highness they had grown quite well in the containers so I thought they would do ok in the rose bed and they are doing fine. The others I left in the containers. I did have one problem which was a bummer I lost Champagne, gosh is was a pretty rose. I did call Heirloom and they told me they would replace it this fall so that made me happy. I can plant it into the ground when it gets here because I am sure it will be around November by the time it gets here and our weather will be just perfect. In the temps that we have here in the Arizona desert I am lucky I only lost one. I never have lost a bareroot rose one I purchased in a container that is planted in January because of the heat, but these little babies have to be watched closely in my climate. Carrie

I really want to thank everyone for all their input! I wish I had been able to check earlier but bronchitis and asthma had me sidelined for awhile. The two I ordered that are a little iffy for my climate are heirloom and hot cocoa - the two non-Austins I got from heirloom roses. I do have some very busy baby bunnies in my backyard. I bought my daughter a chocolate vine for her "chocolate garden" semi-worried it might become invasive and the bunnies have nibbled it down to almost nothing. I sprinkled garlic around it and they haven't touched it since then (but it's been a whole two days - they might get hungry enough to brave the garlic still, but I did the same thing in my veggie garden and they haven't touched the lettuce or spinach). They're really almost too small for a fence to work. they just leap through the neighbors fence at high speed like it's not even there. If I found a small enough chicken wire that might work to slow them down a little bit though. I'm thinking my dogs and friendly neighborhood hawk probably slow them down the most. The bunnies are under the neighbor's shed (yes they are fun to watch, but not eating my plants - there's plenty of dandelions to go around) and I've noticed they're not crossing my backyard, but staying as much in the bushes and as close to "home" as possible. So since the austins are going in the new "sunrise" garden which is way across my yard, past the the lab, past the ameircan eskimo, past the hawk, past the owls...those might be relatively rabbit safe and safe for the zone so I'll try putting those in the ground (and watching for bunny damage daily) and potting the heirloom and hot cocoa (just because they're borderline for the zone and will eventually end up in a more "bunny friendly" area when planted permanently). Any recommendations on whether I should overwinter them in the garage or back porch and let them go dormant or try to bring them in the house for the winter? Which have you had the most success with?

Times for Farmers in the 1940s were tough for the ones who had not recovered from the Great Depression. My Dad was one of those. The only good time we had were the three to four years he spent in the oilfields as replacement worker for draftees. The war ended and Dad was anxious to go back to farming, an occupation he was ill suited for. Times were tough again for our family as out economic condition wilted while others around us were advancing. One year when I was about 10 yr old, my parents decided to gift a new calf to me as a reward for the labor I was preforming on the farm plus keeping my school work on par. The plan was for me to raise this calf to veal stage and then sell it to collect the sale price. All seemed well for a couple of months until one morning during planting season, I came upon my parents having a hushed conversation while glancing at me; I sensed a problem, and then, Mom sheepishly addressed me to explain they did not have enough money to complete corn planting this year. They needed a couple hundred dollars more and asked to have my calf back. They needed to sell it. I felt a loss and disappointment of loosing a promised gift, and yet strangely, I felt that I was doing a duty to contribute to my family for future gains. I manned up and replied, "Yeah, Mom and Dad, take the calf. I understand.", while secretly thinking: Somehow, I knew from day one this was not to be. That's the way it was on the farm in those days.

Cyndita, Thank you for the kind words, and also for pointing out the fact that Heirloom does offer free shipping after a certain point. As you say, it does balance out the cost, and makes me keep Heirloom in mind since I paid $28.75 per rose at RU to get my roses delivered anyway. I think the kicker is that the sale would limit me to a very small range of varieties, and I haven't had two or three from my list concurrently on sale. This scenario is very possible: I get rose-weak and order something not originally on my list, and then I am toast because I have no space to put it or the space doesn't work because I did not research the rose well enough prior. Anyhow, still good for me to visit the Heirloom site from time to time - thanks for making me think of this. Had a busy weekend and my rose-buying spree continued - placed an order for 6 mins I needed (really needed, not rose-needed) for the front of a large planter from Mountain Valley Growers - an organic rose & shrubs nursery in Central California. They have a small selection of mini roses, all priced at $6.95 each for a 3 1/4 inch pot. They are having a fall sale going on - their only one of the year, and many products (but not all roses) are 30% off. I ordered one each of the following, 6 plants allowed for their best shipping cost per rose. Magic Carrousel Lavender Lace Redwood Empire Renny Strawberry Swirl Torch of Liberty All the above were 30% off - a total of $12.51 off my initial cost. Shipping was going to be high - I knew this going in. But in this case, there are three mitigating factors: 1) The initial cost per rose is low to start with, and the sale makes it better. 2) They are all organic, which is how I do things 3) I do get, for the cost of shipping, the rose in 2 days (reducing heat stress) Also, I do realize that I AM moving stuff from one side of the country to another, so of course it is going to cost money - $29.95 in this case, or $4.99/ rose. The total cost was $59.14 or $9.85/ rose delivered to my house. They do have Ballerina included in their rose selection, though not a mini, and it is priced at $6.95. Since I didn't get Sierra Sunrise, Ring of Fire, or Twister, I knew I would have to come back, so I finished up my order with 6 plants and saved the others for later. Note: I ordered on a Saturday and had a question I emailed them, they got back to me within a couple of hours, on a Saturday, during their only sale of the year. Now that is something! Eden is a rose I have been looking for over the last 2 years, but somehow, not able to find it in stock or something else comes up while placing an order. Searching for this led me to Ebay and Etsy, and at $21.98 and $19.99 (shipping included). I am sure one would have to take precautions against disease/ quarantine the rose for a time etc, but I do wonder if this endeavor would turn out successfully. The Etsy seller states that she is an organic grower as well. And speaking of non-traditional vendors of roses, we apparently have a new player in the game - Wal-mart!. Yes, they always carried the Knockouts and the Parade Minis, and it isn't too much of a reach to go on to Easy Elegance and Drift roses. But I found Lavender Veranda, Cream Veranda, Cl. America, Sun Flare, Zephirine Drouhin, Blanc Double de Coubert (!!), Hot Cocoa, New Dawn, Lavender Meidiland, Blaze, New Dawn and Fourth of July. Well, color me surprised!!! These are all from Hirt's Gardens, and I personally have had trouble growing one of their bulb products, but the good part is, if you did get the rose, you have the return guarantee from Wal-Mart. Another rose that I found while loitering around Walmart.com was Brindabella. Now, this rose caught my eye at the local grocery store (a New England specific chain that places extremely high quality standards on incoming produce and floral stock), and I saw that it was not just one rose, but a new series. Off I went to Helpmefind.com, and see that Mrs. Sylvia and Mr. John Gray of Australia are breeding an entire new series of Brindabella, and the Pastel Tiger looks amazing! I do think the claim of stopping you in your tracks with the rose's perfume in inaccurate, as I walked by a Brindabella and hardly smelled anything. But, perhaps it was due to the most of the blooms being older. I will say this, the thing is fairly floriferous and seems to drop its petals cleanly.