Mail-Order Roses

I have been asked a few times where I get my roses. There are several good sources (friends and reputable garden centers are two), but most of mine have come from mail-order nurseries which carry rare or unusual varieties not easily found anywhere else.

Rosette Delizy (Tea, Nabonnand, 1922), in my garden

Yesterday on my doorstep I found a long-expected package from Vintage Gardens, a mail-order rose nursery specializing in antique and rare roses.

 For me, and I am sure for many other rosarians, opening a package with new roses feels like Christmas morning. Here are my four plants snugly packed with lots of newspaper to ensure the stems do not break.

Most mail-order roses are own-root (not grafted onto a rootstock) and are in effect rooted cuttings of a mother plant that grows in the nursery's garden.

To reduce costs, roses are shipped in small containers called bands (bigger sized plants are usually available from most nurseries too). Although they can be put directly into the ground, bands are usually replanted into a 1-gallon container (and sometimes to a 5-gallon afterward) because a bigger and more mature plant has a better chance of surviving in the ground.

Comparative size of a band and a 1-gallon pot

The roses are actively growing, and the container is wrapped up tightly so the soil does not spill out in transit.

Even though initially band roses are tiny plants, they grow quickly.

Francis Dubreuil (Tea, Dubreuil, 1894), in my garden

 With the exception of some hybrid teas and floribundas bred in mid to late 1900s specifically for being budded onto a rootstock, most own-root varieties thrive and bloom as well as (or better than) their grafted counterparts.

Lorraine Lee, Climbing (H. Gigantea, Tea, Mackay, 1932), at the San Jose Heritage Garden

I now have close to a hundred roses that I received as bands. All of them have become big, healthy and vigorous plants. I don't order as much as I used to because my garden is full, but if space becomes available I will most likely mail-order my replacements. The choice of varieties is very large and watching baby roses grow into wonderful, generously blooming plants is a lot of fun.

Lyda Rose (Shrub, Lettunich, 1994), in my garden

Here are some nurseries from which I have ordered:

Vintage Gardens
Antique Rose Emporium
Burlington Rose Nursery
Chamblee's Rose Nursery
Rogue Valley Roses
Heirloom Roses

Finally, just one more thing that I feel is important: most garden roses are complex hybrids tracing their origins to several regions with widely different climates, such as subtropical China or continental France. Therefore, not all roses will thrive in all climates. Do your research!

Mme Berard (Tea-Noisette, Levet, 1870), in my garden

P.S. For curious rosarians, I should, perhaps, mention what I got. My order contains Pink Princess (my post on Pink Princess), Snowbird (my post on Snowbird), Etoile de Lyon and Taischa.