On 3 Feb 2004 14:52:36 -0800, (Dataminder) wrote:

I totally agree with the above advice if you must buy bagged roses,
which are generally a bad lot, particularly if you get them at a mass
merchandiser who neither knows nor cares about roses. I find in my
harsh climate, that no bagged rose ever lives to its second year
probably because the spindly roots can't support the plant, but if you
want to look at a year's worth of blossoms for $5, it's cheaper than
buying a dozen at the florists. Still, best to indulge your spring
impulses buying packs of seed in January and wait until the potted
roses come in in a few months.


Quite true. Another option is to search for pre-season sales. You
have to hunt, and not that many varieties will be true bargains, but
there are some great deals out there on plants that will be much
better specimens than the Rose Roulette in those awful sawdust packed
bags. (My favorite deal this year was Wayside Gardens putting gift
certificates on sale at 25% off in November, making every rose or
other plant they carry a sale item by default.)

That said, however, I had two bagged Peace roses that were given to me
given to me go wild, and whatever came up from the two root stocks are
now about seven feet tall and covered with several hundred pink single
blossoms from mid-June to freeze-up. It's one of the few times the
rootstock turned out better than the graft (although not being a
hybrid tea fan, the bar is set quite low.) I stuck an arbour around
them, planted some clematis and it's a showpiece. So you never know.

Cool !! I had a bagged Crimson Glory die back from the August heat,
and it started growing back from the roots in late fall. Now I'm
looking forward to seeing what develops.