It is not too early to plant your roses in fact I would urge you to plant
them as soon as possible as long as the ground is not frozen. I does not
matter if the ground is just cold.

Normally bare root roses are dug up for sale at the end of the growing
season (Mid/Late Autumn here in the UK) and ideally planted as soon as
possible. The tops and roots are trimmed before planting and the roots will
actually grow through the winter period which provides a good foundation for
the rose to grow from in the spring. So Plant As Soon As Possible.

The only time I would plant outside of the Autumn / Winter period is with
pot grow roses so that there is no root disturbance and therefore no check
in growth.

Regards

Martin Double
BexRose

Email:
Web Site: http://home.btconnect.com/cadoss/bexrose

"tmtresh" wrote in message
...
I just bought a few bare root roses from Home Depot. I got a great deal at
$2 each. I wasn't thinking very clearly because later I realized--- it's
February and cold outside. So, I got to thinking about my options.

1. I could leave them in the garage where it's cold until it warms up a
bit.
(they are dormant, no buds breaking out.)

2. I could pot them in 1 gallon pots (or I even have a few 5 gallon
buckets
around). But- do I water them? Should they be inside under a light? Should
I
leave them in my cold garage?

3. I could plant them outside. The ground isn't frozen (I don't think) and
they could come out of dormancy more naturally. I worry about this option
mainly because they don't have much of a root system and I would hate to
kill them outright. I'm in Idaho zone 6.

So, what do you think? In retrospect, it was a pretty dumb thing to do, I
should have waited until spring and bought some real plants. What should I
do to make the best of this?