On Mon, 21 Apr 2003 10:00:57 -0400, Kim
wrote:


On Saturday I did what many of y'all admit to doing -- saw a boxed rose and was
unable to resist taking it home. I was at the local agricultural co-op and
couldn't resist a J&P "Cherish" I saw. I told myself, "It would fit your
gardening scheme *much* better than the Baby Grand you have coming in any
day..."

My experience with J&P boxed roses has been good. Like every other
choice, a lot depends on the variety. Both of my boxed roses sprouted
out and leafed out and produced buds and blooms in no time. However,
one, Lagerfeld, limps along and got eaten by every possible insect and
slimed by every possible fungus. The other, Don Juan, burst forth in a
show of exuberance that was only stopped by the dead of winter. The
box hit the driveway blooming and hasn't stopped for long. It is now
five feet wide, densely covering a chain link fence, and has grown 12
feet up into the mature hollies on the other side. It throws a 7-foot
cane which then falls over and sprouts laterats every few inches that
then reach for the stars! A fabulous thing to behold.


Hence the title -- Should a bare root rose be planted with the bud union ABOVE,
or BELOW, ground level in zone 6? I've seen instructions for anywhere fron 2"
below the ground to at ground level or 1" or 2" above it. From reading what
you folks are saying over the past few days I've read the group, I'd think
'below' is the right answer...but how far below?

People are all over the place with this. I plant mine two inches or so
above and have never lost a grafted rose to cold despite no real
winter protection. But it is warmer here. From everything I've read, I
think burying the bud really may protect roses in areas with cold
winters--but there is a question of fungal diseases that can rot the
bud union in the soggy earth, and the fact that buried bud unions tend
to result in "own-root" plants, i.e. the grafted on variety sprouts
its own roots. Most think this is a good thing, and I like own roots,
but judging from my experience, there is sometime a GOOD REASON for a
rose to be grafted onto more vigorous or disease resistant root stock.

We need to hear from other Zone 6ers, but if I were in your place I
think I would plant the rose with the bud union right at ground
level--and pile soil or mulch in the winter, leave it exposed in the
summer. Best of both worlds.


And if I have to wait several more days to plant it, where should it be kept in
the meantime? Outdoors...if so, in sun or shade? Indoors...on a porch with
windows, or in a dark shed or garage?

Full sun, and soak it every day in its box! Water, water, water, is
the key to great roses! You want that box to fall apart before you
plant it, or you will have to cut it off.



A better sense of what and how to do it with a boxed/bagged rose in zone 6
would be greatly appreciated. :-)


Plant like a regular bare root sans box. I'm sure these can be planted
in the box as the label says, but the box cannot help it along. Good
luck!
--

Kim

"We have done so much with so little for so long that now we can do anything
with nothing." -- Dave Marcis