My John Cabot arrived today! It made it in less than two days by UPS from
Windswept Gardens in Bangor, ME.

I ripped the box open immediately and took 'em out. They were packed in a
black garbage bag. Upon opening the bag I found two nice-looking large plants
with roots covered by wet strips of newspaper.

Each plant's stem below the bud union and above the beginning of the roots was
approximately 1" in diameter. Each one had at least 5-6 sturdy canes up to
12" or so long (estimated), ranging from the thickness of my little finger to
almost the thickness of my thumb.

Each plant also had around a dozen spots on canes where it's getting ready to
put out a new shoot (forgive me if I don't know the right terms here).

Roots looked fine. This is the first time I'd ever seen a bare root rose so
now I know what they should look like.

I immediately filled a 3-gallon bucket and plopped them in carefully, where
they'll sit for a few days until we know for sure whether or not we're going to
get temps below freezing the end of next week.

I'll keep y'all posted on how he does! :-)

--

Kim

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

Congratulations, Kim! John is one of my favorite roses in my garden.
Always looks happy, healthy, usually has blooms (covered in them in
the first flush!), and a nice scent too!

Hope yours brings you as much joy as mine has-
Tracy Lorraine Smith Boulder, CO Zone 5
Where everyone is leafing out!!! No buds yet, though...

Kim wrote:
My John Cabot arrived today! It made it in less than two days by UPS from
Windswept Gardens in Bangor, ME.

I ripped the box open immediately and took 'em out. They were packed in a
black garbage bag. Upon opening the bag I found two nice-looking large plants
with roots covered by wet strips of newspaper.

Each plant's stem below the bud union and above the beginning of the roots was
approximately 1" in diameter. Each one had at least 5-6 sturdy canes up to
12" or so long (estimated), ranging from the thickness of my little finger to
almost the thickness of my thumb.

Each plant also had around a dozen spots on canes where it's getting ready to
put out a new shoot (forgive me if I don't know the right terms here).

Roots looked fine. This is the first time I'd ever seen a bare root rose so
now I know what they should look like.

I immediately filled a 3-gallon bucket and plopped them in carefully, where
they'll sit for a few days until we know for sure whether or not we're going to
get temps below freezing the end of next week.

I'll keep y'all posted on how he does! :-)