Jackson and Perkins is (are, if you're a Brit) now offering
some roses on their own roots, including some Austin roses
one can get from no other source in the US (well, they claim
that they are J & P Exclusives, and I assume that that's what
that means). The own-roots also include the grotesquely
colored "Disneyland" floribunda, which from the pictures
strikes me as so ugly that I have to have it, in order to put
next to Tropicana and other such freaks.

On the flip side, J&P tends to introduce roses and then
dump them; they don't offer a very wide selection, and
there are a dozen smaller growers more worthy of getting
my business.

What would you do?

Mark., last big order was species roses in tubes, from
ForestFarm in Oregon, a company I can recommend

"Mark. Gooley" wrote in message
...
Jackson and Perkins is (are, if you're a Brit) now offering
some roses on their own roots, including some Austin roses
one can get from no other source in the US (well, they claim
that they are J & P Exclusives, and I assume that that's what
that means). The own-roots also include the grotesquely
colored "Disneyland" floribunda, which from the pictures
strikes me as so ugly that I have to have it, in order to put
next to Tropicana and other such freaks.

On the flip side, J&P tends to introduce roses and then
dump them; they don't offer a very wide selection, and
there are a dozen smaller growers more worthy of getting
my business.

What would you do?


It's pretty fashionable to dump on J&P by the supposedly in-the-know set.
(tongue in cheek). And undoubtably there are suppliers that are
better....but I will be the first to admit I buy J&P roses. And I buy them
from COSTCO even (*shudder*). And I'll tell you what else-- I've never got
a crappy one. They always grow well and crank out the blooms. I've bought
'em before and I'd buy them again.

No reason to anguish about it. Buy J&P ones if you see one you like,
doesn't mean you can't buy them from anyone else too.

JimS.
Seattle

On Sat, 20 Dec 2003, "Mark. Gooley" wrote:
Jackson and Perkins is (are, if you're a Brit) now offering
some roses on their own roots, including some Austin roses
one can get from no other source in the US (well, they claim
that they are J & P Exclusives, and I assume that that's what
that means). The own-roots also include the grotesquely
colored "Disneyland" floribunda, which from the pictures
strikes me as so ugly that I have to have it, in order to put
next to Tropicana and other such freaks.

On the flip side, J&P tends to introduce roses and then
dump them; they don't offer a very wide selection, and
there are a dozen smaller growers more worthy of getting
my business.

What would you do?

Mark., last big order was species roses in tubes, from
ForestFarm in Oregon, a company I can recommend


I don't order from J&P anymore, and it has nothing to do with being
fashionable. It is because I have had several bad experiences with them in
recent years and ran out of faith in their ability to do or make anything
right. This was mail order though and if you can purchase their roses in
person from one of the warehouse stores that carry them, it would be a
different story. I don't care for waxed canes though either, and that is
what I see offered from J&P at these outlets. But if they have a rose you
want and you can't find it anywhere else, go ahead and buy it. Odds are you
probably won't have any problems.

I do know that Chamblee's is now offering many Austin roses on their
own-roots, if that's mainly what you're interested in and are looking for
an alternative source. You'd have to go to J&P for Disneyland, though.

Mike

"Mike" wrote
I don't order from J&P anymore, and it has nothing to do
with being fashionable. It is because I have had several
bad experiences with them in recent years and ran out of
faith in their ability to do or make anything right. This was
mail order though and if you can purchase their roses in
person from one of the warehouse stores that carry them, it
would be a different story. I don't care for waxed canes
though either, and that is what I see offered from J&P at
these outlets. But if they have a rose you want and you can't
find it anywhere else, go ahead and buy it. Odds are you
probably won't have any problems.

Yeah, I usually don't see much I want from J&P in discount
stores (but I have a few I got for $2 each at Home Despot a
couple months ago, in pots of course, after black spot had all
but denuded them, including a Scentimental and I think a
Fourth of July). It all looks grafted, too. Sure, I could take
cuttings (and probably I will for those, damn the plant patents,
full steam ahead), but I'm LAZY. I've had good luck with
mass-produced bare-roots (just plant them in pots and give
them a few months; planting directly in the soil seems to kill
about 3 in 4 of them; I got a mess of stuff on closeout from
Wayside Gardens [yeah, yeah, I guess I've already given in
to the Dark Side, but IT WAS ON SALE UP TO 75% OFF]
in May and every plant pulled through [Frederic Mistral...
how can a nominal Hybrid Tea look so good and perform
so well? It's UNNATURAL!]). The only Hot Cocoa bushes
(not so nasty a color...almost, well, pleasant) I've seen
locally looked both grafted and overpriced.

I do know that Chamblee's is now offering many Austin
roses on their own-roots, if that's mainly what you're
interested in and are looking for an alternative source.
You'd have to go to J&P for Disneyland, though.

I've had good stuff from Chamblee's. They look so tiny in
those wee pots, but they're healthy, and the price is right.
Or for Austins I can drive to Sarasota (Sara's Odor, for
Floridians and perhaps Xanth fans) and give Mr. and Mrs.
Muncy my business instead. But the Austins in the J&P
catalog (or check www.jacksonandperkins.com instead)
aren't roses I've seen offered elsewhere, and for own-root
aren't too bad in price, especially if they've been grown
to satisfy the expectations of people used to buying grafted.

Mark., embracing the Dark Side and ready to demand a
refund if they screw up

In Mark. Gooley wrote:
On the flip side, J&P tends to introduce roses and then
dump them; they don't offer a very wide selection, and
there are a dozen smaller growers more worthy of getting
my business.

J&P now seem to be dumping their rose varieties every few years, almost
regardless of merit.

For me, that's a big heresy and I doubt that it's particularly good long
term business for J&P. Consumers aren't islands. I like to show blooms
to people and say 'well now, this is xxxx so if you really like it, pick
one up from the nursery'. Why would I buy a J&P rose knowing full well
that I can't recommend it to my friends in 5 years, no matter how good
it is?

Mark. Gooley wrote:

Jackson and Perkins is (are, if you're a Brit)

How do you figure that? "Jackson and Perkins" is the name
of a company, and so singular. If they were two guys,
it would be plural. While they may indeed be two guys,
in the sense you are using the term, it is singular.
Or, if not, how come? Just curious.

[snip]

My best success has been with potted J&P, though I have
never ordered their bare roots from them--just from
S&W Warehouse, which is a distributor. And, that was
last year which was a bad year for all roses in my garden.

On the flip side, J&P tends to introduce roses and then
dump them; they don't offer a very wide selection, and
there are a dozen smaller growers more worthy of getting
my business.

What would you do?

I'm not philosophical about such matters. I just try to
buy quality at a decent price. If J&P is doing better than
some of the smaller growers, that's the smaller grower's
problem, not mine.

If you go for it, let us know how these own roots do.

"Shiva" wrote:
Mark. Gooley wrote:

Jackson and Perkins is (are, if you're a Brit)

How do you figure that? "Jackson and Perkins" is the name
of a company, and so singular. If they were two guys,
it would be plural. While they may indeed be two guys,
in the sense you are using the term, it is singular.
Or, if not, how come? Just curious.

The Brit way is to refer to a company or organization
in the plural. I added that lame little comment because
that as I typed the posting, I originally wrote "Jackson
and Perkins are...": my brain indeed did think of them
as two guys...then I realized my error of swerving into
a Britishism though I'm about as British as Rosa nutkana.

Mark., now I'm not sure whether I ordered R. nutkana
for my own collection