I've never ordered from them before but I just took a peek, they have a nice selection!

Sounds like a good deal, but there's nothing online or in their paper catalog telling how much the shipping charges will be. I'm sure to CA it will be quite high.

If anyone is interested, I have ordered from Witherspoon several times, including last year. Pictured is a partial view of my front rose bed, which was planted in April of 2013. I believe all but one bush was from Witherspoon, in fact I nicknamed it my "Witherspoon Bed". I think all the major companies are good, they are no exception.

This post was edited by Sara-Ann on Thu, Jan 23, 14 at 20:59

That looks fabulous,Sara-Ann. That is one grand recommendation! I think I`ll travel over to their website and take a look. Thanks for the beautiful picture. Lesley

Thank you, Lesley

I was thinking of ordering from Witherspoon but came across 'the scoop on Witherspoon Rose Culture' from 2013. Only 2 negative reviews regarding infected plants, but still.

What do y'all think? worth taking a chance? I have a possible RRD situation on my Brother Cadfael (bought directly from DA) & am not looking forward to having other problems.

Witherspoon has good quality plant material, but is competitive price-wise only if you need later shipping than the others do in February. I checked the shipping rates by submitting an order and then closing the window before it got to "pay now," and it is indeed very expensive for them to ship to California. That means this sale is primarily attractive to cold weather states. If you are in California and can accept a late February delivery, then S&W Greenhouse has most of the same roses and is better priced, when you take in to account the shipping price.

I have ordered from Witherspoon for 15+ years, never had a problem. Great quality plants, shipped when I asked for them.

View1ny: Only one of the 2 negative reviews you cite specifically blames infection (with RRD in the case in question) for the loss of roses. That review raises several questions, the most important of which is the reviewer's failure to provide information regarding when those roses were ordered, or how long they had been planted in her/his garden before the "disease" appeared.

It's highly improbable that within a 3-week period almost an entire rose garden began to exhibit sure signs of RRD after being infected by a single diseased plant. If all the roses began showing signs of infection within a single 3-week timeframe, it's my guess that they were all infected at the same time. I strongly doubt that multiple varieties of infected roses would have been shipped either by Witherspoon, or TO Witherspoon by its wholesale supplier, Weeks Roses.

I'd like to ask the person who wrote that negative review if the herbicide Roundup was applied anywhere in the vicinity of her/his rose garden during that 3-wk time period. It's been demonstrated that Roundup drift can result in symptoms that mimic those of RRD. That possibility seems a rational explanation for an otherwise very questionable set of circumstances.

As for the second negative review -- April is quite late to be ordering bareroots from North Carolina for planting in a Virginia garden. Some varieties might withstand being planted under those conditions, others would not.

kstrong, I spoke to Kelly at Witherspoon yesterday & she told me that for some reason the website is overcharging on shipping. The cost of shipping one rose to NY is $16, 2-5 roses is $18. Kelly said that any customer overcharged for shipping will be refunded for the overcharge. If you want to know the real cost of shipping, your best bet is to call Witherspoon.

jaxondel, everything you wrote makes a lot of sense. Thanks for taking the time to explain this to me. I'm going to go for it & hope the roses I want will be available.

Yep, too expensive to ship to CA. Over $26 for just two roses. The two I would've ordered I can easily find elsewhere with less shipping. But, that's ok. The company is good and for you guys back east it probably isn't as much shipping. I know the last time I did order from them the plants were nice and big. I did get a mis-marked one tho, and they were supposed to replace it the next yr, but they didn't. I seem to remember us discussing them last yr and when I mentioned it then, the owner chimed in and said to call and they'd replace it. But I never did. Not their fault, mine.

I have their RK WITHERSPOON which isn't available anywhere else, and it's a nice plant with pretty blooms. Just gets thrips tho, but I don't spray.

My price for three plants jumped to $70 b/c of shipping & I live relatively close by. Sounds like a great reason to drive & check them out! :-) Glad pick up is an option & I can still order now.

I checked on last year's Witherspoon order. I ordered 20 roses and was given about a $60.00 discount. The shipping charges were a little less than the discount amount. The total amount I paid was about $19.65 per rose. They must be charging more for shipping. Edmunds, who also has a good selection has free shipping on $100.00 or more until sometime in February and they don't charge as much for unpatented roses. They have some good collections which can be a way to save also. I have never had any problems with Edmunds. I was a little concerned when they changed owners, but they seem to be as good as ever, at least I haven't had a problem with them.

I just ordered 3. Munstead wood, lady of shalott & Barbara Streisand! decided to have them shipped, I will drive there when it's warmer. :)

kstrong, thanks for posting about this sale. I would never have found out about it. Like growing_rene, I ordered lady of shalott & munstead wood. Also ordered Love Song & requested 4/1 as the date for delivery.

My local nurseries don't carry these roses, just a few out-of-patents (and of course KOs) so I saved myself a lot of frustration & gas driving around looking for the roses I really wanted. I'm really looking forward to adding these to my garden. Can't wait.

I know Taylor Pike..he does presentations for our rose society from time to time.. I have also bought from them...The quality of their roses is exceptional