I had heard so many good things about Pickering, that I thought it was about time I bought some roses from them myself. They have a wonderful selection of OGRs, which I love. I usually prefer to order own-root plants, but Pickering sells roses grafted, mainly on multiflora. I don't expect this will be a problem as multiflora ramblers thrive in my gardens. Plus Pickering has a good policy of avoiding Rose Mosaic Virus including buying virus-indexed plants and grafting on multiflora or laxa grown from seed.

My first order I placed in fall for winter shipment. It arrived on December 4, 2011. I bought roses based on classes that have performed well for me in the past or have done well for others with similar conditions. This time R. primula (a once-flowering yellow species aka the Incense Rose from Samarkand), Rene D'Anjou (moss, repeats, from France), Soupert et Notting (moss, repeats, from France), Williams Double Yellow (hybrid spinosissima, once-flowering, from the UK).

Here are some pics:

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Closeup of Rosa primula (canes with reddish "winged" thorns), Rene D'Anjou, Soupert et Notting, and Williams Double Yellow (has the prickly/fuzzy looking canes).

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Got them all planted. Fertilized once on December 20 with a very diluted solution of fish emulsion. Then I was out watering on January 5 and happened to glance down at R. primula. There were lots of fallen leaves from one of my large trees covering the base. But I saw what looked like odd green seed pods peeking out. I brushed the leaves aside, and what did I find? Not seed pods at all!

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Three flower buds! I didn't really expect a once-blooming species to flower at all this year, let alone in January, less than month from being planted bareroot. Well surprise! This rose is very happy. Since then it has started leafing out, along the canes and the buds have gotten bigger. More sprouting along the stems. I am going to wait a bit to brush the foliage to see what kind of incense it smells like.

I am quite pleased with what Pickering supplied and have placed another order for this year, paying particular attention to rare OGRs that Pickering will not be carrying in the future:

Juno (centifolia, once-blooming, pink, I've seen it growing locally and it is gorgeous, my other centifolia Paul Ricault is a heavy bloomer)

Quatre Seasons Blanc Mousseux aka Perpetual White Moss (damask moss, repeat-flowering, white, a sport of the autumn damask, one of my other damasks, York and Lancaster is HUGE and is a super-wafter in the fragrance department)--Pickering is now sold out of this variety

Four Seasons Rose aka Pickering Four Seasons Rose (damask, repeat-flowering, deep pink), posts on Gardenweb made me curious about this one

Duc de Cambridge (damask, once-blooming, medium red), its very fragrant, and a damask, so why not?;)

Ipsilante (gallica, once-blooming, lilac pink), my gallica Jenny Duval is a glorious thing of beauty, healthy as a horse, fragrant+, needs no care, and is a blooming fool in my garden. JD is also a favorite of my neighbors. I saw Ipsilante years ago at the Huntington and I've never gotten it out of my mind.....

Aimable Rouge aka Le Triomphe (gallica, once-blooming, violet red), never seen this one in person, but if the photos in books are anything to go by, and it performs anything like my trooper Jenny Duval, what's not to like? I think it will look nice planted next to Rosa spinosissima

Melissa

Here is a link that might be useful: Gorgeous gallicas at Pickering