If you haven't purchased bands before they look just like sticks, but they will be fine if you pot them up into 1 gallon pots and keep them well watered and in partial sun. Everything looks green and alive. It just takes a little time and patience. I used to wonder if these little things would ever turn into rose bushes, and I can tell you that you will be pleasantly surprised.
Diana

I have ordered a few rose bands before but the canes of these plants are brown and damaged.

Iam not an expert in growing bands. In fact this is the first time I have ordered bands.But Iam a believer .I believed in what they said on these forums about how those babies can grow.Of the four bands I have ordered from vintage One of them resembeled the band in the second picture. In addition the branches were getting black and dry after two days .I was conserned and e -mailed just to keep them posted in case it fails to make it .Gita promply replied and is sending a replacement.I even got one resembling the one in the last picture with blackening closer to the soil line .I wanted to see how it fares.It had new growth in a week.Your roses are showing new growth(pic 1 and 3) and you may be in for a pleasant surprise .

Ditto above.

That's what bands "look like". Sure they look puny compared to grafted roses from the garden center. But pot these up, they will grow, and you will end up with something far greater than you imagine.

Bill

I am not sure size is the complaint. It looks like there is some pretty nasty damage to the canes. At least, to my untrained eye, anyway. Those second and fourth photos look downright nasty, IMO.

I have better picture of Monet.

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The main cane on Rina Herholdt looks horrible too...

Yes, lets stop worrying about the size of the plants, and go back and look at what decobug pointed out. These look terrible!

I agree that those bands do not look healthy, and I would not have been happy with them either. I have ordered from Vintage before and gotten beautiful bands. I would personally not accept bands with canes that looked like that.

Sandy

Just so you know, Monet is a puny grower even under the best of care. Have had one (grafted) for years and it struggles each year, so I can somewhat understand why an own root is as small and tired looking as yours. Give it a chance, but it will require more care than most.

Those bands look fine to me. I order bands all the time and they usually are small like that. I have never had problems with Vintage's roses. You need to pot them up into one or two gallon containers for a few months before transplanting in the ground. Sometimes, I even get bands whose leaves are stripped off; this is no biggy as they recover nicely. Btw, Home Depot had Monet in body bags early in the spring.

Jeff

Are people (including you Jeff) saying that what looks like to me is a split cane (2nd picture)is okay? Is it an old wound that has healed and the rose will be okay?

I ask because one of my roses, not a band, arrived with the same looking damage. It appears to be growing merrily, but I'm wondering if that's something that is unacceptable or considered normal in a young own root plant.

Eric

They look fine to me, too. In light of the fact you have already complained to Vintage Gardens, what exactly are you looking for? If you've never propagated roses before, this is what rooted cuttings look like. The canes you see will be the first you prune off after the plant puts on vigorous healthy new growth. It's still early in the season in your zone. I propagate own root all the time. The propagating wood isn't a thing of beauty. The topgrowth is far less important than whether the plants are well-rooted.

What efforts have you made to grow out these roses? Why are the plants still in bands? They should be repotted into 1 or 3 gallons very deep. That means up to the first set of lateral canes. Do not fertilize them until they show new growth. I can't see your pictures very clearly, but burying wooded canes often solves the problem.

If you need big lusty plants because of your zone and short growing season, you should buy from a nursery that sells 1 or 3 gallon plants, or, better yet, budded plants. Growing out cuttings isn't everyone's cup of tea. I happen to enjoy the satisfaction of growing a rose out from a cutting the size of my little finger, but I have an 8 or 9 month growing season.

Mike B, Really on Monet? Mine is a real strong grower, and the cuttings have done real well so far.

Bernoodle - I have received lots of rooted cuttings from Vintage, and never did they look like some of these. By the looks of these, I imagine markiz37 just received these, and took pics immediately.

I am no rose expert - but I've been ordering roses from Vintage for about 2-3 years now, I think I've got about 50 or so plants from them. Some have looked like yours, split cane, darker cane etc. I usually plant them in 5 gallon pots deep and they do fine. I've not lost a single of their plants yet and they come up very healthy and vigorous.

That's just my experience and I've been happy. They are very knowledgeable over at Vintage and honest. You should give them the chance to reply and see what they say.

Aprille

I recently had an own root BubbleBath band collapse. I purchased it a local botanical gardens sale in October. It died from the base up. I tried cutting off and rooting the tiny little top, but it died, too.

I put the pot in my potting area and forgot about it. In about two weeks it sent up a new cane from the roots that is now about 24" and very healthy. Expecting cane number two very soon.

It looked just like #4 when I noticed it was failing. Smaller twig, though.

I propagate too and my cuttings looks healthy.

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I root cuttings too and mine look like markiz37's! I have never had any that look the first four. #1 looks okay, but not sure about #3, it looks black near the soil to me. As for #2 that looks like it was broken and healed, I would want it replaced and 4 certainly looks dead to me. At least I think it will be since it is black almost to the ground - even though it has green on top - may be just left over energy.

I've bought bands from several companies and I wouldn't accept 1, 2, or 4.
Just my two cents and worth every penny you paid for it.

They didn't look great, but I'd wait to see what happens since they are own root. I received 12 bands in March and some of them looked as bad as these. They are doing fine now and I was able to remove most of the bad growth.

I agree, the canes look damaged. Presumably, you sent photos to VG or described them sufficiently that they concurred. They stand by their product. Of the dozens and dozens of VG roses I've ordered, I have had one problem and they readily replaced it. Mistakes happens, esp at this busy season. Let it go.

Gita had set up a replacement, meantime I try to save what I can.

markiz37, I am glad that you got your replacements. You are the customer and you need to be satisfied with your purchase. Good luck with saving the roses!

Jeff

"Try to save" what you can???!!!

I think the chances of "saving" these are about 100%.

When you DO "save" these, I hope you consider reimbursing Vintage Gardens, because these look like totally viable plants to me.

It only adds insult to injury, that instead of dealing with the nursery directly and privately if you had any concerns, and allowing them "make good" (which it seems they are doing despite having delivered plants that look fine from what I can see) you have gone on a public forum to try to damage the reputation of perhaps the most important specialty rose nursery in the United States. Pretty low behavior IMO. You didn't even give them a chance.

At a time when we see more and more specialty rose vendors close their doors, such as Sequoia which closed down 5 days ago, it's pretty damn irritating to see threads like yours.

Vintage Gardens is a first class operation. They are a repository of one of the truly great collections of roses in this country. The owners are deeply active and committed to "old rose" culture. And they stand behind what they sell.

I think the way you have handled this matter is shameful!

Bill

You know , the size of those bands is NOT what the problem is. We all expect bands to be itty bitty. Those bands have unhealthy looking canes.

Sandy

Forgot to add that I would have asked for a replacement or refund also. I wouldn't waste a second of my time or potting materials on those shown, and I see nothing shameful about demanding quality products.

Sandy

But as Berndoodle pointed out, the wooded canes ought to be buried, and the small initial canes are going to be clipped as soon as vigorous new canes start coming up. And they will come up.

Woody propagating canes are not uncommon.

What you are really "buying" with bands is a healthy and developing "root-system. I'd simply be astonished if these proved not to be viable.

Bill

I don't have a problem with Markz posting. I did the same when I received what I thought was less than acceptable roses from J&P. I've always supported J&P here, and was upset about the order.

This is the place to share our experiences good and bad. And as you can see, many posters have responded positively about Vintage. So I don't think their reputation has been harmed.

It's all about education. I was a bit shocked when I received my first bands last year, but was assured by many here that they would be fine and they are. Markz needs to hear that too.

Bands aren't for everyone. I'm sure Vintage deals with this all the time. Part of doing business.

I received my first bands from Vintage a few weeks ago. I was pleased with my order. The size never bothered me because I have propagated myself and know these were healthy plants. I expect to have to prune & shape them as they grow, however, had I received any that had wounded rooting stock or were blackening, I would probably have asked for replacements.

I have a question, though, based on some of the replies here.

Why do you recommend potting in 1 gal or 3 gal pots instead of just putting them into the ground?

Mine are gradually getting planted in their final "home" in my garden. I soak those not in the ground yet in a bucket of water every few days. To me, pots just seem risk the opportunity of getting dried out and killing the plant.

Also, most of mine have set buds. Do you let those continue to flower or cut them off? I was thinking of letting each flower just once so that I can verify the plant, then cut the rest of the buds off.

berrytea4me, it's a question of whether the threats in the ground are worse than the threat of drying out in a pot. I agree that small pots need daily watering. I tend to overpot for just that reason. Unfortunately, between my pack of bird dogs, the jack rabbits, the gophers and the voles, small rooted cuttings in the garden face major perils. I like my plants to be leafy 2 footers in five gallon cans before I plant them out. If I lived in a civilized place without daily footraces through the "garden," I might on occasion plant out directly into garden soil. Some roses, of course, are bought on a whim, so it's nice to confirm their color, disease resistance and general habit before committing to an excavation project. I've never had a rose get worse in the garden, so if I like its performance in a pot, it's a winner.

Apropos

berry, I pot mine up mostly because I'm not really sure where to put them! And I feel I can better 'baby' them in a group in pots. You can easily move them to shade if it gets too hot and bring them inside for extreme cold.

I had 4 bands in pots last year and they made it through the drought. 3 year old potted roses I planted didn't.

I was just out with my dozen potted bands. I am still cutting off dead and dried growth, but there is also a bunch of new growth.

Vintage should be ashamed for sending someone such awful and unhealthy canes to a customer. They look absolutely terrible. Thats what is the matter with these big named Rose Nurseries, they think they can dupe the customer into spending their hard earned money on trash. I am glad Mark posted this. Good for you Mark.

Great explanations! thank you. I have rabbits, squirrels, and 4yo twins but they don't seem to bother the roses as much as our persistent drought and insessant wind :)