That sounds pretty bad. I've only had 1 die from Pickering--& they credited it as soon as notified (which was a long time, like 60 days or so). Never received a mis-marked plant.

J&P always sent correctly marked plants & they did well if I planted them deep (grafted plants tend to gradually die off for me).

I've had mislabeled problems even with roses bought potted at local nurseries. It happens. Bare roots are always more chancy as to whether they'll break dormancy or not. But if you're dealing with a reputable on line nursery there should be no hassle about getting replacements or refunds. Yes, it's a hassle for you though.

If you are having that much of a problem getting your bare root plants to start you need to look at what you're doing and try some changes and see if that improves your success rate. I do occasionally lose one but on the whole they seem to do fine for me. What procedure are you using?

It sounds to me like you are planting them in too warm temperatures. The line around here is that bareroots aren't planted in spring, but late winter. Ideal planting weather is about 40, with chance of rain. Much warmer than that, and they will need a covering of mulch or some material to hold moisture in until the roses have a chance to form new feeder roots.

There are places in California that struggle with bareroots because they never get the sorts of cold temperatures bareroots like to get established.

I've been planting bare root roses for over twenty years with nary a loss, and I think they're much easier to plant than rassling with a 5 gallon David Austin rose (which I'm facing today). I plant the bare roots in February and early March, if possible, and it's plenty cold. Maybe you are planting in too warm conditions, as mad gallica says. My roses come from Palatine, Hortico, Pickering, Edmonds, and many years ago, Jackson & Perkins, and Wayside Gardens. Never a mislabeled rose, either. I wouldn't give up on bare root roses, but perhaps, you should do a thorough review of how you are going about planting them. One downside to the Canadian roses is they are grafted on multiflora rootstock and some of these roses don't like alkaline soil, which I have. They do better with soil acidifier and fertilizer for acid loving plants, I think. Some of these roses don't seem affected by the alkalinity of the soil, though, so it's a bit of a gamble. Diane

When I lived in a coastal zn 9 climate, & now, I had bareroots shipped late Feb. (though Pickerings' earliest ship date is later). I ordered from Wayside, Arena, Edmunds, J&P, just about everyone. I didn't have any losses I can think of other than 1 or 2. No mislables either, tho I have had a few bands mislabled. I don't order as many, though I like them, because most are grafted & own-roots do better for me long term.

I open boxes at once & soak the entire plants in alfalfa tea or weak liquid fertilizer solution until the next day. They get planted deep, heavily watered & mulched.

But even if your care is good, it sounds like you're getting too many mislabled plants. Still, I've never had any problems with any nursery not making things right when I asked.

bareroots are the only way I buy roses, ever. We don't have 'bands' over here in the UK and container roses can be dodgy (because they are sometimes bareroots stuck in potted soil - OK after the roots have established around the following April, but not if you buy expecting a nice established rootball which then falls apart. They really ought to be termed containerised roses but, well, marketing.......
The bareroot season is from November to March - I always order really early and get them as soon as they are lifted from the fields in late October/early November and plant immediately in the ground.

However, the real kicker is cost - a potted rose is usually double the cost of a bareroot....and if carriage costs are included, the sky's the limit - the cost can be trebled or even quadrupled.

I usually plant in Feb. if vendors can ship that early. I will revisit my planting habits-overnight soaking, very large holes, half native soil(by the time I remove the rocks and boulders) Happy Frog no manure compost, and a little fish meal. It sounds like none of you are experiencing failures due to poorer quality stock so I'll rule that out. I agree that the mislabeled roses need to be replaced. Mary

Mary

I was told to enclose the bareroot when planted in the ground with a paper sack filled with soil-less mulch covering most of the plant except the vary tips of the canes. And water the whole thing for I think 10 days then slowly start removing the mulch as the plant starts getting leaves. Supposed to help wih them drying out. You know SoCal, can be cold (50's one day) and 80's the next.

I think that is a good suggestion Kippy. As I began to think more about this I realized that all the bare root roses that I have lost have been in my south side bed. It gets warm over there very early. A combination of too much warmth too soon and drying spring winds may be what's taking them down. I haven't protected that side from temperature variables like other parts of the yard because it's my sunniest area. I think that may be the problem. I notice that they start blackening cane by cane as it warms up and we do have warm weeks followed by a return to winter. You all got me thinking, Thanks. Mary

Yup, I think both Pickerings & J&P used to enclose a planting page that recommended completely hilling up a mulch-mound around & over newly planted roses & only slowly removing it from the top as the plants settled in & showed new leafing out on the canes. Sometimes I did that, sometimes not--it's probably a good idea & might help your situation. I've done it on all of my spring planted stuff here because of intense heat & winds we can get in "spring".

Tuggy3: Rogue Valley sells bare roots? I did not know that.

Windeaux-you are right, no bare roots at Rogue.

Campanula-One year I bought some of those "containerized" roses locally also. Big surprise. I paid an extra $10 for five gallons of potting soil. I guess those have to stay in the pot for awhile.

In line with your responses I'll take more precautions against the fierce winds and temp fluctuations. I thought the early warm temps were in my favor but I think they worked against me. The bare roots I received this year had much better root systems and looked much fresher than last year so I thought I was home free. Back to the basics.

It wasn't all a loss. I will have to say my not at all Passionate Kisses has a really full large cream bloom and my Crimson Bouquet put up with the way I treated it and is doing well. Since it's the second year in a row for one company I'm asking for a re-issue on the mislabeled ones.

I missed the bare root sales at local discount nurseries (Home Depot, Orchard Supply) by a few months and was told that the potted roses wouldn't be in for six weeks. I decided to get my three bushes bare root mailed to me.
When they arrived they had very nice roots but the canes were smaller than what I had bought 20 years ago. I think the plants were younger than what I got in the past.
I went to Home Depot today and looked at their potted roses. The canes were much larger and more mature, given the three gallon pots, the roots had to be less than what I got bare root.

I guess it will take this season for the roses to catch up on top with what I could have bought potted.

Maybe I'm imagining it, but i thought that Rogue sent an e-mail sometime last fall/winter announcing a limited time chance to buy some bare-roots--something like they were available because of plants needing to be repotted or whatever. Not at all SURE about this but seem to recall it.

Blue girl I thought so too. When I went to check their site last night there was nothing to indicate they were selling anything but potted roses. I thought I had imagined it.

Mary

Well maybe I didn't imagine it! Might be worth a call. my vague recollection was it was late in the year, or in winter & had something to do with the fact they had to re-pot these plant & they were dormant, etc.