You'll get mixed advice on this.

First, is it a bareroot plant or an own root baby? A dormant bareroot can be planted any time of year. An own root is a little more tricky. About 2 weeks ago I obtained 3 own root "bands" (very young plants) and I will have to do some serious winter protection if I plan to put them in the ground right now.

Last year I fall planted several own root roses, but they had been growing in pots all summer and had enough stamina to survive their first winter.

So I guess I'm saying it depends on what you plan to plant. A lot of people recommend fall planting of roses because it gives time for the roots to grow without the top growth sapping energy for root growth, but where baby roses are concerned, it's more complicated.

Jen

Jen,

Thanks for the answer. :)

I haven't found there to be any difference. I suppose i am a "maverick" rosarian, as i plant own root bands spring and fall without any winter protection.

I think largely it depends upon the cultivars you are going to plant. If they are hybrid teas or most of the other modern roses, you might want to rethink and put off til spring. All the moderns I've planted in the fall did not make it through the winter.

That said, if you are planting bare root roses your chances are better, because the roses are dormant and have a better chance of overwintering.

Barbara

My experience in zone 5a with fall planted bare roots compared to like varieties planted the following spring showed the spring planted ones did much better the first year. By the second year both were equal.
Fall planted bands have very little chance of survival.
Fall planted potted roses brought in from warm growing zones in late summer or early fall did not get climatized and died also.
The same potted roses obtained in the spring grew fine and overwintered well.

Thank you for your wonderful advice! :) I really appreciate the time/effort/thoroughness. :) Considering that i'm a rose newbie, i think the best thing to do is to prepare the beds for next spring, and spend the rest of the year dreaming what my garden will look like. :) Let me know if you think you know of a rose i *shouldn't* live without! :)

regards,
carolyn

If you don't mind, I would like to jump on this thread too - I have several roses in big pots and I would like to plant them in the ground now.

One of them is a Julia Child which I have grown for over a year now in this big pot. Still, it has remained to be pretty small in size.

Then I have a couple that I just put in these big pots this spring - they are Double Delight and Dream Come True. Both were in 2 gallon+ pots and now they are pretty decent in size.

Following the advice above, I should wait until spring to plant these roses in the ground then? Or is it OK since they have been in these big containers (10 gallon+) for a while now?