hey laura51. i went to college in rochester (r.i.t.), i remember the lake-effect snows... i'm not entirely certain of best times to plant, but i figured that i would ask the supplier (as a start) to see if they have any suggestions. i think may 15, should be a safe time -- i'm guessing earliest time in spring, where there will be little danger of a frost.

Hi laura51.

I'm a little east of you, where this old 'lake effect' has us dancing until May Day. You'll probably be fine planting them around mid-May. If in doubt, put 'em in a bucket of fresh water-they like a short soak before planting anyway. Rugosa are pretty hardy. Mine have taken some punishment through my ignorance, but still thrive.

I've ordered online a few times, and the nurseries sent them and other roses at roughly the best time for planting in whichever zone they'll live in.

Best of luck to you!

Laura, have you ever planted bare roots before?

It isn't really hard. Just make sure you mound lots of nice dirt up almost to the top, and be sure to bury the bud union a few inches below the soil line. When any danger of a frost is past just rinse off the dirt covering the canes with your hose.

Let's start at the beginning.

A bareroot rose is a dormant rose. Ideally, they go to sleep in the grower's fields, and wake up in your garden without really noticing the difference. For this to happen, they have to be in the ground *before* they would normally break dormancy in your climate. So the trick is to plant them as soon as possible after the soil has thawed in the spring, and dried out enough to be workable. Here that is usually around the end of March, beginning of April. It's probably about the same in Rochester, but I don't really know.

The later the roses get planted, the more iffy the whole process becomes and the more work it will take to get them established. Heat and drying out are the enemies here, not cold. Most people want to plant them much, much too late, then wonder why the roses never really settle in.

thanks so much, all, for the info!

When I lived in NYC, I would get bare root roses in in mid-April, and they did just fine. The first year I planted roses it was towards the end of May, and they took over!

Autumn Sunset (too tender for here) and HF Young Clematis, the first roses I ever planted.

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