All I can say is all 3 of my DA's from Chamblees are doing great and grew like crazy. I planted them spring 2014. I really don't know enough about the benefits of bare root vs one that's already growing in a pot to offer any advice, although I am all about saving money so I would probably go the frugra route :).

I would buy from chamblees if own root. Pretty sure they grow fast enough with out being grafted here in SoCal

The other advantage of buying from Chamblee's is that you'll never have to contend with suckers from a grafted rose. I understand DA is now also offering some own-root plants but I don't imagine they'll be cheap either. However, I just ordered ONE rose from Chamblees, and the shipping price was a whopping $23+! That's twice as much as the rose cost. I don't know whether the price stays the same for more roses, which would make it more cost-effective, but I did have a bit of sticker shock.

Ingrid

Wowzers! $23 for shipping, crazy!

Thanks all! Ingrid, I agree that $23 for shipping is a bridge too far. It's comparable with what DA charges for shipping. On the other hand, the roses at Chamblees are roughly 50% of the DA cost, so it still works out.
I've never knowingly bought own root - I'm afraid they won't be disease resistant and "vigorous" enough. Although mildew tends to be our worst problem disease-wise in So Cal, I do want big tough roses. Can I count on own-root to grow as quickly as grafted roses?

I only have one rose I can compare own root vs Doc Huey, but in that case the doc huey really slows it down.....

Roughly half my Austins are own root and the other half grafted. I see very little difference--especially by midsummer--except on a few occasions. Austin's Happy Child is beautiful but a wimp of a plant. I wish I had tried it grafted rather than own root--it needed that little extra oomph a graft can sometimes give.

I don't think it really matters for most of his roses. If it is a newer Austin that isn't in general circulation yet, I order if grafted from Austin. Other nurseries usually only carry a half dozen or so of the older and more generally known Austins. If they don't include the precise Austin you want to get, you have to go where you can get it--from David Austin.

Kate

I bought a fair number of roses this year, and many of them were David Austins. I purchased bare roots from David Austin and Palatine, one-gallons from Chamblees, and bands from Heirloom in spring. I then bought bands from Burlington a little after.

I was amazed at how quickly the Austins came to life -- almost all of them, regardless of size. The roses were planted in a new garden and I hate that "new garden look". It was only a matter of months (and very few months at that) before the bare root Austins looked completely mature and settled in. The one-gallons and bands are behind, but they also grew very well. The bare roots I purchased from David Austin directly are blooming best, and perplexingly, all the non-Austins, regardless of size, have chosen to "sleep" their first year, a rule the Austin roses have refused to follow.

For me, shipping from Chamblees was way more expensive than from David Austin. All the companies I named in this post gave outstanding service.

Best of luck choosing. I don't think you'll go wrong either way.

jannike

If Chamblees had the Austin roses that I wanted, I would order from them. The cost of shipping has definitely been increasing over time. I placed an order last year for around 10 roses, and the cost of shipping per rose from Tyler, TX to CA, was around $4. This year I ordered 9 of the new Kordes' roses and the cost of shipping was $50, which works out to $5.56 per rose; the total cost of the rose is therefore around $15.50 per rose. They charge around $2 more for the Austin roses, so the final cost would be around $17.50 There was a form that was filled out for a Phytosanitary document that is apparently required by the State of California; the cost of this inspection was written on the document, was $30. As far as I know, I was not charged for this amount, so I assume that Chamblees has absorbed that cost. Another advantage of Chamblees is that their are often more than 1 plant per pot. Most seem to have 2 or 3. If you are patient and careful, you can separate the plants and put them in their own pots. I received a pot with 5 plants of Ambridge Rose and was able to get all 5 to develop into full size plants. I have the best results with own root roses in bands from other companies and own root plants from Chamblees, when I put them immediately into a 5 gallon pot with good potting soil over the winter. By late spring/early summer, I usually have a very nice size plant to put into the garden.

Another source to check for Austin grafted roses, is S&W Greenhouse. They are selling grafted specimens of the Austin roses for $19.95. Their shipping costs is less than that of David Austin Roses of Tyler, TX, but they don't have as large a selection. They only ship roses once a year, in late February. Finally, another source of Austin roses is Regan Roses of Fremont, CA. They have an excellent selection of Austins, around 70 or so. They newer ones tend to sell out quickly. They cost $23, but you get a 10% discount if you buy 3 or more. I have gotten roses from them many times and have always received excellent specimens. I don't know what their shipping rates are as I live close enough to drive to pick them up.

Good luck with your choices!

John

Thanks, everybody. I think I'll let my DA order stand as is for now.
Sylvia

Good Morning,
I just wanted to let you know that I just received my own root roses from David Austin today. I am certainly very impressed with the quality of them. They actually look bigger and thicker than some of the grafted oned that I have received in the past from them. Well worth the money:)
Edelweiss

I'm late to this conversation, but I just wanted to add that I think own-root versus grafted DAs depends on the rose and your garden conditions. When selecting one or the other, the genetic make-up of the cultivar and the climate and soil conditions are what affect my choice. (Of course, availability also plays a role.) Here in Portland O, I don't think I've met a DA where grafted vs own-root makes one iota of difference. Some of my own-root bands have been slower out of the gate, but they eventually caught up. In cold climates, where die back is likely, I'd probably try for own-root so that the plant that returns from the roots will be the desired cultivar and not the rootstock. In some locations and with wimpy cultivars (probably not the case with Austins), a grafted rose may be necessary for any kind of success. I am not an expert as are many of the growers on this forum, but the above is what I've gleaned from their posts as well as my own experience. I'm one of those insane rose fanatics that travels through periods of gardening where I get obsessed with nearly black roses, grey roses, tan roses, or antique whimps that I have no business ordering. So, Sylvia, all that is to say, I think you asked a great question. There may be some Austins out there that develop more healthily and rapidly either on their own roots or when grafted on a particular stock. This forum is a fountain of knowledge when gardeners from our own regions share their experiences. -Carol

@ingrid and anyone else looking at chamblees, I placed my first order w/ them a few weeks ago and I called to ask about the shipping, one rose was $23 shipping and 6 roses was $34 shipping. He said they can fit up to 8 roses in one box, but I didn't ask how much shipping was for 8 roses because I knew I'd end up buying 8 then!

@john
that is crazy that you are able to divide the roses into multiples from chamblees. Do they just take multiple rooted cuttings and put them in one pot or did you cut them apart? Curious about that!

Michaela

SFV4Life, I only grow on own root since I have severe heat and drought to deal with in my garden. I assume since you are zone 10 and because of your name, you are in the San Fernando Valley. Own root should do just fine in your yard. No worries about vigor problems and you never have to replant your roses again because they are reverting back to rootstock. I have to clear out a rose bed because of that this summer.

DA's own root roses I got last year were HUGE! Unbelievable vigor. Some of the best roses I have. Would not hesitate to get any own root roses from them. Can't wait for my order which should be here today or tomorrow, hopefully.

mustbnuts, I'm so glad you commented about the quality of the DA own-root roses as I'd been wondering about that. If I were to buy from them again I'd rather buy own-root, although their bare-root roses also did well for me.

Ingrid

Michaela,

Chamblees often puts multiple cuttings per pot, especially for roses that have been out for a while. All of the newer Kordes roses that arrived perhaps 2 months ago, had single rooted cuttings in them. This makes sense to me, as when they get a new rose to propagate, they probably are limited in the amount of stem material that they can take from the 'mother' plants. Later, when they have larger 'mother' plants, or perhaps when they are growing more 'mother' plants, stem material is not as limiting and they can 'afford' to put more than one cutting per pot. I think that the advantage of putting more stem cuttings in a pot is that the pot looks 'fuller' at an earlier point in time and therefore can be sold sooner.

When I began receiving plants with multiple cuttings, I asked the folks at Chamblees if I could divide the plants in the pots to make several plants, and they responded that I could. So I did. I do remember getting a one gallon pot of Ambridge Rose that had 5 rooted cuttings. I divided them and now have 5 full size plants. They may have put in a larger number of these, as Ambridge is a shorter plant and the rooted cuttings might not grow as quickly as those taken from varieties that grow into taller plants. I got 2 plants each from a number of climbing roses that are now covering several arbors: one on each side: Lamarque, Spirit of Freedom, Crepuscule, Cl. Souv. de Malmaison, and Clothilde Soupert. I got 2 specimens of Mermaid, and now have 2 enormous plants that have climbed over 20 feet up a trellis that I suspended from hooks on the fascia boards. That's a lot of rose for $8.95!

When I lived in the Houston, TX area, I noticed that many plants in the nurseries had more than one plant in the plant pots. The most extreme case was a lemon tree in a 5 gallon pot, that actually had 2 trees in it, planted very close together. I was not brave enough to try to separate them. Perhaps they teach this practice in plant propagation classes at Texas A&M or in other schools.

For those confused about the cost of shipping roses:from Chambless, please try the following. Put a a single roses in your 'basket' on the Chamblee website, then begin the checkout process. Put in your address, email address etc., Advance it to the screen where the shipping cost is displayed and write down the quoted price. Then go back a few screens and add another rose to your 'basket' and advance to the screen where the shipping cost is displayed and write down the shipping cost for 2 roses. When you do this, you can compute the price of shipping for each rose if you order 1 or 4 or 10 or whatever number you want to consider. When I did this a while back, I found a 'sweet spot' at around 12 roses, where that cost of shipping for each rose in a group of 12, was around $4.50 at that time. If I added a 13th rose, the cost per plant went up.

Shipping cost continue to get higher. To ship a single rose to my part of CA, is now nearly $25, but if you order 10, the total cost of shipping is $55.52, or only $5.56 per rose. If you can't find enough roses that you want or can afford to get the cost per rose down, perhaps you can find a friend to share an order with. (Caveat: the amount of shipping that is quoted on this online order blank, is approximate-it could be slightly higher or lower)

John

Thank you, everyone!
My 2015 DAs arrived today and are busy soaking in buckets. Into the ground tomorrow, I hope. Two each Alnwick and QofS, to make threesomes with those I already have; one Tranquillity, about which I'm fairly excited.I didn't have any white roses, and now I'll have three -- two Francis Meillands on their way.
Oboy!
Sylvia

My DA roses arrived today as well. They are huge for own root! I soaked them for several hours and planted them in pots a couple of hours ago. When I planted them, I double checked to see if they truly own root they are that big and that well established. They are about quadruple the size of other own root roses I order from elsewhere. They fit well in a 6.75 gallon pot! Yes, they have that much root growth and stem growth. My other own roots fit nicely in a one gallon pot. It is OK as I know that they will grow and do just fine.

Congrats Sylvia on getting your roses. I hope you enjoy them and that they do well for you.

I noticed that some DA roses like Mary rose and WS2000 own root do not like alkaline conditions and prefer potted life here unless they are on grafted roots. Others like Ambridge and Abraham Darby were strong own root plants in my alkaline clay. If you have an own root struggling in the ground, put in a pot with some peat moss or redwood compost and see if it suddenly turns around. Then I would say get a budded rose unless you want to try one of each and compare.

I'm finding this thread very interesting because I'm currently faced with the same decision. I see there's an older thread very similar to this one where a lot of posters went with own-root because of the RMV risk (see below link). Is this still an issue or have they improved? Also, doesn't Roses Unlimited also carry gallon Austin roses, or are they just bands?
-Chris

Here is a link that might be useful: David Austin Roses - Own Root or Grafted?