Call Chamblee's and let them know the condition.

What a shame. Yeah, I hate that when I steer someone the wrong way by accident. Maybe his are better, like you said.

Carol

I would call them and also e-mail them pictures of what your received. I'm sure they'll send you replacements. They are a reputable company, but it's disheartening that you received such poor plants.

Almost everything I bought from Chamblee's last year died. I contacted them. They told me the soil was too wet. I told them it was the same soil my other 400 roses were thriving in. "Sorry" was the response. I won't do business with them again.

I don't know why my mac doesn't show the "submit" button, so back to the HP. Thank you for replying. I'll post some pics tomorrow; just spent too much time downloading pics so I can erase memory card which is full. Besides being not much bigger than my bands in less than gal pots, Fedex completely jostled them in the box. That's my only explanation. I don't know if I just expected better, or if this is "normal", so thought I'd post before calling.

FireOPal Kolorscape had a bloom that totally opened in a few hours and is white. I thought this was a apricot pink then white flower, but it went directly to white. Perhaps because it's the first bloom.this was the best plant of the lot. I'm a newbie and should probably just chill out, but it's hard. thanks in advance for any info.

I'm sorry about your Chamblee's troubles. I was going to mention that nursery gallons are smaller than true gallons. so this is why the containers for your roses seemed too small. Diane

Fire Opal is coral cream the bud was most likely affected by the trip. Anyways, it opens almost cream then the back petals change to coral. As it ages the coral darkens until the whole flower is coral. As the plant matures the flower will last longer. Hope this helps with your placement of the rose.

Chamblees is hit and miss. I did talk to them this year and they gave specific instructions about not watering too much, no more than twice a week.

Mine have always been small but they catch up super quick. I too like to get big bushes but I promise you they will catch up probably by year two but likey year three. Some varieties grow quite a bit in year one. It's disappointing when they are damaged and like suggested I'd give them a call. It's very aggravating too with how the delivery companies handle them but in my opinion the vendors should manage to stabilize the plant so it doesn't move around in the box. I wish you the best of luck. Judy

Fire Opal Kolorscape -the color is actually cream white - what makes it coral pink is UV effect of being out in the sun. It is the same effect that you see in what is called "hand painted roses". Sort of the reverse of a rose fading in the sun. So put it out in the sun and you will see the color as it opens.

Here are some pics. Th first three are Summer Romance. The longer reddish branch in the last pic is actually broken off as you can see in the second picture. The rest are just smashed and a broken. Quite a few just fell off.

The next is Cecile Brunner. It has two small branches, the others are smashed and barely hanging on.

Lastly, is Opal Fire Kolorscape. This was by far the best of the lot, but still had a lot of smushing and broken branches.The large on on the right is just hanging on. I've read where folks have a hard time getting their roses out of the boxes as they're so well secured. Definitely not the case here. I was happy to see the bloom, thought. :)

I was comparing the gallon size to the gallon pot my Hydrangea came in from Menard's last year. Thanks for the heads up on growth time. I had figured that long for a band, but thought this size would be faster. It makes the Lowe's price seem reasonable. Live and learn. :(

I will call tomorrow, but meanwhile is this what I should have expected? DH says I made a good decision based on available data and available funds, and I'll just have to nurse them back to health and adjust my time-frame for my beds.

The good news is the two "Munstead Wood" from DARoses that came bareroot are sending up little shoots like gangbusters as are my dainty bands of Margo Koster and Tooth Fairy. I guess they're happy in their new home. I run home just to check on them. I think I'm in love with roses.

Good news on the DA. I bet you can nurse the others back to good health and going forward in no time. I know you are right about adjusting your time frame for the beds.

Thank you. That explains a lot, especially the same size of the plants. I suppose the two Kordes varieties are popular so smaller. :( I called yesterday and sent them pics, but have yet to hear back. I hope they offer to make good in some fashion.It would be helpful if they post this info on their site. It does give me hope that my friend can expect better with his big order of La Marne and Buff Beauty, but maybe not so much with Don Juan, Dark Desire and Iceberg. (Don't ask me why he got the latter in our hot, humid climate, and he's one zone hotter. He's not like me at all and just saw and ordered. :))

I went to Lowe's to try and find Summer Romance so I'd have something to show for my efforts this year, but they are sold out of EVERYTHING, but Knock-out and other Star varieties. Big disappointment there. No one knows anything about them or if they expect more. :((

A few years ago, I drove down to Chamblee nursery to shop. They are such nice people! I bought many many roses. I picked the biggest I could find for each that was on my list, and I can see how, by mail order, some people get huge plants and others end up with tiny little starts. I'm not ordering any more from them, though, because the own root plants just never catch up to grafted roses in my yard. I have heard so many people say they catch up in 2 or 3 years, but not here. The Austin roses I bought from Chamblee are not even a foot tall after 3 years, and the ones I get from everyone else, bare root, grafted or not, reach 4 feet at least in the first summer. I feel so disloyal for saying this since our rose society buys from Chamblee for our yearly sale. I buy several each year to support our club, but I might as well just make a money donation and not bother planting the scrawny plants.

I used to get so excited about ordering from them because it's so much easier to plant the potted plants than to get a bare root rose started. They always look good at first, but then at the end of the summer, when I see they still are the same size, and all my other roses have doubled and tripled in size, it's disappointing. The next spring, when they are even smaller, I almost can't find them!

The last couple of years, I've bought lots of roses from Palatine and other places that graft onto multiflora, and those roses are huge and healthy!

Like I said, Chamblee has super nice people and they have fair prices and a lovely selection. I envy those of you who have success with the young own root roses.

Cindy,

Are you planting your small own root plants directly in the ground or are you potting them up? I used to plant very tiny plants directly in the ground but then started potting them up until they were bigger, and I found that that was more reliable. They had more momentum or oomph to make it in the ground. If a Chamblee rose is close to gallon size then I'd pot it up in a 2 gallon pot until it's looking stronger. Some plants just do better grafted but I think own root plants will get bigger quicker in a pot.

It amazes me how people like to complain just for the heck of it. Maybe because of boredom? Chamblee is an amazing company, with an amazing selection of hardy and healthy roses. Perhaps one of the last businesses that sells reliable rose bushes at a very inexpensive price. It is because of posts like this one, small-family businesses go out of business overnight. Write a complaint because the order is smaller than expected or some branches arrived broken? Really? I bought a band from a famous rose nursery for $37 a couple weeks ago and when I opened the box it was literally a twig with one leaf barely hanging on it. I guess it is what it is. I just hated it, and never will buy from them again, but go out there and scream to the 4 corners of the world that a nursery is horrible is an outrage. I didn't like their bands, the size and the health of their plants, but lots of people do not mind having a wimpy, skinny band for $40. So, again, saying bad things about a business because it didn't meet your expectations is just wrong. Especially when it is very difficult for a small business to survive in this country nowadays.

Not to start a war. I understand your point. But people have a right to complain if they get poor service or receive inferior plants. Sometimes the small $37 band might be a rare, weak rose and some people will pay that because they want the rose. There is no excuse for poor customer service. With the internet now there is really no hiding from treating customers poorly. If someone complains about the way things were shipped etc I take that with a grain of salt. It certainly wouldn't stop me from ordering but when I, as an experienced rose person, complain about weak plants with no root structure and I'm simply told I overwatered them, like I'm an idiot---with no attempt to make things right--then I won't order from them again.

Susan

Vaporvac, those would not be acceptable to me. And I hate to be the one to tell you but you ARE in love with roses! *grin*

Holy cow, batman! I'm taking a breather here. I certainly didn't mean to offend anyone or come off as if I'm bad-mouthing Chamblee. Jeez. I was just comparing my shipment to the others I saw during my extensive research. Perhaps those pics set up a false expectation. I preferred to ask in what I thought was non-judgmental environment if this was acceptable before calling them. I'm a newbie and have now ordered from DA, Burlington and Chamblee, getting bare-root, bands and now gal pots, so there's no comparison for me. I expected to pot these up and have to grow them for a while. I was really just continuing a post from a few days ago, but my computer would let me reply to it for some reason, so I started a new one or I probably wouldn't have mentioned their name.

Everyone's experience and funds differ, but buying these roses this year is a big commitment for me. My bands from B were small, but I'd asked for the top growth to be clipped to fit in the smaller box. Those roses were not readily available, they had great roots and have transplanted well. Gee. I don't know what to say. It's obvious people wouldn't order from such places if they didn't want to support their continued existence. I wasn't "complaining for the heck of it", but rather asking for opinions and input which has been extremely useful.

Anyway, C;s note inside the box says to call if there is any damage caused by shipping. The nice man who spoke to me today, said stem breakage was unacceptable and the pics are for FedEx who reimburses them for damage. I never said anything about poor customer service, just what I saw as shipping damage. The pot size question was just a question, not a diss and now we all have a satisfactory answer that can help people in the future.

chris2486, do you recommend dis-budding young plants to encourage root growth?

I just wanted to add my 2 cents regarding size. I received my order a few days ago. In order of size from largest to smallest: Ruby Ice, Molineux, Cream Veranda (bought one last year so now have two!) and Peach Drift. All are healthy and Ruby Ice had a bloom and several clusters of flower buds. In response to this thread, someone said all Chamblee's cuttings are grown on for 32 or 34 weeks and then they are put up for sale. The roses not sold at that time are kept growing hence are larger. My order shows this pattern. The Austins were closing out and were no longer being carried,and I bought the Ruby Ice primarily because it was thornless, though the bicolored bloom is gorgeous. Lots of mention of Cream Veranda and Peach Drift in the forums so people must be buying them like crazy. Frankly, shipping is always a crapshoot with the handling of the packages and I always keep my fingers crossed as the shipping date nears. So far I have been lucky! Yes disbud to encourage plant and root growth though I confess I cheat!

Jim on the East Coast

I have purchased from Chamblee's for years- both in person & mail order. I can't say enough good about the roses I've received from them and the advice and conversations I've had with Mark Chamblee and the other employees. The roots really are the most important part of a small rose plant. Nearly every rose order I've received by mail from a number of sellers has had a few broken twigs- but all grew out nicely.

I received an order from Chamblees today. 24 roses delivered in three boxes. All of them are planted in larger than average one gallon pots. They are beautiful. They are between 18-24" tall. Some stems were broken but there are still many good strong stems. These will go into large pots for a few months and into the ground in the fall when a bed is ready for them. They are loaded with blooms. I'll let one bud bloom to make sure they are the right rose then I'll pinch off the buds for a while. I am extremely pleased.

I've ordered many, many times from Chamblees and never had a shipment arrive in that condition. My most recent order arrived 10 days ago and they did a commendable job packing. All the roses are looking great.

Sure hope they completely make good on your loss. Meanwhile if the root systems are undamaged they should all grow.

I have ordered for two different public gardens here as well as my own, so that's a lot of shipments over the years. Just want to assure everyone out there that this is NOT typical of Chamblees.

I've had good luck with Chamblees. But, like others have said, we all have a right to describe our orders and whether they met expectations both with the plants and with customer service. A lot can be gathered by looking at how a company handles a shipment that the receiver feels is less than satisfactory.