Moses , I saw that this morning as well. I did think the note of aphid repelling was interesting! I didn't check the site to see the price . A bag a rose is very pricey ! Sheesh . I buy bags of worm compost ( huge bags! ) and that is inexpensive and I like the results . I think I was told to only use a cup a rose or something small like that. Very affordable.

I wonder if a peppermint oil spray would deter aphids as well ? They don't bother me too much but could be helpful .

I saw that too lol. But it did get me wondering if all the catmint I have growing around is any kind of pest deterrent?

In gardens that aphids are not a major pest problem they actually draw in good insects which in return might help out with the more destructive pests like thrips & rose midge etc...

But yes Mint compost is too expensive for my blood anyhow...So I personally will not be buying some anytime soon...lol

I grow mint, or should I say it grows itself all over the yard. So, maybe I will cut it, dry it and mix it with compost. Save the money, use what I already have.

Someone needs to clue Heirloom in on their over Inflated prices.

Like Kristine I have mint that constantly tries to take over our front flower beds. Every time I pull it up I think, "I paid money for this?"

(I originally bought the mint plants hoping to deter mice from eating bits of my car each spring. Planted it in several places all around the garage. Long story.)

We purchase mulch by the half dump truck load from our local nursery. I believe we pay approx $40 for a cubic yard. The same amount at $8.95 per pound? Yikes.

Anyway... No sir, I don't think I'll buy anything else mint for the yard. Especially for our nice clean new rose beds. And I think Al would laugh himself sick if I suggested spending more money on super expensive mint mulch.

When I saw that tiny bag I thought the same thing. A lot of money for a little bitty bag that would maybe be enough for one miniature rose.

I agree, that is a lot of money. So is $45 for a David Austin rose that doesn't even include shipping.

I used to love Heirloom Roses and have defended them many times in the past but I have placed my last order with Heirloom Roses I'm afraid. Using a $15 gift certificate (from them for a band rose that didn't make the trip) and during a sale with free shipping I still spent $30 on a new rose. The rose has been in transit for six days and I had to email them for tracking because they never sent it. It also shipped later than my shipping date I requested. All of these add up to a bad experience for me. I hope my rose arrives in good shape and I can just close the chapter of Heirloom Roses in my life and move on.

I no longer feel like their prices are reasonable, let alone justified. It seems their quality of customer service continues to decrease as their prices continue to increase.

Mint compost I would wonder about having Verticillium in it.

Embothrium,

I wonder if that's not why it is supposedly distilled.

Doesn't the word 'compost', signify a decomposed, beneficial bio-rich soil amendment, not a distilled, organically dead substance?

Moses

I'm over heirloom. They have roses that you can get a chamblees for more the 3x the price! I cant even understand it. And I HATE HATE HATE that they defoliate the roses before shipping. What is that? Last time I ordered from them I specifically requested that they not be defoliated and they basically told me, "nope, we have to defoliate them." Why? Their answer was to remove any black spot or other such issues. So now I'm getting twigs for $45? No thank you!

SoFL Rose,

I suspected they removed their foliage to hide disease/insect issues. Well, I'll be!

I watched a climbing rose video Heirloom's owner, Ben Hanna, made. I cringed as I watched him wack away far too much growth. I couldn't believe my eyes!

The experts are not so expert...sometimes.

Moses

If their quality was the most amazing quality in the whole world of any Rose ever Sent it might be worth it. But I think the roses are less quality than so many other places for three times the price.

After they told me 5 minutes after I placed an order that I could not add to that previous order ,that was the end for me.

Oh my goodness Kristine, I cannot even believe that. We all love roses and every rose nursery I have ever ordered from treats me like a neighbor or friend. When I order from RU, Pat will send me photos of rose varieties she particularly likes growing in her garden. I can tell she's already excited for us to grow these beauties too.

Recently I placed an order with a Rogue Valley Roses and was on the phone with them for 20 minutes just chit chatting about roses and hurricane Irma here in Florida. It was like chatting with a friend.

Heirloom just seems focused on making money. They didn't used to be like that, but last time I spoke with them (when I called to ask them not to defoliate) they basically said, "sorry, we will defoliate how we see fit". I paid for those Roses. At this point they are my roses, why can't they oblige a simple request?

They are the only nursery that defoliantes before shipping. If It was common practice or known to be helpful in some way, i wouldn't mind, but I don't know where they got the idea that removing the leaves was beneficial in any way. It's infuriating.

And to top it all off, now that moses mentions the video, it just proves that these are business people, not rose people.

Too bad because they have great variety and for me are fairly local. But those prices for those tiny bands.

I agree about some of our other nurseries. When on the phone it is like speaking with someone with a common love of roses. I appreciate that. I like those nurseries that make you feel like a friend not a number .

How can you sell a rose for $40 when It is anywhere between $18 to $27 everywhere else.

I think to sell roses you need a bit of knowledge and a whole lot of passion

SoFL I don't know if it's just me grasping at straws but since they've started defoliating their roses I've lost several roses. Previous to that I'd never lost a single rose from them. Either way I don't appreciate them defoliating them either.

Kristine I am shocked they wouldn't let you add to your order. It is disappointing since they do have such a great variety of old and new roses but their new policies and prices are not worth it.

I'm seeing an Heirloom ad on my computer which boasts "20% more blooms." I'd like to see a scientific study which shows that defoliating a tiny rooted cutting boosts its bloom production.

????

I had ordered online and use my Visa card to pay for it . And then a few minutes later thought I should add another Rose to that order. I really wanted a dark desire so I called them on the phone . I said I just put in an order 5 minutes ago and I would like to add to that. They said no , I would have to place another order for Dark Desire . I said seriously , I have to pay two shipping charges she said yes because it's confusing when you pay with a Visa card . So I emailed the owner of the company and told him my issue and he confirmed what the girl on the phone said they can't do it that way it's too confusing with the Visa card to add to an order.

Irritated me so much that even though I really wanted dark desire I found another source and guess what I paid half of what heirloom wanted for that same Rose.

Krisitine that is ridiculous. They should have voided your order and taken a new order over the phone then.

Somebody is making a bundle!! According to this article on mint compost, it sells for $25 per ton......which comes out to just over a penny a pound. That's what I would call a pretty significant profit margin.........

Wow that is ridiculous. Even if they were 'confused' about the credit card, the least they could do is offer you free shipping on the Dark Desire, I mean at $40 a rose, its not like they'd be loosing that much money.

On another note, again to what Moses said, they cant possibly know how to really care for roses, did they not close their gardens to the public? A sure sign that they either don't know how to grow roses or don't want to spend the money on maintaining the garden (ding ding ding). These people are again about making money and not for the love of roses. Its just sad. Someone needs to inform them that rose growing is not a get rich type of business. Ask any other nursery.

These guys are targeting rose growing newbies who like the picture on the site and don't know any better than to pay their insane prices. They don't seem to be looking for return customers either.

UGH such a shame as they do have such a good selection and we NEED more nurseries! I hope they make some changes soon.

Yes, I'm disenchanted with Heirloom, as well. When they had free shipping, and sold lots of band size roses, I frequently bought from them. Now almost nothing is available in band size(except mini's), and you have to spend $50 to qualify for free shipping. I received a credit voucher for a rose that didn't survive. Now that rose is always out of stock, and costs $15 more than before. I wish they had given me the option to just replace the rose. Now I would have to spend an extra $15 plus shipping, for that same rose. I didn't realize Heirloom was defoliating ALL the roses they send out. Just about every rose I receive from outside of CA is defoliated, be it from Antique Rose Emporium or Heirloom etc. I thought only CA, and maybe one or two other states required this. I had no idea Heirloom was defoliating every rose to every state.

They sure spend the bucks on advertising. Heirloom's adds pop up everywhere! I agree about them targeting newbies with their glossy pics and adds everywhere. Lisa

I've always been pleased with their roses. I don't buy from them anymore due to pricing. I think the last time I bought from them is when they sold off all their bands at 50% off early last spring. The only thing I would consider buying from them is something that I can't find anywhere else, and I would have to really really want it to pay their prices! And honestly, most of their unique roses are never available anymore.

Heirloom's web site lists a multitude of varieties with stunning photos of each..... but what is in stock is a fraction of what is listed. This is not deceptive marketing, but neither is it quite kosher.

Moses

Moses that is a good point. I have been subscribed to get notifications if Félicité Parmentier comes back in stock for 4 summers now and never received a notification.

Gardengal and All,

So mint compost is a by-product of extracting mint flavor (extract), from harvested mint plants through the process of distillation, right? The mint compost has good nutrient qualities and increases both plant health, and the production of fruit, and in our case, better roses and better blooms, as I read in the link you provided in your post, Gardengal. Am I correct?

Did you read the Heirloom ad for mint compost? From the ad's wording the distillation of the mint was done to purify the compost, as I understand the wording. No mention is made of the mint flavor (extract), being the real reason the mint plants are distilled.

A person contemplating purchasing the mint compost is misled into thinking the distillation process was done in order to remove harmful agents from the compost, not to derive mint extract flavoring for sale to the food industry.

This puts Heirloom Roses in an additionally unfavorable light, bushiness integrity wise.

Moses

Yes, that's correct. WA state is the leading produce of mint in the country, with OR and ID following close behind. Together they account for 84% of the total production of mint oil in the country. The mint compost is a byproduct of that industry and is made from the remnants of the plants after the oil extraction through distillation.

It is making use of a waste product, essentially,

I looked there once, said a big nope, and went looking elsewhere. I can't figure out why people shop there, unless I'm missing something. I'd give up if I had to pay that much for one plant, I'm already terrified of killing cheaper ones. :-o

Witchygirl, you're not missing something. Their prices have sky rocketed over the last few years. I bought a Henri Martin in 2014 for $17.50, today it is $45. It's crazy.

The new owners of Heirloom strike me as people who had money to buy a business, not rose enthusiasts. I don't begrudge them a good living, I just don't think their plan will work. The heavy and dubious marketing (20% more blooms!) strikes experienced gardeners as false advertising. The high prices put off both novice and expert alike. Most novices buy at places at Home Depot and expect bud and bloom for $10-20. Who would pay $40 for a tiny denuded Peace rose when you can get a 3 gallon full bloom plant down the street for 12 bucks ? Experienced gardeners know that places like Palatine,Chamblees , RU and K&M sell a great selection at a fraction of the price. I can get 4 cu ft of excellent compost locally for the price of 1lb of their mint compost.

I did buy two roses (Acapella and Blue for You) from them because I couldn't find them anywhere else. I was willing to pay the price and happy they carried them. But I certainly wouldn't purchase anything else that another grower also carried. How can this plan work, the prices are outrageously non-competitive.

Hey everyone! I know this is an old thread, but im hoping some of you can answer my question. I did recently order 3 roses from heirloom and got the starter bundle of products in an effort to get them off to a good start (i know i overpaid but thats already done so moving on). The mint compost bag is only enough for 1 plant and i have 3 plants...what is a good alternative product i can get? Im not going to order more, its too expensive. Thanks

There are economical ways to amend your soil for roses. This year I found a horse ranch that gave me composted manure for nearly free. My roses loved it, so I plan to get more. I bought a fifty pound bag of alfalfa pellets at a feed store for a very good price. It took three years for me to use them all up. I can thank the gardenweb and my local rose society for that tip. When I first started growing roses, I bought a small box of alfalfa a nursery for nearly the same price as the fifty pound bag. I store the alfalfa pellets in 5 gallon orange Home Depot containers with tight fitting lids and the pellets stay fresh. This spring, I bought another 50 pound bag and split it with a friend. Starbucks Coffee Company is happy to give you used coffee grounds for free if you ask. I hope one of the starter products you bought from Heirloom Roses was Alaska Fish Fertilizer that you add to your watering can. A little goes a long way.

Here's a link for more ideas: Magic Elixirs for Roses.

I have mint that I constantly have to pull, so that it doesn't overtake my roses. After reading this thread, I wonder if I could mulch it up somehow.

So what roses did you get, Michelle?

Michelle, when I saw that Heirloom had mint compost and how expensive it was and it looked like a small amount. I decided I would take regular compost and add dried mint leaves I don't know if it worked any better than anything else but it was an inexpensive alternative.

Everyone can grow chocolate mint even in a dry climate. Ok maybe not in way below freezing temps, not sure on that but my mints used to die out in the summer especially when I lived in the desert (Lake Havasu, AZ). I grow it in full sun in a potted plant bog. Pot with no holes filled up to 4 inches from the rim with bagged garden soil and filled with water. Chocolate mint loves these conditions and it cant spread around and become invasive if one keeps it trimmed. I trim mine to feed to my rabbits as a treat. They make compost for the garden. One could trim the mint and put it in compost.

There is nothing particularly unique about mint that makes a "special" type of compost. It is just a marketing strategy utilized by commercial mint growers to profit from the refuse leftover from the extraction of mint oil. In fact, a more diverse ingredient compost would be a far better product to use. I certainly would not pay the price they are asking......I can purchase an entire cubic yard (about 1000#) of certified organic yard waste compost for around $35!!

Do some research and look before you leap purchasing this overly expensive amendment because someone touts it as being "special". It is not!!