The roses will be smaller if you're used to roses on rootstock. They are sold actively-growing in 1gal containers, but based on my limited experience with both, the plants will be smaller than are those sold by Roses Unlimited. This isn't necessarily a negative, just something to know ahead of time. After all, they cost less than do the larger RU plants.

You'll want to receive your roses when hard frosts have ceased for your area. If your garden has great soil already, you can plant them right away, but watch them for water during their first Summer. Or, as I did, you can pot them up into larger containers, like a 2gal or 3gal, and push for faster growth, then plant after the hottest part of Summer has passed.

One important piece of advice regards how they pack their roses for shipment. The pots are stapled to the box so that they don't shift around during transport. What I've found to be helpful is thinking of removing the box from the roses, rather than removing the roses from the box. So instead of opening the box and trying to pull the pots out, set yourself down on the ground and carve the box away from the pots, starting at the corners and then cutting around the staples.

I've been very happy with the roses I received from Rose Petals Nursery. All were correct, healthy, and took off when I repotted them into my "magic mix" before planting them a few months later. Personally, I prefer healthy but small plants arriving by mail order. And yes, their selection is great, especially for warm-climate gardeners who like the oldies.

:-)

~Christopher

Thank you so much Christopher! I appreciate the feedback! I do not at all mind smaller plants, and I have developed a growing liking for own root plants.

I will follow your suggestion to plant them in pots and observe how they behave. I live in Ric, Va, summers can get very hot, humid which unfortunately results in black spot. I got roses from RU last fall, the plants were very healthy and good sized. Here's my list of roses from RPN, I am trying to trim the list down so I can retain some walking space in my yard:) So far, I have ended up adding more..sigh!

My focus this year is on floriferous roses with good fragrance and heat tolerance.
477

Amazone




632

Ausmas (Graham Thomas)





59

Baronne Prevost






1

Bermuda's Anna Olivier






228

Belinda's Dream






33

Chestnut Rose






444

Clotilde Soupert Climber






150

Georgetown Tea





758

Jacques Cartier






646

Grandmother's Hat






172

Safrano






363

Lady Hillingdon






924

Quietness






878

Rose of Castile






633
Devoniensis

Lovely rose selections, you're going to need a lot of potting soil!

What Christopher says is right. RP has good roses that are sent small. They do very well with a bit of pampering.

You should repost this on the Antique Roses Forum as well, since your selection indicates you're already veering into the oldies. Be aware that Rosa roxburghii, aka 'The Chestnut Rose', is really more like a small tree in terms of mature size. Your Teas will do well through Summers, but may have some damage from Winters. The Hybrid Perpetuals will be the reverse. Others on the Antiques side will likely chime in with more specific reviews.

:-)

~Christopher

There roses do come small, you may just add some more soil to the pots they come in and grow them some more in those, before moving them. Unless it looks like they have a big enough root system to move. That is if I'm thinking of the correct nusery.

Great roses and never had any issues or ID problems!

I always have a staple remover handy when I open a RPN box. Love that nursery!

I've ordered from them several times and been happy with their plants & customer service. Their roses do tend to be a bit smaller than Roses Unlimited or ARE...but are comparable to the size Chamblee's ships. I've lost a couple from RPN (and from Chamblee's) in their first season...but that was due to rabbits eating them to the ground, so my fault for not providing better protection from the critters until they were more established or not leaving them potted longer before putting them in the ground. From your list, my Lady Hillingdon and Devoniensis came from RPN, and I love them both (ordered a second Devoniensis from them last year because I like it so much).

Here's my Lady Hillingdon last spring (I got it fall of 2014, but didn't put it in the ground until spring of 2016)

And my first Devoniensis that I received from RPN in 2016:

and the Devoniensis I got from RPN spring 2017. (This pic is from October 2017 and it's in a large blue pot like the one in background):

Wow those are both very beautiful! I have heard their names but not noticed their photos before. I'm in zone 7 but a lot of antique roses ( well I guess mostly teas ) just don't flourish here for me personally so I don't know very much about them. Those are beautiful!!

Hi Lilyfinch, I don't think I'm much farther south than you (I'm halfway between Huntsville & Birmingham), but maybe that little bit of extra winter warmth makes a bigger difference with the teas than you would think. I grow a lot of them...some will sulk after their first winter here, but generally do very well from there. I'm interested to see how they react to the crazy weather we've had this winter, though...some single digit nights, some nights in the teens, lots of nights in the 20s and a full week of temps that didn't get above freezing day or night....of course, all followed by periods in the 50s and 60s...rollercoaster.

Maybe you could try some of the really big girls (Mrs BR Cant, Madame Lombard/Lambard, Marie Van Houtte)...those seem to be very cold tolerant here.

I just use a butterknife to pull out the staples: slide it in flat then pull up. Works good lol. I like their roses and they pack well. Stupid delivery guy left my package upside down even though there was a big arrow indicating it should be upright. Those plants nor the dirt, did not move lol.

Pat - there is a garden here made up of old roses at the hermitage. I plan on visiting this spring and taking notes . I had one rose .. mrs b r can't and it died after one season . I had one other but I can't remember.. the trouble with my land , is it's part of rolling hills that get so so windy in winter , i think that's what hurts my garden. There is no warm pocket for them . The wind is so bad , every spring on one side of our house we have shingles blow open and our neighbor got a stress crack in her window from the wind ! It's crazy .

good luck with your roses!! Every winter here in the south seems more challenging than the last. I hope your tender roses all do great !

pat_bamaz7 wow what beautiful flowers, thank you for sharing them I have been reading so much about Devoniensis. And without doubt I am definitely getting Lady Hillingdon.

mcnastarana I live in Richmond, VA, and my zone is 7. Our winters can get into single digits but don't stay there for too long and summer's get very hot and humid. I was looking at growing some old fashioned roses like teas, gallicas and damasks. I am spending time finding out what roses I like and if they will do well here-floriferous, fragrant and disease resistant.

Color me green, purilisa. In zone 7 you ought to be able to grow just about any rose at all except for maybe the tenderest of the gigantea hybrids, and even then much can be done with a south exposure against a wall with heat reflecting concrete in front.