Kristine, The rootstock top is still on I gather and I will lop it off in time. I am going to watch his video about what to do since this is a first for me.

I've been growing Steve's maidens for several years. I love watching a rose go from a "bump on a stick" to a full bush. Do yourself a favor. Plant your new maidens in a 3 gal. pot for the first 6 to 8 weeks. This way they can get a good start and they are easier to work on.

Thank you, Ken, I will do that for sure.

I got my first maidens from Carlton's in 2003, and my first ones from Steve in 2007. Then, in 2021, I sent him budwood of a very hard-to-root rose of mine that's out of commerce for custom budding. He sent me 4 maidens of it, along with two other maidens of his (Oksana and Twice in a Blue Moon). Then in 2022, I got Stephen Rulo and Alakazam from him as maidens. Sorry for the long history. Anyway, the main thing to remember is not to be afraid to chop off the top of the plant. He grafts the desired bud onto a stem of multiflora. Once the multiflora starts leafing out, you chop off the whole top of the plant just above the graft. The first time you do it, it's the scariest thing ever. But considering the fact that it's April, you may be buying plants that have already had their tops chopped off. I normally get mine in November. Here's a pic of my Stephen Rulo in late January, two months after receiving it, and right before cutting off the multiflora top. If you look closely at the right side of the stem, you can see what looks like a cut, with new growth emerging. That's the Stephen Rulo bud. I chopped it off right above the bud. I'll try to remember to post a pic of what it looks like now tomorrow, since it's dark!

I got Magenta from Steve late last year and it is growing like crazy! I agree with Susan, it was a little unnerving when I went to cut the top off.

Regarding the other roses you ordered, I have been trying to grow Dr John Dickman. I got it in November and it still has about 6 leaves and is 4 inches tall. I got it own root and that seems like an error on my part wrt vigor! Stephen Rulo looks beautiful in photos.

On HMF, Kathy, they said Dr. John Dickman could get large. A Missouri gardener said his was 6 ft. I bet yours needs some more time. The 6 ft comment did not mention if it was grafted. I'll try to update what mine does here.

Sheila, here are two pics of Stephen Rulo from this morning. The first is the whole plant, and the second is a close-up of the graft, and you can see where I cut the top (the multiflora) off. Really looking forward to that bud opening!

Thank you, Susan! Your Stephen looks great. This is going to be fun. I can't wait to see your bloom.

I’m excited to hear you ordered as well, Sheila, particularly Stephen Rulo! I think you will love his unique shifting colors. This is my first order for maidens with him, as well, though I’ve been debating for awhile. I do appreciate the helpful information on this thread, I’m already nervous and excited!

I got mavrik as well for my 2 1/2 year old daughter who loves to “help” me in the garden. I really debated on Clovie, but with a toddler and an infant I’m already biting off more than I can chew. It’s so easy to get ahead of oneself!

I too, am really excited, Rachel! I have launched 3 kids, and am down to 2 chihuahuas now, so life is easier for my husband and me, but I'm still behind. You are smart not to get ahead of yourself. Smarter than me.

Oh, dear Sheila…..you don’t know about the dahlias.

Haha! Or the seedling veggies in the basement, elephant ears coming because my daughter calls them “Dino leaves” so my husband insisted I order, or the new hostas, raspberry bushes, and peach tree I still have to plant.

It is VERY easy to over order at online nurseries when home alone on maternity leave stuck for the winter.

I guess some of us are too far gone, Rachel.

Breaking from Steve on Instagram twenty minutes ago...."

Wisconsin Roses will have a new website in the next couple days. The server where it was hosted had crashed and all information was lost. Will be putting up a new site in the next day or two under the new URL: wisconsinroses.com. It will mainly be just contact info until we get time to redo the site. I still have roses to ship for another week or two. Contact me for a list of what I have. Thanks for your patience, Steve.
Please share the news with all your Rose friends 😍"

What a beauty, Susan!

I just this minute called Steve Singer to report a botched effort on my part of cutting off the multiflora top. The rebound snap from the pruning shears broke the Stephen Rulo bud. He may want to sue me for malpractice. I am a very careful person and good with detail work. I successfully performed circumcisions without problems and assisted at surgery. The plant was looking wonderful before I topped it. I still have Dr. John Dickman whose operation was a success.

I am hoping I can buy another one from him because it is only April.

For the record, I never did this is my professional life fortunately for all. I feel terrible, but your plant gives me hope.

Steven did not pick up. I might not be the first who botched this.

Once the maiden bud breaks dormancy and is about 1/2 inch long, I cut the top off just above the budded area (as seen in Steve's video). Make sure the pruning shears are clean and SHARP.

Oh bummer Sheila! It wasn’t your fault its was those overexcited bouncy pruning shears. Just in case Steve Singer, is out, Grace Rose Farm did report they have thousands avail for pre-order for fall:

That is what I was trying to do, Ken. I watched the video and it is really easy. I will watch the video another time. It worked great on Dr. John Dickman.

Thank you Ben. I was told to grow the plant for 2 weeks and then top it. In a video of 10 years ago, Steve holds the maiden plant horizontally and tops it before planting it. I think that would have worked for me. The problem arose when the Stephen Rulo bud was growing out next to the rootstock and the pruners knocked it. I think I will beg Steve to sell me another one before I try another company. My husband has stronger hands and maybe could have snapped the pruners better. What I did worked on Dr. John Dickman but that had a smaller bud and cane for that matter.

Steve just called. He gave me hope that the main bud should have two side buds that could step up in the unfortunate circumstance I have found my plant in. I will keep taking care of the plant and hope for the best. At the moment, he has no extra Stephen Rulo left.

Oh Sheila, I'm so sorry to hear that... accidents happen, and better with this Stephen than an actual Stephen with a circumcision! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you that there is enough of the bud left to grow, as Steve said.

That's great news. I know that pain, though. I once accidentally snapped off the flowering shoot of an orchid. No flowers that year for that one.

Thank you kindly for your support, Susan and Belle. I told Steve, Susan, that you had just posted your beautiful Stephen photo.

I ordered a maiden Stephen Rulo from Steve this year too. It came last week. It’s neat to see the little grafted spot and to know it will grow into an actual plant. I have another week or so before I can cut off the top growth.

I had a couple questions and Steve was very prompt with email responses. I’m looking forward to the beautiful blooms from this rose. I’ve been wanting one for awhile!

I wish you luck, cab. I am still pulling for my injured plant.

Thank you! You too! Hopefully, it pulls through and pushes out some new growth.

I wish I had cut the top off earlier before the bud grew out as far.

Thanks for the hot tip @BenT (NorCal 9B Sunset 14)! I got S Rulo and Connies Sandstorm and some others which is nuts bc i have nonidea where Im putting the roses i iust received this week 😵‍💫but I am psyched.

My Stephen Rulo is growing another bud, after I snapped off the first one! I am so relieved.

Sheila, hooray! And what a fabulous picture!

Sheila, you just skipped a step! LOL! The original definition of a "maiden" is that first shoot which explodes from the scion after budding. You have to prune that back nearly to the base to trigger the two "guard buds", one on either side, into growth to produce the two canes (minimum) you expect (or hope) a bare root to possess. Instead of pruning it, you broke it and it's doing precisely what it's supposed to do. This is also why you can't prune off root stock suckers. You cut the main one and the two guard buds are going to grow so you have to rip them out rather than pruning them. Have fun and congratulations!

Wow Kim, you just taught me something new with that info!

Thanks, Susan, happy to help!

I want to add my admiration for Steve and his maidens. After a bumpy spring and summer of house guests and health problems, the maiden he sent was placed in water and that's as far as it got for months. I proceeded to do everything wrong. She survived an extremely hot summer, was finally properly cared for with a prayer I hadn't killed her. She lived under my big Eden for protection from the sun until it was time to go in the garage for winter. After months of no water I assumed she was dead, but I spotted a little green two weeks ago. I credit Kim Rupert's fabulously hardy Annie Laurie McDowell and Steve Singer's expert propagation methods. Annie is alive and well.

Here is my Stephen Rulo today. This is his 2nd bud. This is 3 months after planting, and 2.5 months after I broke the 1st bud off.

Congratulations, Sheila. Stephen looks so fat and happy!

Stephen is such a darling.

He is really making an effort!

The roses received from Steve are as tough as nails. I like receiving mine during the fall shipment. I pot them up in 3 gal. pots for the winter. In the spring when the tops of the bush's start to leaf out, I watch and wait for the bud to break dormancy. Once it starts to grow, I take the top off and leave the bush alone for about a week. I then proceed to plant it in my garden. During the winter while they are in pots, the root stock has a good chance to set good roots. This way when I plant them in the spring, the root stock is already doing it's thing and the bush's take off. I'll take some photo's of some of the roses later today and post.

Ken, what do you do with your newly potted roses from Steve's fall shipment for winter? You're in a colder zone if I remember. I rarely lose a rose kept in the garage or barn, but I always feel that is not the optimal place for new roses. They usually look a little stressed by spring. Tell me your secret if you don't mind sharing about moisture, light, etc. I know I can do better in this area. I appreciate any tips.

Edited to add: Steve's Annie Laurie McDowell definitely falls into your category of 'tough as nails". She went through the worst year of a rose's life last year and is still hanging in there.

@Sheila z8a Rogue Valley OR Did you try to root the Stephen Rulo branch that broke off? I apologize for my ignorance. I am not familiar with this rose and this is the first I have read about maiden plants.

I feel bad for Steve. I would be angry with the web admin. Server crashes and no offsite backup? What? Someone needs to teach this web admin about CodeGuard (cloud based software for website backup, monitoring, restoring, and more). I do not work for and am not affiliated with CodeGuard.

Sharon, I knocked off the original bud from the grafted bud (see photo above) and my Stephen grew from the side bud. You could google wisconsin roses and Steve Singer videos to see the whole process.

@Sheila z8a Rogue Valley OR I apologize for my mistake. It was susan9santabarbara's photo I was looking at and thought the branch is plenty big to try to root. The original branch in your photo looked close to the size in susan9santabarbara's photo that my brain decided it was the same plant.

After I pot up Steve's roses in the fall, I put them on the south side of my house for most of the winter. This way they get plenty of sun. As long as the temps overnight stay in the 30's, low 40's, I leave them alone. If the temps are going to get below 28, I throw an old blanket over them. I water them really good once a week. NO fertilizer. When the weather does it's magical thing in early spring and the multiflora starts to leaf out, I give each pot 1/2 gal. of 1/2 strength fish emulsion. That usually kicks everything into high gear. When the bud eye starts to grow (about 4 to 6 inchs), I'll cut the top off. This is also when I put the pots in the garden where I plan on planting them at the end of April. By the end of April I usually have a good rose stem with a bud on it and I have roots from the multiflora root stock coming out of the drain holes in the pots.

Here are a few pics of the roses I received last fall from Steve.

5 bush's of Zack Noble. This is an orange sport of Let Freedom Ring.

Folkmagic. A pale cream spot of Folklore. This bush is about 2 1/2 ft tall.

This is a new to me HT (Camphill Glory) that only Steve carries. I thought I'd give it a try. I like it a LOT. Very vigorous. Several huge basil canes already. At least 5 ft tall.

This is a bloom (that hasn't been totally destroyed by Jap. beetles) of Camphill Glory. It is a soft white with the petal edges tipped in a light pink with a soft yellow glow in the center of the bloom as it opens.

These are my 3 bush's of Alex Noble. A soft pink sport of Let Freedom Ring. I received these bush's this past spring. They started life in 3 gal. pots for about 6 weeks, then into the ground. They are about 2 ft. tall and are starting to fill out nicely.

Besides the one time fish emulsion, each of these new roses get a big hand full of Espoma Plant Tone every month and plenty of water.

Ken, thank you! That's incredible growth if I'm reading this right and they are all first year maidens. I'm surprised they stay outside through their first winter and you don't cut the top off until early spring. That works for me because fall is busier in the garden than spring. We may get colder here, but I'm going to try it with a few that don't make it into the ground. Their blanket will need to be a down one if we have another winter like the last one. I have a feeling Steve will hear from some of us after seeing your photo of Camphill Glory. Never heard of Alex Noble or Zach Noble, so had to look up Zach to see why you'd want 5. The answer is clear. I can only imagine the bouquets it'll provide.

Thank you for sharing your method. Much appreciated.

I can really see how getting the plants from Steve in the Fall would really be ideal here too. I could overwinter them in a pot like I did with ALM. (She is doing great).

My Stephen Rulo is doing great for just starting this past April. I have not fertilized at all yet.

@Ken Wilkinson I love how organized your garden bed is! How big is each square? I need to do this in my garden.

Sharon---My rose beds are set up like that out of necessity. I live on the side of a hill, so it is set up like steps. Each "block" is about 36 inch squares. This keeps the soil and mulch from flowing downhill when it rains hard. Right now, I'm using 1x4's to keep everything in place but I'm going start to replace them with pressure treated 1x8's, going left to right. Usually, you can't see the wood because I use foliage (oak) for my mulch but by late July a lot of the foliage has broken down and gone back into my soil.

@Ken Wilkinson Thank you for the information. I tend to plant my roses too close so this will really help me avoid that. I read about creating small swales and small berms for rain diversion and using Geocells for dealing with erosion and runoff, but I don't have much experience with them and don't get too much rain here. This Spring I made some small swales and very short berms (about 2-3" high - that's how little rain we get) for a section that gets too much water from the roofline when it rains. I want to divert that water to the trees and evenly around that area for the grass. And I am working on creating wavy rows of them in the front yard in a gradual formation so it's not noticeable. My property slopes from back to front, especially in the front yard, so the rainwater and irrigation flows away into the street. It's not perfect, but it is working. Again, we don't get a lot of rain here, so I don't know that my experience would be applicable for you.