The first one is my favorite!! What a beauty!! But, yeah, when you don't get the rose you paid for...it's annoying.

Body bag roses at discounters and non gardening retailers are purchased by price and usually from shlock producers. They don't guaranty the accuracy of identification, they just make cheap plants (usually virused) to be sold for a price point. Very often, they will sell a similarly colored rose for a well known name because the rose they offer is easier to produce, or they have it and it looks similar to the more popular and well known name. You're significantly more likely to get a properly identified rose from a reputable producer than you are from low priced (in comparison) mass merchant retailer.

Why are these cheapo roses frequenty mislabeled? Because the grower isnt paid enough to bother with accuracy. And as Kim said, the grower will often substitute any vaguely similar variety for what’s on the label, just because it’s easier for them.

Think about it - if you can buy the plant for $7.99, and the retailer has marked it up at least 100%, then the grower is getting about four bucks for that plant - probably less! You think thats incentive to do things right??

If you want a specific variety (preferably without virus) then you’ll do much better to buy from a reputable source, like Weeks, for example.

Paul is so right. I've never bought a body bag rose. I don't mind online sellers' or my local nursery's rose prices at all. My roses are a long term investment, and I want the correct rose and quality plants. I pay more for a pair of shoes than the most expensive rose, and many of my roses are nearly 20 years old. I can't say that about my shoes. Diane

Diane has the right idea: the purchase of the plant is just the start of your investment. The years you put into cultivating it into a specimen to be proud of are a far greater investment.

All the other roses that I have purchased have been from online rose sellers Jackson & Perkins, David Austin and Heirloom. I didn’t buy them because they were cheap, I bought them because they were convenient and I didn’t know any better. thank you for helping me understand. I assumed i was buying what was advertised and didn’t know why it was inexpensive. I understand making an investment. For the uninitiated, product that you think is a good investment, at a good price with convenience is hard to pass up. It’s like everything, probably too good to be true haha

@Echo_Texas_zone9a another element of the low price, in addition to what's already been stated, is most often, what you find as the body bagged plants are not Grade #1, but the lower #1.5 and #2 plants. Those which have not developed as well and have fewer, thinner canes compared to the more vigorous, better developed plants of that variety. Sometimes you find Grade #1 in them, usually when they've obtained unsold product from other producers which have been dumped to get rid of them. Many years ago, I found an enormous box of literal bare rooted plants dumped together in a Pic'n'Save, what became Big Lots!, in Los Angeles. They were the Poulsen polyantha landscape shrubs produced by Arena Roses and priced something like $5 each. Unfortunately, they were fire kindling by the time I found them, but it shows that SOMETIMES you may be able to find something worth betting on. Just last week, I found our local Aldi's had a rack of Certified body bagged plants of only four varieties: Ring of Fire, Miracle on the Hudson, Pink Miracle and Coral Miracle, the latter three being roses bred by a friend of mine. They were all Grade#1.5 plants and were still fresh, heavy, wet bags and just starting to leaf out. They were priced $8.49 a piece, $1.50 a piece less than the Certified body bagged roses I'd found at the .99 Store and local grocery stores of the same varieties. It's sickening to find things like this.

But, I did chance these as we received nearly half an inch of rain the next day after I'd cut back the new growth and potted them.

Costco also has the "Miracle" varieties in "twofers", a large box containing two Certified body bagged roses slipped into the boxes. My local one had Coral Miracle with either Scarlet Knight or Europeana in the boxes for $16.97. Unfortunately, most of them were like kindling, also. I'd sent my buddy to his local Aldi's as he wrote he needed a second Coral Miracle as it's proven to be a very useful breeder, but his store's plants were already dried out, but he found a good one at Costco, so if you're interested, you go hunting. SOMETIMES, it's worth it. Most often, meh.

Yeah, it's a gamble, and it can be fun if your expectations aren't too high. Some of my biggest , best plants were body bags such as Frederic Mistral , Comtesse de Provence ( I like that name better than Liv Tyler), and Cherry Parfait. I got a Peach Swirl this year...it looks great so far in its pot. Will see.

Part of what makes me mad about this situation is to think that these poor plants were grown in states like California , Texas or Arizona—all of which experienced some severe droughts in recent past. It’s a horrid waste at a time when agriculture is getting a lot of bad rap for its egregious water waste, and this kind of thing doesn’t help any.

“I pay more for a pair of shoes than the most expensive rose, and many of my roses are nearly 20 years old. I can't say that about my shoes.”

I rarely wear shoes these days, but the ones I wear (the ones I own) are easily 30 years old. Oldies but goodies.

I only wear loafers and sandals, and buy just a few good quality shoes over the years. They start out as my "good" loafers, then descend as they become shabby into my really shabby gardening loafers. Same with sandals. And I'm barefooted inside the house. At 78, my feet are fine and never bother me. But I do wear out my shoes before 20 years is up. Diane

Hard working shoes.

Erasmus - oh my heavens!!! Your CP is wonderfully productive and the blooms are beautiful.

Thank you, rosecanadian. It has been a good plant for me, a reliable repeater, but is not fragrant and it gets some blackspot.

At least from Costco if it's the wrong variety, you can get your money back!!

Same with menards. A not just wrong variety if it's a runt and doesn't grow they'll also give you your money back.

Lowes only accepts returns after a month now!

When DA surprise canceled my order for a garden I work in last year, I accidentally found 2 on my list at Home Depot, ROSERAIE DE L’HAY and Zephirine Drouhin. They were correctly labeled and fairly healthy, both made it through winter. I guess I was lucky. I think it's just a crap shoot. If you're willing to cull duds, it may be worth it. If your heart will be broken by an unhealthy or mislabeled rose, I wouldn't risk it.

In my experience body bag roses are a fun gamble .. sometimes its right others not .. now i will say any true bloom body bags have been so far right .

@sautesmom Sacramento

Carla

You probably know this already, but Green Acres has their wonderful roses on sale…$19.50 for unpatented, 24.50 for patented, bud and bloom, big selection

I got this Henry Fonda for 19.50

Hi Ben

Yes, thanks I was just there today looking for Pop Art!

I was tempted by Crazy Love but I kinda want to see what it looks like in the heat. Sadly they did not have Pop Art.

And my next stop was Home Depot where I picked up a $10 Cathedral Bells on your recommendation, as well as a 50% off Sensation lilac!

Carla

Carla

I hope our coffins are true to variety! My Cathedral Bells (Home Depot) has buds, and Top Cream (Lowes) is not far behind, so I will find out soon enough. I considered Crazy Love too, might take a look in a few weeks when it blooms at Green Acres. I bought a Sensation Lilac from HD last year. I have read some lilacs require considerable chill, hopefully this variety can bloom here.

Both of my coffins from HD this year are true to variety, but they're not great plants and will need some TLC!

Ben

I have a purple lilac that is about 10 years old that blooms every year. It's about 10 ft tall because I intentionally planted the roots in the shade to keep it cooler. I think with enough Winter Chill they do okay in the northern valley areas.

Carla

Susan,

That’s great news! What did you get?

Carla

I wonder if your lilac is Old Glory, that one is famously low chill , one of my local friends has one that blooms reliably.

(Monrovia pic)

Hi Ben no it's definitely not Old Glory I'm too cheap to buy Monrovia LOL

It was Home Depot bare root. They're just about to pop so I will post a photo!

Meanwhile I went back today and bought the rest of them-- at $6 to $7 it's such a deal!

And I bought a Hot Cocoa for $7.50, because mine just croaked.

:)

Carla

Ben, nothing particularly special. I was glad to find White Lightnin', an old favorite. My remaining one is very elderly. Regan used to carry it, but no longer, and it's tough to find. The other one was Sunsprite, which was kind of a ridiculous purchase, since I already have three of them. But I've found that one is now harder to find, so I bit :-D

Susan

White Lightnin and Sunsprite are two fragrant old favorites, I can understand why you went for them.

Carla

Those HD lilacs are tempting. Up North lilacs get huge, not sure how big they are in CA. I’ve got Beauty of Moscow, Sensation, Scentara Double Blue and some lavendar variety that Monrovia sent me by accident…I’m sure they’re planted too close if they all do well.

My friend just texted me a pic of the ’Iceberg’ rose she bought from HD in a coffin pot:

Now I’m worried my Top Cream and Cathedral Bells coffins won’t be true to variety either. They’ve got buds, I guess I’ll find out soon enough.

Ben, I hope they are true to form. So frustrating if not!

Hi Ben

I think their more expensive My Bouquet roses will be true to form, as opposed to the cheap body bag Iceberg.

Mine are about to bloom so we will see.

If not, they still have the 6 month guarantee!

Carla

Carla and Ben...yeah, let us know when they bloom. Crossing my fingers for you!

Carla,

My friend paid $20 for her coffin ’Iceberg’. That’s actually 50 cents more than a first run, grade #1 beautifully finished , bud and bloom plant in a big peat pot from Green Acres. When the body bags were super cheap I was OK with whatever they turned out to be, but now, not so much.. At least my friend likes her pink ’Iceberg’, she asked me what it was and I suggested Fragrant Lavender Simplicity. Any other guesses?

Ben - oh, that's ridiculous that it cost more for a body bag rose than for a beautifully tended greenhouse rose. Ugh.

  Ben

Was your Top Cream real?

If not, I just saw one at Ace Hardware.

Carla

I saw lots of Pink Ice today at my Lowes, could that be it?

Just a clarification—I lost track of the post, but someone mentioned Lowe’s having a 30-day return policy. That doesn’t apply to plants. All shrubs and perennials, including roses, have a one year refund/replacement guarantee if the plant dies or isn’t true to name. Home Depot and Walmart have the same policies. It’s incredibly easy to get refunds for roses that don’t survive or are mislabeled, which makes it much less stressful to buy a body bag in my opinion!

I have received 2 mislabeled roses.

One I think is Fragrant Cloud, which is blooming today in the photo. The second one I think is Waiheke. I looked at the manufacturer lists to help narrow it down.

https://www.helpmefind.com/gardening/l.php?l=2.6473

Home Depot told me when I bought my lilacs it was 6 months, not year.

Carla

And Lowes only replaces apparently, no refund 

And Lowes only replaces apparently, no refund 

The “AI Overview” function isn’t always accurate. It’s quoting the policy of a garden center called Lowe’s that isn’t the hardware store. If you review the actual policy listed on Lowe’s (hardware store) website it explicitly says “replacement or refund.” I just took a rose back last week that had sustained too much cold damage and they refunded the purchase to my credit card.

All 3 coffin box roses I bought a few weeks ago seem true. They grow very well too

Peach Swirl from Homedepot, light to medium fragrance

Eden from Lowes

Top Cream from Lowes, strong fragrance

Forever - th ose are looking great. I also have a Peach Swirl and I hope the fragrance is better than you've noticed. Maybe that's because it's a new rose.