Otterbon,

You beat me to it! LOL! BEAUTIFUL! I had photos from the release ready to post.

Very Excited!

ORDERS START NOV 12th, 11AM PST-14th, 11AM PST.

I’ll add a few photos, though….😊😇

My 2 faves!

Francis Roses photos
Les temps des Cerises, a Strongly Fragrant , Floribunda

LTdC

Rallye des Gazelles

RdG

TOTALLY YUMMY! Good in zones 6!

Thanks for sharing this, I had not heard about Francis selling direct yet. Le Temps des Cerises sounds especially tempting with that strong fragrance, and I like that they were grown without fungicide in their test sites. I will be curious to see how Rallye des Gazelles does in zone 6 gardens once these start shipping in January.

OMG, what a mess with this company! Just bring all the worldwide Tantau favorites to the US, and everyone will be happy!

Gasp - those are gorgeous and I'll be watching their website to order on Nov. 12. I agree with Elena that the process of transition wasn't conducted well and this slow release is frustrating. It's at least good to look at their website for roses that will probably be in future offerings, but the communication isn't very good.

Still, I'm glad to have these European roses offered accessibly in the US. Now bring us AUGUSTA LOUISE!! Of all my roses I had to dig out, she's the one I pine for the most.

Shipping in January will be interesting in a cold zone like mine, but I weathered the February shipment from April & Ashley just fine to plant them in pots outside and protect with oak leaves in a kiddie swimming pool. We still aren't expecting frost until after mid-November which is unheard of in our region, so maybe January delivery will happen in a mild spell.

Thanks so much for posting this information.

Cynthia

@nippstress - zone 5 Nebraska

Cynthia,

It’s amazing your roses survived a Feb. shipping and where did you put them upon arrival? In Feb-did you put them outside-potted in kiddie swim pool w/ leaves? Your thoughts are encouraging. I have lost roses shipped in Jan & Feb before-frozen, zone 6, NY. . Love to have those 2 new released Francis Roses. Wondering what to do???

Be careful everyone. Be conservative in your dealings until you are satisfied that your money is well spent. My wish is that they succeed and become the go to nursery for hard to find roses, with high praises from all their Roses Forum customers.

Moses.

And about the pricing, it’s $65 per rose, including shipping. But here’s what doesn’t make sense to me: if I buy just one rose, that’s fine. However, if I buy two or three roses, I’m still paying the same price per rose, which means I’m essentially paying for shipping multiple times. There should be some kind of discount for ordering more than one rose, since they’re all being shipped together.

Also, let’s talk about how rose growers set their prices. When they sell roses to third-party resellers, they obviously sell them at wholesale prices, which are significantly lower than what April & Ashley originally charged customers. And when they sell directly to customers, there’s no middleman taking a cut. So their profit margins on direct sales must be considerably higher. That’s why I find the $65 price tag per rose, especially when buying multiple roses, hard to justify.

For those who are planning to buy, read carefully

https://francisroses.com/pages/ordering-delivery-and-plant-concerns

I am out of this game unless they bring my many years wanted roses on market.

For me, I love the way these varieties look but I think I am content to wait for more info about them. I do have a work perk where we get money each quarter for wellness activities and plants count—so maybe I will use that, but if these will eventually hit the market it will be nice to go in with further information from folks that grow it. In the garden is always different than in the fields and $65 is an expensive gamble.

I am very spoiled though and get most of my roses for $8-10, I can David Austin varieties for $25-45 locally as well. Certified’s Roseberry Beret is a similar dusky mauve and strong fragrance — and a lot less $$ to gamble on if they have any available in the spring here.

Now like Elena if Francis has some varieties I’ve been watching for then I would pull the trigger but right now I think I’ll wait. We’ll see if I regret that especially with Rallye which is the one that intrigues me the most!!

I feel pretty conflicted and honestly a bit disappointed. I want to see these new varieties enter and stay in the market legally in the US and I want to help support that venture, but I am unimpressed by how this rollout is going and the $65 per bare root price tag is egregious. I think I have paid that much for a rose maybe twice and they were potted and had friendlier CS policies/warranties. While I understand prices are going to continue to rise across the board I feel like a few vendors are getting into an arms race to establish themselves as the top dog premium rose brand, and part of that sense of perceived exclusivity is the higher price point. I have been interested in Les Temps des Cerises for a while but there are beautiful roses out there that are similar, and with larger blooms by the look of it, so I think I will likely be sitting this release out. Like some of you have said, there are roses on my wishlist that would tempt me more.

You make good points, Elina. Rarely in commerce is there a merchant who takes an 'Honest Abe,' approach to his profit margjns. They're out there, but not in buckets full.

Moses.

In the rose business, Burlington still sells roses around $25 each (or less) and they are packed with a maximum number of plants for minimum shipping. Most of the band rose merchants (Northland, High Country Roses, Rogue Valley) are still under $30 and that can't be a large profit margin these days. I remember Paul Zimmerman from Ashdown roses being upfront with customers that he'd tried all the possible shipping methods and laying out the prices clearly with what it cost him to ship them.

Kitty, I think I got away with planting the bare roots in pots outside in a kiddie pool and mulching with leaves in late February because the roses were dormant. The roses already in my yard are also dormant and handling those frigid temperatures so that's not much difference I guess to the rose. I also received leafed out and recently unpotted roses shipped from Agave Roses (they were pulled from their pots to ship) many years ago and they arrived in February too. I just hacked a hole in the soil and planted them with lots of leaf protection around them and they all weathered the spring OK.

I wouldn't do that for anything but very rare plants if they're leafed out, but the bare roots are just joining the rest of my bare canes in the yard. Maybe our fluctuating warm spells even in the worst of winters helps them not entirely freeze their canes off.

Cynthia

Cynthia,

Your story of receiving bare roots in winter & planting is amazing in zone 5! Wow! ! Was there snow outside when you hacked out the frozen ground & planted your rose? Were any canes red when you received them in delivery day? i am surprised they didn’t freeze in transit.

I think my roses froze & burned sitting on the porch in 20F for 6 hours-8 hours when they arrived, at a time when I was working. Their canes were very red and died a few weeks later. They were the baby roses a vendor accudently sent in January. They probably were not dormant. GRF sent me a dormant bare root rose & it’s canes had all turned red in Feb. delivery, too. I think it sat in snow on porch for awhile maybe, too.

I would be able to receive the roses & take them inside from Francis Rosrs, this time, asap, if they don’t freeze in transit in January. I olan to grow ttem inside. May be ok? I grow roses inside successfully sometimes.

UPDATE NEWS:

I think Francis Roses is selling these 4 ORIGIN-BUT FINAL ROSES, and afterwards, they sell only to wholesale retailers. Basically many retailer will advertise they sell Francis exclusive roses as they are starting to do right now. I prefered going to 1 source (Francis Roses-A&A) to receive Francis Roses & their special touch, but this may not be tge future direction if their company.

I received an email from Francis asking what are my fave retailers so Francis Roses can sell whiolesale to my fave retailers, their florist/garden roses too? Since Francis specialized in wholesale before, this seems what they wish to focus on for the future?

I have already found 3-4 retailers that will be selling or are selling now April & Ashley or they call them Francis Roses.

2 retailers now selling Francis/A&A roses:

Raft Island Roses

Fuirk Roses

NEW FOCUS NOW:

Choose your favorite vendor and email Francis Roses and let them know.

Francis Roses are already available for purchases in some places with better prices and guarantees. For example: https://fuirkhome.com/

That was my thought too, Elena—I’d buy direct from Francis if there was a price break vs buying from one of their vendors or something I really wanted that they exclusively sold (more Tantaus!) ; but otherwise I’ll probably just watch and wait to see how it all goes.

Thanks for mentioning that, Elena. I’ve been contemplating ordering from Fuirk Home and had planned to mention them here. I’m glad we have options.

For anyone who hasn't seen it yet, the website has a map of retailers under a drop down menu "Find Francis Roses".

And… Francis Roses lists on website these partner nurseries…

The list starts:

56 Flowers, Milton, Ontario

All My Thyme

Berridge Nurseries

FL Sunshine Roses

Foxview Roses

Fuirk Roses

Otto & Sons

Raft Island

Sundrops Nursery

Redland Ranch Roses

Sweet Hilltop Farm & Nursery

The Rose Cove

Thorncrest Rose Farm

I saw Raft Island -it has a large Francis Roses Inventory, but not all. I looked at Foxview a week ago-they had some roses. . I looked at Fuirk this morning-they have a few Francis roses.