Kim's roses really are beautiful and diverse. Currently, I only have Rayon Butterflies, but I have Purple Buttons and Yellow Butterfly ordered from Burlington this coming spring :)

Tammy

Thank you Tammy. I'm honored! Kim

Thank you, Tammy, for mentioning those beauties: Rayon Butterflies, Purple Buttons, and Yellow Butterfly. Rayon Butterflies is a refreshing beauty with changing colors in blooms. Purple Buttons is raspberry mauve, a rare color, and very double bloom.

I ordered Lynnie since it's hardier for my zone 5a. It's very disease resistant, and drought resistant. Lynnie's parents are: a hardy mini rose Torch of Liberty (I'm counting on non-stop bloom), and thornless Basye's Legacy (whose parent is Commander Gillette, hardy to zone 3b).

What I like about Burlington Rose Nursery is I can find rare roses which are fragrant, thornless, or low-thorn at a much lower cost than buying Knock-outs at local stores. The shipping cost of band-size roses is low. I paid $133 (shipping included) for 12 roses (5 large ones and 7 minis) from Burlington in CA to my Chicagoland.

As spring approaches, the band-size roses I planted this July are still green to the tip in my zone 5a. I'm hoping for another mild winter next year.

Unfortunately local stores limit their selection to thorny Knock-outs. I got pricked by Knock-outs AT THE STORE but bought them since I had no other choice. Prevention magazine advised getting tetanus shot sooner than every decade. One more reason for thornless roses:

Posted by elgin_janet z8-9sc (My Page) on Sun, Mar 25, 07 at 11:20 "I'm a nurse and treated a lady last year that had to have surgery to debride an innocent thorn prick. She had a cast and was to have 6 weeks of IV antibiotics. So beware and keep those scratches and pricks clean. Also keep your tetanus shots up to date. I've been trying to buy only thornless or roses with few thorns ever since."

I was glad to read this post. I have always been worried about ordering roses from California because of our wicked, unreliable winters here in Indiana. It was nice to hear that you, from neighboring Illinois, have been successful in growing these with no negative results. Thanks for the info, Barb

Barb, much of that depends upon the types of roses you're ordering, the time of year they are shipped/received and how immature (soft) they are. 25 years ago, it was a common issue with Heirloom plants as so often they were barely rooted, very soft cuttings which had gone from the green houses to the boxes for shipping. If they arrived to you in your harshest weather, they were doomed. They were frequently doomed for me here in desert-like conditions because of the intensity of the sunlight, heat and aridity. I lost count of their plants I lost due to their immaturity and soft condition due to being too recently grown under glass. Those were two often repeated complaints in early ARS publications about the "cheap roses from greenhouse growers" and was a major reason (along with speed) traditional propagation went to field budding.

If you're ordering tender types, whether they are hardened off and sufficiently developed or not, and they are received at your time of worst frost, you may experience problems, But, if you ordered from Roses Unlimited and received leafed out plants straight from the greenhouses, then tried to keep them unprotected outside in your coldest weather, you'd have the same issues.

Vintage and Burlington are our two, final mail order rose sources here. Both are owned and operated by honorable, reputable, intelligent people with decades of rose experience and more than passing knowledge of what to expect from their products in harsher climates then they've been grown it. From experience, when presented with questions they are unsure of, they seek the best advice available from their networks as to the best information to give. Certainly they all have enough experience to answer the vast majority of them on their own.

If your climate, time of year, special conditions and situations cause you hesitation, I would hope all considering ordering would feel comfortable enough to ask them their advice. My experience with both is they will graciously let you know whether the specific stock is mature enough, hardened off enough to handle any special circumstances which concern you. Of course, some varieties sell out more quickly than others, and some produce much less material suitable for propagation each season, plus their weather and climates don't always cooperate, either. Hence, their available plants may sometimes be less mature or developed than is their norm. But, they also may have older stock of some varieties which may be more suitable for your harsher conditions. I know they will happily make every effort to send the most appropriate plant for your needs whenever possible. All anyone has to do is ask. Your satisfaction, even pleasure with their plants and service is their life blood, and both of them know it. They wouldn't have been in this business as successfully nor as long as they have unless they took as great a pleasure in taking as good care of you as possible. Kim

What state the rose comes from is less important than when you get it and what you do with it once you have it I think. I always try to get the latest shipping date I can when I order. I have gotten roses in March but I end up having to keep them in the basement under lights and hope they survive inside until I can get them outside. If they come mid-April I can keep them outside from the start and they do much better.