Probably not. Band roses are usually potted up in a one gallon pot for 6-12 months before being planted in the ground. This gives them some time to grow roots in safety. As a matter of fact, if I had a band rose that was just growing, and it produced a bud, I would cut off that bud, to encourage the tiny rose to grow roots, and leaves for energy, not spend its energy trying to have sex!

After that, I believe the best time for planting roses in the ground in your climate zone is in the Spring, after there is no chance of below freezing temps, but someone from your zone would know better.

Also, I would not ever just "get some roses on line". You need to make sure you are ordering from reputable nurseries who sell on line. If you give more specific info about your geographic location here, you will get folks responding who live near you, and can tell you which nurseries they order from (without having to pay long distance shipping charges) that they like.

Jackie

Hi David,

Yes, most band roses will give you blooms this season. Only some of the Old Garden Roses that only bloom once per season would probably not bloom the first year. Those roses usually only bloom on last years canes so they need a couple of years to build up a big enough bush in order to bloom. But the modern repeat blooming roses will bloom their first year.

If they're very small bands you might want to pot them up for a while before you plant them in the ground. Just long enough for them to get a larger root ball and a big enough plant that when they're planted in the ground you can see them easily. I stepped on one once that was way too small and should not have been planted yet, lol! But most importantly you want them to have a good, healthy root ball before going into the ground.

I don't know for sure but in your area, and with as mild as this winter has been, I would say you could probably start planting roses any time now. The soil should be what's called "friable" which means when you pick up a handful and squeeze it and open your hand the soil should crumble back apart easily. If it just sticks in a wet clump it's probably too wet yet to plant. I can usually plant the first of April here but this year I'm thinking I'm going to start early too.

I live in NJ and started growing roses last year. I ordered a whole bunch of bands last summer/fall (mostly, austins and antiques). All of my bands survived the winter, but none of them had any significant growth. None of them of course flowered. The bands I bought are all VERY small, but seems to of the "standard" size. I missed the Spring planting season last year, and thought I should give the bands some time to settle in by planting later during the season so that they hopefully can bloom this spring. Fingers crossed.

A very knowledgable NJ rosarian on this forum told me that it is probably not worth growing bands in NJ. We have relatively short growing season here, and my guess is that it will take a least one season for bands to settle down and have any meaningful blooms. If I could have a do-over, I probably would have ordered fewer bands or none at all.

BTW, I just fertilized my bands last week, and I am really hoping that some of them will bloom this year. But they are still so tiny....

Blooms, probably. A lot of full-sized blooms on a large plant, probably not.

Wow thanks for all the quick replies.

I might just stick with getting gallon roses rather then bands.

They will work out better for me I'm thinking. Especially from a good place like Roque Valley right? I like the selection they offer.

Hmmmm... I frequently buy bands, they do just fine (depending on the variety, of course). You want to get delivered in early May. I also pot mine up in 1-gallon pots until I see the roots peeking through the bottom, then I transplant them into the ground. I keep the pots in dappled shade or on the porch until they harden off, putting them into direct sunlight right out of the box will burn the leaves. They shouldn't be heavily fertilized early on, the tiny roots can only handle so much.

If you want own root plants, Roses Unlimited and Hartwood Roses are very good sources on the east coast.

I bought 6 bands from High Country Roses and planted them END of last June. They came with buds, Pat Austin gave me a 4" bloom right away along with smaller blooms on William Shakespeare, Mary Rose, and Lilian Austin. Golden Celebration and Wise Portia gave me many blooms last summer. The production of blooms is the same as the gallon sizes I got from Roses Unlimited.

As to the depth of the roots, I don't see any difference between bands and gallons. The width of rootball in gallon size is bigger, so you don't have to water them frequently initially. I like bands since the shipping cost is cheaper, and I still can plant them deep to avoid drying out.

I always pinch off the flower buds as soon as I see them for the first year while the bands grow into one gallon pots and then to a size that is between a one and five gallon size. They really do grow faster that way if you are wanting to get them into the ground sooner. Of course, I had two roses that were mislabeled and I didn't find out until later when I let them bloom in the second year.

I got some lovely bands, from Northland Rosarium. We have a short growing season, but many bloomed the first summer. I've also had good luck with Heirloom Roses and Rogue Valley Roses, but they did not bloom, since they were old-fashioned, June blooming roses. They bloomed the next year, though :)

My seedlings will often bloom within 6 or 8 weeks from germination. A rooted cutting should bloom just as soon depending on the variety. I personally don't think pinching the buds makes the roots grow any faster. In my experience it just encourages the rose to grow another bloom. Like I said I would keep them potted for a while to allow them to get a larger root ball before planting in the ground. And I would also suggest good winter protection for the first year at least.

It depends. Different roses have different growth patterns. I prefer to grow teas and polys -- they tend to produce twiggy growth for a couple of seasons before pushing new basals. I'm looking out the window at a four year old General Gallieni who has several canes a yard long but still looks lanky, definitely not "bushy" or full yet. The Marie van Houtte next to him who is the same age is six feet tall, resembling a small tree. So David, my answer is "your mileage may vary but you'll probably get a couple of small blooms so you'll know that you received the correct rose."

Let's not forget the BIG advantage of bands...SMALLER holes to dig! lol

Couldn't agree more about how much easier they are to plant. My only problem is that I forget how large they will be when they mature, and I may have overcrowded my plot.

My bands do bloom the first year they are planted, and I do pinch off the first bud or buds. They aren't nearly as large or prolific, but I still end up with a nice rose by the end of the season & I'm able to verify it was the correct rose when it blooms.

Realized that I probably have given the wrong "advice" on whether growing band is a good idea in my climate zone. The fact that some of my bands were slow growing might have a lot to do with the time of year I put them in (early fall last year) and the fact that, as Diane-NJ suggeted,I might have over fertilized them. So far, half of my bands are growing quiet well, and a few of them are already in bloom with lots of buds. The ones that are doing well are Louise Odier, Heritage and Abe Darby. The ones that are not growing much are ZD and Crocus Rose, and I understand that ZD can be sensitive to fertilizer overdose.

My experience is consistent what Diana-NJ said about growing bands in container: the LO I grow in a container was the fist rose to bloom for me and has given me 6 wonderful blooms so far and is about 2 feet tall, while the one growing in the ground is shorter and has not bloomed yet (although it has a dozen or so buds on it so far.)

Sorry for the misguided post as I apparently did not know what I was talking about� Newbie mistake. Bands can be great in my climate zone, and I will definitely plants bands in the future!

I'd also suggest you get your roses from Roses Unlimited in SC or Hartwood. RU roses are in 1 gallons and the plants are significantly larger. The price is just a bit more than bands--and some bands are now the same price. The shipping is a bit more because the plants are heavier, but the distance is shorter, so it comes out about the same. Chamblee's in TX also sells in gallons and their roses are very inexpensive.

Bands are not as reliably rooted. Some come very well rooted and hardened off and others are barely rooted. I've have these "newborns" from every vendor. Obviously, they aren't going to bloom this year.

If you are just getting into roses, give yourself success and start with the gallons.

I always plant my bands directly in the ground. I'm more likely to lose those planted in the fall, so now I don't plant bands after Sept 1st.