If I was in that situation, I'd pot it up for now, keep it in the garage to try and prevent it from leafing out, and plant it when the ground actually thaws. Then again, I ordered bare roots only once, and they didn't come this early, so I never actually had to deal with this.

:-)

~Christopher

Thanks, Christopher. I thought about potting it up. It already has one very small branch leafing out. I was going to snip it off. Maybe by the end of the month temps here in NJ will rebound to normal.

Yes, pot it up and keep it cold if possible. Don't snip off the shoot. That will only encourage it to grow. You do need to give it some water though. You don't want it to dry out.

I've kept some for a month or more in just a bucket of water in my cellar but they did leaf out with that white growth. It's not the best solution but in a pinch it will work.

I received three roses from S&W Greenhouse last week. I have a 8 feet tall snow pile from all the snow from my deck and roof. I dug a hole (or, as I call it, made a ice igloo) and put the roses in. I put a solid chuck of ice to block the openning.

I figured that the temprature should be fairly stable, and it ought to be OK for the roses to stay there for another week or two. But I might just be too crazy to realize that I am killing them.

Also, one of them will be planted in the ground this weekend as I have the hole dugged already last week. The surprising thing is that the ground was really not frozen solid despite the cold. Only the surface 2 to 3 inches are, and it is actually not that hard to dig the hole. I aso tried to dug another hole in a raised bed, which turned out to be much harder as every inches of the soil that is above ground seems to be have been frozen solid.

BTW -- i thought that S&W's website is very clear about shipping no later than end of February as they do not do cold storage for bareroots.

I'm in NJ too and made very sure to contact all the places I order from and request not shipping anything until the beginning of April.

It's way to frozen to do anything here yet.

Thanks again everyone! Im always glad I can come here for advice. Farmer: I didnt notice that shipping notice. I guess I was too excited that I found a place that sold that rose. I'll check back in and let everyone know how I made out when the growing season gets going.

Or....you could pot it up and lug it outdoors every day that's not freezing and haul it indoors every frosty evening...like the four i am hauling in and out. They actually look very good. I, on the other hand, look like a nincompoop.

Right there with you Laura .

Good advice above. Here's another choice. I'm in Zone 6 and have often planted bareroot roses in the 3rd and 4th weeks of March. Admittedly those winters weren't as cold and crazy as this winter has been, but I notice already that parts of the garden are quite diggable, and I transplanted a rose last week to a new spot in the garden--worked out fine!

So my advice would be to soak the roses in water, keep them in a cooller place (unheated garage is good) with little or no sunshine, change the water each week, and when you encounter a diggable day in the garden in the next week or two, go ahead and plant them.

Good Luck!

Kate

Bareroots are planted in late winter, not spring.

Once things start thawing out, it can happen surprisingly fast. We've lost a lot of snow in the last day.

It isn't that early for bareroots in my part of NJ (eastern Monmouth County). I'm expecing a delivery this week. If your ground is workable, you can plant it now. My ground is a bit soggy, and it probably won't dry out for another week, but you can leave the bareroot soaking in a bucket, and plant it out this coming weekend.

Update: I planted it today since it hit 60 and no severe frosts seem imminent for the next week or so. I mulched it heavily & I have a good-sized sealed pot ready to cover it at night if needed. It does have several shoots, so I hope it will be OK.

It won't need any covering with a pot, from what I see from the 10-day forecast. Even if something happens to the current bud eyes, there are two more sets behind those that could emerge. They will be fine. I'm annoyed because I thought I had requested delivery of roses last week, and they aren't here yet. I like to plant when the air temp is 40 - 50 degrees.

Update: Here's my first rose (about May 15th). I've had about 8 blooms by now. So...I guess the early planting didnt hurt. PS, leaves look better now, too; I took care of whatever was munching on them.

Likely a rose slug, small green worms that eat the leaves from the underside. I had them for the first time this year. New growth looks great!

This post was edited by mzstitch on Tue, Jun 3, 14 at 6:49