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christy2828

Brandy rose in Hampton Roads

christy2828
9 years ago

I can only find this rose online at Nature Hills. They have a terrible reputation and the total cost would be $50 for Brandy with shipping. If anyone spots this rose in the Hampton Roads area of VA, could you let me know please? Thank you!! Christy

Comments (6)

  • vasue VA
    9 years ago

    A quick search shows Roses Unlimited carries it in gallons & Heirloom Roses as bands (smaller than gallons). Prices from these two are about the same for the rose, but I consider the gallon size the better buy. Roses Unlimited charges $17 for the rose, $5 for order handling & $5 for shipping each rose to VA, plus extra shipping if less than 3 roses total are ordered. Still would come in less than $50. Both sources are good ones & sell ownroot roses. Since Brandy is often only hardy to zone 7B, buying her ownroot may be a good idea if winters like this last continue. Weeks Roses (wholesaler) lists this grafted & their site is searchable to find mailorder & local suppliers. (Most of those mailorder suppliers carry bareroots, and it's too late in the season for those.) Linked is Weeks mailorder page, but click the tab on the top bar 'Find Our Roses' for local retailers by zipcode. You could call these local outlets & ask if they have Brandy on hand.

    Sometimes it's tough searching rose sources online. I have better luck searching 'hybrid tea brandy' rather than 'brandy rose' or 'rose brandy', for example. I'm sure there are others selling this rose mailorder, too, with a bit more time searching the web to find them. Have run across Brandy at local box stores & nurseries from time to time.

    Grew Brandy in the early 80's & remember her as one gorgeous & continually blooming rose with a good scent & apricot coloring. Lived in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia then & couldn't get her to overwinter grafted - tried more than once. If you find her grafted, may want to bury the graft to hedge your bet against another prolonged Winter. Best of luck in your pursuit!

    Here is a link that might be useful: Weeks Roses

  • christy2828
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thank you!!! I'm actually a bit over an hour south of Hampton Roads in Hertford, NC, but I've checked all of our local nurseries and we are quite rural down here. I'm in zone 8a. It is a tough rose to google search for, I find my recipes than anything, lol. I'll try it with hybrid tea. Thanks for your help, I'll take a look later when I get back home. I went to the Norfolk Botanical Garden last year (my husband brought me for Mother's Day :), and they had HUNDREDS of roses. I wandered around there for over an hour until we couldn't stand the complaining by my 3 and 7 year olds, lol :) Brandy was by far a standout for me, I took lots of pics, but she stood out. I will say my Mardi Gras IS putting on a great show this year, and I can't wait to see my Camelot!!!! Thanks :) Christy

  • vasue VA
    9 years ago

    Went to look at what Nature Hills is offering - not that I would buy anything from them, either. Their potted Brandy was originally $70(!) & now on sale for $35 + 16 to ship. The pot size is their #1: 2.26 - 3.73 quarts, so slightly over half a gallon to a trade gallon. (No mention whether ownroot or grafted.) That's totally nuts, even if their reputation were golden, which it's not.

    Which got me wondering the actual soil volume of band pots versus gallons or scant trade gallons. Bypassing the math calculations & measuring out potting soil, found 5 band pots stuffed to the brim fill a 1 gallon/3.79 liter round non-tapered pot to 3/4 of an inch below the rim. Those band pots, received with roses potted on, are listed on the grower's website as 3" square by 6" high, which is also a nominal measurement, since they are marked by the pot manufacturer as 2 7/8 x 5 1/2 inches. From playing in the dirt, that translates to 20% of a gallon volume per band. Since 4 quarts make a gallon, which would be 25%, guess we could call these bands trade quarts.

    Of course, this is of relative interest (even to me) since what we hope to receive are root masses grown throughout the available soil volume. So we're really comparing the maturity of a smaller versus larger plant below the soil, whether that's yet reflected in top growth. Still, adds perspective to size & price comparisons, handy for looking at pot & plant visuals as in the link. On my way back out to play in the dirt in a more useful manner...

    Here is a link that might be useful: Vintage Gardens Band & Gallon

  • vasue VA
    9 years ago

    Sent the ramble about bands vs. gallons before seeing your reply. Norfolk Botanical is amazing, thanks for the reminder! Used to stop there on the way home from beach vacations & just wander in wonder.

    Lots of discussion on these forums about this last Winter & the hit many plants took from prolonged cold. Keep in mind that hardiness zones give a range for average extreme lows & not actual lows. Find them more useful for perennials that die back to the ground & resprout the following Spring, that are root hardy rather than cane hardy. On this topic, USDA says: "Hardiness zones are based on the average annual extreme minimum temperature during a 30-year period in the past, not the lowest temperature that has ever occurred in the past or might occur in the future."

    My zone 7a falls within 0-5 degrees average lows & your zone 8a trends within 10-15, basically a 10 degree variance. Haven't protected roses here with more than oak leaf mulch & consider myself lucky that the few established grafted roses without their grafts buried made it through last Winter's unusually extended cold. Much prefer ownroots, but will bury any grafted roses acquired in the future, just to hedge my bets.

    Remember Camelot as a beauty. Like the fruit salad saturated pastels & blends. too. Haven't grown Mardis Gras - do post pics when your roses bloom! You've got me wondering now if I have a warm pocket in this garden where Brandy might endure - very fond of that rose.

    Here is a link that might be useful: About zone maps & gardening

  • aahl
    9 years ago

    I bought Brandy at Witherspoon in Durham two years ago and it has done well. I don't know if they still have it or how expensive.

  • bunnicula03
    9 years ago

    Several of my local Home Depots have Brandy, grafted. The selections do vary from store to store, so it's worth stopping in to check the selections at the big boxes if you have any nearby. I just picked up a Liv Tyler tree rose, I've been longing for Liv Tyler for two years.

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