No, don't do it. Edmunds ships too late and everything I've ever bought from them has struggled because of late planting. It's a shame because they have pretty good sized plants.

Depends on your weather I think. If it's getting hot and dry now it will be harder to get them to stay moist and break dormancy. If the weather is still cool and you're getting good rain they may be fine. The other thing you could do is pot them up so you can put them in partial shade and move them around when needed. You have to decide if it's worth the risk to you. But if you're going to do it I'd do it quick.

Thank you very much for your responses. I know what to do now.

I planted some a few weeks ago and some didn't make it. The others are struggling. If I ever plant bare root roses again, it will be in April.

I had somewhat of an experiment in my garden this spring, I ordered several bare roots in early April ( very late for zone 7 bare root planting), some of them went in the ground as soon as I got them, and a couple (the saddest looking 2 of the bunch) went into pots that are sitting on my porch, which gets some morning/early afternoon sun, but not tons. All of the plants are doing pretty well, one of the few I put in the ground seemed to struggle during the hottest weeks in early may, but it recovered. However, the sad little plants that I put in containers on the semi shaded porch are now over twice the size of the ones in the ground, even though I had been watering the ones in the ground like there is no tomorrow, and watering the ones in pots maybe less than half that amount.

What I gather from this is that if you plant bare roots late in the season, do it in containers, and keep those containers in a part sun area for at least a few months, putting them directly in the ground may be a mistake at this point because they don't have established roots and can't absorb enough water to really prosper in the summer heat. I would say even if you do it in April, (even though you are north of me), you will have to water them pretty much daily for them to have a chance to be successful. I would say your true bare root planting season is probably late February or March, if you go by the recommendations of most propel here, I think you would be safe if you got them and put them in pots and maybe put them in the ground in the fall, after the weather cools a little bit.

Jessica

Thank you for sharing your experiences. I think I better pass on this sale. It soudns like the savings are not worth the extra trouble and TLC.

The reason is, they have been in cold storage since November and are losing vitality. The mass marketers usually put on sales in June for this reason. Some of the plants will do OK, some will never break dormancy, and the odds get worse as the month progresses. Pots in semi-shade sounds like a good idea if you have hot, dry summers. Or mound the canes, or spray them with Wilt-pruf.

I second the wilt-pruf idea,

I've planted bare roots as late as July and had them survive. Not intentionally. I bought some large potted roses from HD on clearance and when I took them out of the pots all the dirt fell off. I doubt they had been in their pots for more than a week before being put out for sale. They were too inexpensive to bother returning them.

I cut off almost all the top growth, drenched the soil and mounded mulch on them for the first few weeks.