Remember that they moved their growing fields from just north of Pickering to a place that (IIRC) is at least an hour drive to the northeast (no heat island from Toronto is my guess).

This was my first year ordering from Pickering, and what I received (6 Portlands, 1 DA and 1 poly) was healthy and comparable to my roses from Palatine. I've always thought that the roses I've gotten from Palatine look a little skimpy, especially compared to bare roots coming from Texas and grafted on Dr Huey. I know that in the long run they will grow just fine. So that was also my experience with Pickering, not huge plants but I don't feel let down either.

The old Pickering location was outside the City of Toronto to the Northwest by a good deal. The new location is actually quite a bit closer to lake Ontario and has a pretty much identical climate.

I did not order roses this year from Pickering, the first time in many years, so cannot comment on the plants. What I do know however, is that Toronto and in fact most of Ontario had the longest, most severe winter in over 50 years.

Lake Ontario was frozen over completely and for much longer than usual, so there was no moderating effect from the lake this winter. I also know that the area where Pickering is located got a winter more like what I usually experience much further Northeast. They probably experienced a true zone 4 winter rather than their normal 5b. This comes after last year when they were not allowed to ship to their US customers due to some unexpected changes to export rules. So they are having a rough go.

This in no way excuses insensitivity or poor customer service. But at the same time, they may be having a rough patch business wise. Running a nursery business is difficult at the best of times. This year was not the best of times from a climate perspective.

For the record, Palatine is located near the Southwest corner of Lake Ontario and is a full climate zone warmer than Port Hope where Pickering is located.

I have been buying roses from Pickering pretty much yearly for 20 over years, visit them most years and have been treated wonderfully by them every time. They are still my favorite rose nursery and as has been noted have a wonderful selection of OGRS, Austins and others.

So lets hope they have a better season next year and return to their usual excellence. We cannot afford to loose another rose nursery and Pickering has always been one of the best.

Cheers, Rick

U.S. residents have always made up a significant portion of Pickering's customer base. Being forced to cancel all U.S. orders for one full season had to have come as a major blow to the business. The nursery is now saddled with the necessity of transitioning to a new production method/business model. Such a transition is undoubtedly frustrating, painful and time-consuming.

I join Rick in hoping that Pickering will soon return the usual level of excellence that we've relied on for so many years.

SCG