I have ordered from Hortico a number of times (usually with very mixed results), but my most recent experience was the final straw. My 2009 order contained roses that were dead on arrival. When I notified Hortico that certain roses did not break dormancy & had not appeared to be viable when I received them, I got return emails from both Debbie AND John who quizzed me on how I had treated their roses before planting. I replied truthfully that I soaked the roses overnight & then planted them just like I've planted scores of other roses.

Well, lo & behold -- as it turned out, the fact that my roses were dead was MY fault. Why? I was informed by the experts at Hortico that their bare roots are to be soaked for PRECISELY 20 minutes. Not 19 minutes, not 21 minutes. TWENTY MINUTES. I checked their planting instructions, and sure 'nuf, that's what it says -- TWENTY minute soak. My questions relative to Hortico's stance on this matter were met with EXCEEDINGLY testy responses (which I've saved). When I asked why all the roses hadn't succumbed to the soaking, I was informed that the surviving roses had been MORE dormant. Oh.

Confronted with their attitude, I simply gave up. I had, after all, failed to follow their explicit instructions as written and published. Silly, unobservant me drowned my roses!

Can't understand why bare roots I've ordered over the years from J&P, Edmunds', Pickering, Petaluma, Regan, Rosemania & Palatine have survived prolonged soakings that sometimes lasted days (almost 2 weeks on more than one occasion). Come to think of it, there are a few Hortico roses in my garden that actually survived marathon soaks. Of course, several of those Hortico purchases are mystery roses. With Hortico, one never knows -- the rose received may or may not be the variety ordered.

As Bro Cadfael said above so succinctly & so cogently: Run, & never look back.

Pickering is about 99% right though quality lately needs the boot straps pulled up ... lost way too many for this spring order as never breaking dormancy or broke and croaked ... not happy but long track record of being a happy customer so I forgive them.

All of the roses I bought are still alive and kicking except for Bibi Maizoon which didn't open a bud in 2 seasons so I sp'd it.

Celeste

I wonder if Celeste has been lucky because she buys specific classes that might be grown by a more careful subcontractor? I do think that there's a possibility that Hortico doesn't grow all the roses that they sell.

And the twenty minute soak? What the he.. kind of rootstock are those roses on, anyway?

The temptation of a chance of getting the rare ones was too much for me, so I entered into a fool's folly. I ordered 4, I wonder what I will get? With all the bad press, makes you wonder how these folks stay in business.

Ingrid, I bothered to ask the same old Hortico question, but on the slight chance of some report of improvement.

Windeaux, OMG, what a horrible story. I will remember the precise twenty minutes, lol!!

Riku, I just love Pickering, even ordered 10 that arrived in the middle of May this year when it was already in the high 90's. I potted them up into 5 gallon cans, planted just this month in the ground. Every one of them flourished. I will totally be ordering more from them.

Celeste, I will cross my fingers and hope I will be as lucky as you!

The speaker said that ordering roses from Hortico was like Christmas morning.

Boxes arrive.
You have no idea what might be in them!

The roses you ordered? Perhaps.
Completely different roses? Could be!
Damaged Roses? Dead roses? Possible.

Jeri

Doug

I have missed all the hard to find Old Europeans and such since Vintage cutted back on propagating. It used to be so exciting to pick from all the many new releases in the fall. Own root is my first choice, but that is increasingly hard to find these days.

I have been debating whether to terminate the order. It is tempting to go ahead and take the gamble. I have wanted Robbie Burns(Austin) ever since someone on this forum posted a photo in a "singles" rose discussion awhile back. Looks like Lord Penzance (eglantine) will not be listed by Vintage again. I waited too late to order Agatha(Gallica)from Pickering. And Blanche Moreau(moss) is difficult to find.

Every so often they pledge to do better, purchase a silver star at HMF, etc. Then it's business as usual and they expect us to continue throwing good (and very hard-earned) money after bad. Apparently lots of folks fall for it year after year. I can't afford to any longer.

For me that is enough to keep buyig from them.

Now as to almost all domestic sources very few if any can supply grafted roses on multiflora which is for me the way to go. And also most have never heard of so many really worthwhile roses bred somewhere else. Hortico has!

Then think about the great difficulty in keeping their vast array of roses straight! Amazing that they do as well as they do.

My husband is totally skeptical of this Hortico thing, I will be hearing about is for a long time if things don't pan out well.

I have also been tempted to order from them several times due to the obscure varieties they claim to offer... but that's just it, they CLAIM to have it and then you don't receive it until 2 years later after they propagate your order.

I agree with KSTRONG, it's like pulling the lever on a slot machine.

FWIW
BC:)

Celeste

Here's some pics of Robbie Burns for you....

Lux.
P.S. to be fair, the roses that did arrive were in excellent condition.

So last November, 'Summer Song' showed up unannounced...mind you, I'm in Zone 5 Illinois. My original order was to ship in April....hmmmm.

I called Hortico, discussed the situation and the subsequent charges on my VISA for SS, and Hortico decided since it was a screw-up on their end...they would ship 'Broceliande' at no charge.

Broceliande arrived this past April in good shape, very healthy, and bloomed true. Glad I ordered it; appears they aren't carrying it anymore that I can tell. But I don't think I want the hassle again.
-terry

Think of a bare-rooted plant as a cutting, which since bare-rooting kills nearly all of the small roots it nearly is - and handle accordingly. If stock arrives looking dehydrated give it a little extra help after planting, instead of immersing it in water before planting.

I used to always defend them. I've ordered from them for probably 14-15yrs off and on. It could be frustrating tho. I used to hate how they would list roses that they didn't necessarily have. I had roses on my "backorder" list for yrs! Many I did finally get. But many never ever materialized even at the source. I rarely got mis-marked ones. And when I did they replaced them by crediting my backorder list, or current running list. I've gotten so many roses over the yrs from them that, as others have said, I wouldn't have ever gotten if not for Hortico. They are often the only source for many hard-to-find roses, so if we want them, we have to order from them.

But.... I have to say, this past two seasons were the worst I've ever experienced with them. So many mis-marked roses, or roses that died before they bloomed, etc. The thing that really bothers me most, is how they offer quite a lot of roses that are the correct name, but not the correct rose of that particular name. They even show pictures now of some of the roses as they really are, but they don't match their description.

Here's a few examples.... Last yr, I ordered MARIETTA, a Tantau ruby-edged white florist HT, but received the same named rose, which is the Tantau red-edged yellow FL. I ordered MARIA THERESA aka CORAL FIESTA, a Dot flaming orange HT. I received MARIA TERESA, a Lens light pink old-fashioned-looking FL. I ordered the Kordes hot orange HT called FORTUNA, but received their lt pink single FL called FORTUNA VIGOROSA. I ordered ALOHA, purported to be the Kordes orange-edged yellow florist HT, but instead received ALOHA the Boerner pink climber. I also had ordered the Dickson apricot FL called DESERT ISLAND last yr. It didn't bloom til this yr, and it was an ugly lt pink semi-double bloom that blew in two days.

This yr, my OLYMPIC DREAM rose ended up being rootstock, and OLYMPIC GLORY never broke dormancy, so I don't know if it would've been the right rose or not. SUN CITY and GERMISTON GOLD died. ROYAL COPENHAGEN (which was shipped as supposedly being from my backorder list, which I had actually cancelled) never bloomed, but is still alive. Same goes for HELLO DOLLY. The remaining roses, APRIKOLA, CHANDOS BEAUTY, JAN STEEN and PRINCE OF PEACE all bloomed and appear to be the correct roses. PLEASURE gave me one bloom, and appears to be correct, but I'm not sure.

Like an idiot, I ordered a few roses for the coming season... ESTHER GELDENHUYS and TIFTON to replace mine that died. I also ordered two roses, knowing I will be getting the "other" rose with the same name... DIGNITY is supposedly the white LeGrice HT, but the picture shows the mauve Athy HT. And RAZZLE DAZZLE is supposedly the red w/white reverse Warriner FL, but they show a pic of the Fryer orange FL. You would think, with their own pictures showing a totally different rose of the same name, that they would correct the descriptions and classes of these boo-boos.

I want to add several David Austin roses that Hortico lists as having, but I'm afraid to try with as many as I'd like to order. I don't want to end up with a bunch of rootstock or some off-the-wall roses. But their prices for the DAs are only $14!! I did get a few from them a few yrs ago and they are correct.... ENGLISH ELEGANCE, A SHROPSHIRE LAD and THE DARK LADY. So, maybe it might be worth trying?? But.... I dunno?....