About 2 weeks ago I had 4 rose bushes identified here indeed as David Austin roses:

http://cubits.org/roses/thread...

Since these English roses are just flowering machines, I decided that maybe this fall or next spring to move my 5 HT roses which are in the same bed and replace them all with DA's roses. I've been browsing DA's site as to what roses I will be getting. 3-gal containers around $50 each with shipping or get the specials on bare root roses.

Anyway, went to Lowe's Friday afternoon to 'look around' and of course went directly to the rose section, and what's the first thing I noticed, a 4-gallon Abraham Darby. Huge plant about 3-feet tall with buds and blooms fading away. Just $21.95. And I was thinking, that's all? DA's site charge so much more plus you pay for shipping. I was looking for other varieties but they only have AD on their English roses. Dozens of them. Get this, when I paid for it, it only scanned for $15.95! What a deal!

I was pleased with my purchase and decided to go grocery shopping for the holiday barbeque. Went to Wegman's (if you don't know what that is, it's like an upscale grocery just like Wholefoods). Guess what, right by their entrance, 3-gallon roses for $14.95. And just my luck, they also got 2 kinds of DA's roses, Winchester Cathedral and Wenlock. I ended up buying both of them too. My grocery budget was cut just a tad short.

Your lucky day for sure!

How great! Three for almost the same price you would have paid for one, and they're all so different. You're going to love those.

OMG, talk about the deal of the century! I'm so jealous! YAY!!!!!

Yeah, I was surprised myself that I found 3 DA roses with those prices in the same afternoon unexpectedly..

Anyway, Wegman's also got the same size rosa Bonica. Today, I went to my favorite nursery and they also got Bonica I think in 4-gal containers for only $19.99. I read a lot of good things about Bonica as floribundas. Though when I saw it in person I found the flowers a tad smaller to my liking. But then it sure makes up for the quantities in a single plant.
Anybody here got Bonicas? I need to know the exact height. I read they can grow from 3 to 5 feet tall. I prefer the shorter height so I can plant them in front of the border. Width-wise, I'm not concerned of. The wider the better.

I have Bonica and Royal Bonica and they both get fairly tall here, but they should be easy to keep in bounds if you want them to be short.

I went to Lowe's today and found a rose I've never seen before or even heard of before. It had one huge bloom on it, which was pretty much played out, but still so intriguing. It was among their $6.97 roses, so how could I resist? And this is the funny part: It's called Tantalizing Red, but there's nothing red about it. Here's a picture of the played-out bloom that caught my eye and pulled at my wallet.

I like the color(s) and shape on that one. We never had that in our Lowe's unless I missed it. For sure they don't have roses for $6.97. The lowest price they have which is still fairly cheap is $9.97 for a 2/(3?)-gal hybrid teas.

They didn't have very many roses at my Lowe's. It's pretty late in the season to plant anything here. I saw about 10 Perfume Tiger standards and a few new roses in 3-gallon containers for just under $20. Outside, they had a few Icebergs, a few Heirlooms, and this one Tantalizing Red in 2-gallon containers for $6.97. They did have tables and tables covered with Knockout roses and Flower Carpet roses, however.

One thing I noticed about our Lowe's is that they keep bringing in different roses every week or two weeks. It's still planting season here in NJ. That's why I keep going back there every week to 'look around' and I keep promising myself not to buy anything. Just 'look'. Yeah, right! LOL! That's why I was surprised to see Abraham Darby in there as they never carried DA roses before. The garden center manager promised me he will do his best in getting more varieties of DA roses.

Knockouts and Carpet Roses - Knockouts especially, anywhere you go, may it be a box store or a nursery, they're all flooded with them. It's kind of sad that they put too much priority and tend to overstock on these modern roses. There is a nursery down the street from me, in fact just a short walk away. I don't even go there because they only carry knockout roses and NO other kind of roses.

I have to start going there more often. A couple of years ago I bought a 3-gallon Fire 'n' Ice there for $8.97 just a short time after paying Amity more than twice that amount to ship me a little band of it. It had been so hard to find and I was so excited to find it at Amity. Who knew Lowe's would have it a week later?

Your find is lovely. What is it really? I have a rose called Tantalizing Red which is very red.

Oh, for heaven's sake. Believe it or not, Porkpal, I think you might have the mislabeled rose. HMF says Tantalizing Red is a hybrid tea with blooms of mauve or purple blend.

http://www.helpmefind.com/rose...

I'm not surprised; I think I have a lot of mixed up labels. Mine certainly does not look like a Hybrid Tea!

I didn't get any more roses this past time at Lowes.. I looked for the Chris Everts they had last week and were out. We're winding down on the rose season here now. Soon, all the stores will have just knockouts and that'll be it for the season.

Well, my luck with English roses continues. Went somewhere else today and I passed by Whole Foods market. I didn't even think of stopping by, but while I was driving it dawned on me, if Wegman's Food Market carries David Austin roses why not Whole Foods. So I made a U-turn and boy, was I lucky. They only have 2 kinds of roses, DA's Mary Rose and DA's L D Braithwaite and L D Braithwaite is absolutely on my wish list.

Their LDB is kind of small for the 4-gal container and at $29 and change at such. I didn't mind the price. It was still a good buy and a lot cheaper as to getting it directly from DA's site for a live plant.

Now if I could just find Pat Austin somewhere before summer really kicks off. The rest I can wait till fall.

Pat Austin would be the perfect addition to your collection.

I love Pat Austin!!! The perfect orange cupped rose, non-stop blooms all season long.

Alan

YAY!! My Whole Paycheck isn't carrying roses, but Sunflower is carrying some. Sprouts isn't yet. I did pick up another Paradise Found from Sunflower as I lost mine (froze up).

You're so lucky!! :)

Wow. I gotta get out more. What a string of luck. I loved to shop at Wegmans when I lived in NJ. It was a little out of the way for me, but the produce and meat were about as good as you could find anywhere.

Stopped by Lowes two days ago ... some nice bougainvilla at $40 a pop, but no potted roses.