It's in the 50s up here and many of the roses are leafing out, but the forsythia has not even started to bloom. I've found the forsythia is truly a good indicator that spring is not here yet.

It did feel strange to be going out between rain showers to water plants/roses under the eves of the house ... they are not getting rain ...

Smiles,
Lyn

The bare root roses that I planted at my daughter's house in San Diego in December have not yet leafed out. The nursery said it's still a bit early, yet all the roses at the nursery are fully leafed out. The nursery is in a canyon that stays 10 degrees warmer on average, though. My daughter is near the ocean.
I could not resist buying another 3 roses. My mother bought 4, so my extra suitcase is already full!
My checked luggage always gets searched for some reason. Maybe I need to put a warning sticker in there saying watch out for the thorns.
I cannot believe how inexpensive orchids are in California. I may have to bring a few of those home, too.
Does anyone grow Colette? I almost bought it yesterday. It has the form that I like.

Cindi ... I used to live in San Diego. Where did you buy your roses ?

We used to always buy our bare root roses in December and January because it never really got below 40F at night, so the roses were not really dormant. Generally, we finished pruning by Jan 15th.

My night temps have been in the 40s up here for a couple of weeks and several of my roses are leafing out ... unfortunately. The forsythia hasn't even begun to bloom which is a strong indicator that winter is not over and all of that new growth is going to get blasted ...

I've done a bit of clean pruning ... taking out obviously dead wood ... but I really didn't mess with the roses in February because I was concerned about rain borne pathogens. My true last frost date is in April. It's been a strange winter and the roses are more than a little confused.

I do have bulbs coming up ... and lots and lots of weeds, too

Smiles,
Lyn

Lyn,
We go to Kniffing's in El Cajon. Tomorrow, I hope to go to Walter Andersen and a couple more. Do you have any suggestions on where to look?

Cindi ....

Kniffing's was my favorite place to buy roses. Ted really handles the plants well and whoever he has had as a subcontractor has always supplied excellent plants. I bought my first "big" rose there.

You may find the stock pretty picked over by now because people used drive long distances to be there the first day he opened "bare root season" and all of the first month. This is late in the San Diego bare root season.

Walter Anderson also has excellent roses, but by the time I had purchased from Kniffing, I really couldn't afford more roses from them ...

Those two nurseries would be my top picks. I have been gone from the San Diego area for about 10 years, so I don't know if there are any newer nurseries that are as good.

I truly miss having a good rose nursery to visit.

Smiles,
Lyn

must be nice. This is what I have tonight.

Lyn,
Three years in a row now, I have been at Kniffing's the day the boxes of bare root roses were delivered. I was able to buy at the bare root price each time!
This year, the Austin rose shipment arrived very late, and I had to rely on my daughter to go out there to buy for me. She didn't understand that I needed them when they were dormant, so she shipped me roses that had already started to leaf out. I potted them and put them in the garage, and so far, they are okay. The price goes up considerably once they pot them, and this year I think they raised their prices. I think the Austins were 26.95. Last time, I'm pretty sure it was 22.95.
Yesterday I found a Traviata rose and another Sally Holmes. I passed up a Wedgwood climber and Colette, so I may drive back out there for those if I don't get too much at Walter Andersen, Mission Hills nursery, or Hunter's Nursery.
We did stop by the rose garden at Balboa. We're about a month early for most, but I did take pictures of the few that were blooming. If those were the only Austins I had ever seen, I would never buy one. I don't know what happened to their Austin collection but they looked awful. Hopefully they look better for the rose convention in May.

Cindi ....

Sounds like you hit the best nurseries. Good for you. There is nothing like them up here. It does vary by where the nurseries get their stock. There is one nursery down in the valley that must get their roses from someone other than the normal suppliers for this region because their plants are so much better.

Smiles,
Lyn

Lyn,
Haha, looks like we're the only ones left in February.
That Walter Andersen nursery was fabulous. FABULOUS. Wow. Should have started there, but I was mainly seeking Austins.
Funny, I'm not coming home with any Austins!
Andersen had a deal of "buy 2, get another free" on roses. I saw a Hulthemia shrub rose that I had never heard of and I'm kind of sorry I didn't buy it. It was lovely, looked like a hibiscus more than a rose. Much prettier than that other new line of Hulthemia crosses. Eyeconics? This one was Raspberry Kiss, aka Eyes on Me.
The Andersen roses were in far better condition than the Kniffing ones, not that those were bad or anything. Signage was way better and so was service. And prices.
I'm heading home to snow and ice tomorrow. I'll keep the roses potted up in my garage for another month.
Hopefully in May I'll get to come back and meet some of the San Diego rose people. Are you going to the ARS convention? The main draw is the gardens on the bus tours, but I hope to meet some of the forum people in person!

Hi Cindi ...

I am not terribly surprised that the Walter Anderson roses were better than Kniffings. I am quite certain Ted's stock was pretty picked over by now.

'Raspberry Kiss' was bred in England with a very different lineage than what Jim has used for the Eyeconic series of roses. Jim is located in Bakersfield with a very, very different climate.

I honestly believe the climate where a breeder is located truly impacts the roses he breeds because the seedlings that don't do well in that climate are usually culled. Also, the roses tested in that climate are not always viable in other climates.

No, I won't be attending the May convention. May is one of the busiest months in my garden. I am usually rushing to get things done before the heat hits ...

I hope you have a good time.

Smiles,
Lyn

Hi Vicky!

Looks like she realized it wasn't Feb. anymore!