CindiKS said: I was just thinking my dizziness is getting unbearable and my dogs started crying and then one jumped up on my lap. Turns out we just had another earthquake. My daughter called from Kansas city, 180 miles north of me, saying her building was shaking. The earthquake was south of me in oklahoma! That's 2 I've felt today!
I'm working on a presentation for my local Rose society, talking about places to order roses. I have never ordered from Heirloom, RVR, Roses Unlimited or Rose Petals. My only experience with Hortico was not good. What's the general consensus on the ones I don't know first hand? I have photos of what was shipped to me with other sellers.
Cindi ... one of the things that came up in a conversation with some one who lives back east who was complaining about the roses she received from Regans this year that I thought you might want to share in your talk ... altho' you did not mention Regan's in your post.
Others have complained about the quality of plants they have received from Regans either here or on other forums. Regans is located in California. They do not grow their own roses. They get their roses from growers in California. California is in its fifth year of drought. Like any other agricultural crop, the quality of the plants is going to be impacted by the drought conditions. It simply does not make sense to blame the nursery.
So any nursery which is receiving plants from the California growing grounds is likely to have lower quality plants than they would have in non-drought years.
The reason I've brought this up is that it seems like no one seems to think of roses as an agricultural crop. There are good crop years, OK crop years and lousy crop years. Something to think about.
As for the nurseries you have listed above, they are not receiving inventory from the California growing grounds. I cannot comment on the quality of their plants.
I think we might decide to stay in with a glass of wine by an open fireplace...
