Zuzu, Thank You for reminding me of Pickering! I bought a few roses from them this year and they are all doing well. One cannot beat their prices, either. It's an especially good solution where I need to buy three plants to fill a space as I might do with, say, Tamora. I was a bit apprehensive, but I planted a Pickering Sexy Rexy next to a Vintage Garden Sexy Rexy that arrived in my garden a year earlier. By the end of its first season the two plants were essentially equal in size and bloom production. Regarding buying from local nurseries, there really aren't any here except for big box stores. And it's mostly Knockouts and Mr. Lincolns. But sometimes places like S&W, Garden Valley, or RosesTulsa will sell DA roses mail order. I've had middling luck with the first two. It occurred to me that such places might do some culling. If Chamblees is not going to be much better than, say the typical RVR band or the bands I got from VG before I started asking for 12" tall roses, then I'll pass. The six roses I got from Heirloom this year in their half-price sale were almost knee-high on arrival. Not bad, we'll see how they overwinter. I'm pretty sure at least one was mislabeled, though: the two Velvet Fragrance roses grow at different rates and bear different colored flowers.
Toni, I cannot tell you how many roses I have like your Molineux, except for the flower part. Or maybe I can: Two Apricot Nectars from VG that are a full 11 inches high after two seasons in the garden, a three year old Chic from RVR that is six inches high, and a three year old Medallion from RVR that is almost up to my ankles! But that's saying something because, except for Orfeo, the other RVR bands are mostly dead. Given the relative survival rates of bare root roses vs. bands in my garden, I think I could afford to spend three or four times as much for for grafted bare root roses. More reasons to buy Pickering.
