Roses in Bags ... Just Say No!

It's that time of year again!  Just as we are at our lowest point after enduring the cold and darkness of winter, in mid-to-late February, the Roses in Bags arrive to tempt us with their promise of summer.

At $4.57, what's the harm in picking up a few of these babies?

Almost all of these are lovely older varieties ... ones that our mothers and grandmothers grew.  Tempting, so tempting. 

The canes on these look pretty good.  Most of them are green and firm.  I see a little bit of canker and a few dead canes, but not many.  If they stay outside in the sunshine for much longer, this situation will deteriorate really quickly.

The main problem with these roses is the way they were grown and the way they were handled prior to their arrival in the store. These canes that you see have very little root in those tiny bags to support any sort of vigorous growth. In a bare root rose, root mass should AT LEAST equal the mass of the top canes ... and more roots than that are even better.

Careless handling during digging and packaging leads to mix-ups.  Way too many of these labels are meaningless, because the rose in the bag may not be the one on the label.  If this happens, there's no one to contact for a replacement.  (Don't even get me started on how they were displayed out in the open, in the sunshine, at the store.  This is a recipe for failure, and a clear disregard for the quality of their product.)

In this display, there was also a section of roses in larger pots.  Just say no to these, too.  Though the canes on these were a little bit larger than the ones in the bags, I'll bet they also have tiny, hacked off roots lurking in those pots.  The label says the pot is plantable and bio-degradable ... a great way for the packaging to conceal the truth in the pot.

Those of you who have been around here for a while know that I do this every year, trying my best to save all of you some money and some heartache.  Here's my best advice, if you have a weak moment and cannot resist the siren song of these roses ... you get what you pay for.  If you buy these expecting to have a high-quality rose garden for very little money, you will probably be disappointed.  If you want to buy one or two just to see what happens, this is a better attitude.  If you walk away shaking your head, I have done my job.

If you have any questions, I will be happy to answer them via comments or email.

More Roses in Bags

I went to Big Lots yesterday to pick up a few things.  It was not a surprise to find bare root roses in bags thrown onto a shelf in the garden supply department. 

These poor things were in unbelieveably awful condition.  Take a really close look at the canes on the roses in the photo below.  Look how many of them are dead or damaged.

This rose received particularly rough treatment while it was being cut back and processed.  Its skinny little canes were shredded.  No one in the 'quality control' portion of the process thought to remove it from the pile.

Usually I find mostly hybrid tea roses in these displays, and this was the case here, too.  I was surprised to find Reine des Violettes, a lovely hybrid perpetual under different circumstances.  I guess nothing is immune to this sort of treatment.

There ARE standards for the grading of bare root roses, as set by the American Rose Society.

Grade 1.  Hybrid teas and grandifloras must have three or more strong canes, two of which are at least 18 inches (45 cm) long.  Floribundas meet the same standards, but the canes need only be 15 inches (38 cm) long.  Polyanthas must have four or more canes at least 12 inches (30 cm) long.  Climbers and ramblers must have three or more canes 24 inches (60 cm) long.

Grade 1 1/2.  Hybrid teas and grandifloras must have two or more canes at least 15 inches (38 cm) long.  Floribundas must have two or more canes 14 inches (35 cm) long.  Climbers must have two or more canes 18 inches (35 cm) long.  Polyanthas which do not meet Grade 1 standards are not graded.

Grade 2.  All classes must have two or more canes 12 inches (30 cm) long.

This is what a bare root rose SHOULD look like, with healthy green canes and abundant roots.  There is no way that a decent root system could possibly fit into these little bags.

Notice that there is no indication of Grade on these packages.  These are absolutely the bottom of the barrel, being packaged and sold for whatever paltry amount the sellers can get for them.

As I finished my shopping and got in line at the register, I noticed that the man in front of me had four roses in his cart.  I asked if he was familiar with how to grow roses.  He told me he wasn't, and I gave him some advice on how they should be prepared and planted.  I also told him to save his receipt, and reminded him to be sure to bring the plants back if he has a problem with them.  I didn't have the heart to tell him what I was really thinking.

My Annual Rant About Bare-Root Roses in Bags

I ran to Walmart to buy a few things yesterday afternoon, and I saw THIS outside the main door:

Stop me if you've heard this before ...

JUST SAY NO TO ROSES IN BAGS!!

This display is full of roses with names that we remember our mothers and grandmothers growing:  John F. Kennedy, Pink Peace, Seafoam, Don Juan, and America, for example.  At $4.25 each, who wouldn't want to scoop up a whole armload and plant a beautiful rose garden at a bargain price?

Don't fall for it!  These roses are ones that would be rejected by big-name nurseries.  (Grade 1 1/2 is a lower grade than the Grade 1 that most nurseries sell.)  The growers package these in tiny bags, for cheaper shipping, with beautiful (desceptive) photos, to lure unsuspecting customers.  Gardeners (and want-to-be-gardeners) are sick of winter by now, and they come across a bright display with the promise of beautiful summer flowers.  We get sucked in by the familiar names ... I forgot to tell you, these roses are notorious for NOT being the rose they say they are on the label.

At this price, how can this NOT be a bargain, you ask?  Let's imagine that a beginning rose gardener decides to take a chance and buy some of these $4.25 roses. The roses struggle and fail to thrive. The gardener shoulders the blame, figuring that the roses aren't growing well because of something he/she must be doing wrong.  Where he/she went wrong was by buying roses that are probably not healthy in the first place. All the ground preparation, fertilizer, fungicide, and care in the world won't make a healthy rose out of an unhealthy, poorly packaged, or damaged rose.

These roses fit into these tiny little plastic bags because they have had most of their roots chopped off.  See what they look like without the packaging?  (I bought the roses in this photo a few years ago.  See, even I'm not immune to their appeal.)

For comparison, this is what a bare-root rose SHOULD look like, with a large healthy root system, and carefully pruned green canes without wax.

 

This year, for the first time, I saw Knock Out roses on the display.  People equate Knock Out with "easy to grow", so it only makes sense that they've trickled down to this level.  (If you missed my post earlier in the week about Easy Care Heirloom Roses, as an alternative to Knock Out, click HERE.)

Sometimes, it seems as if I'm spitting into the wind.  I'm one voice, against a marketing machine with pretty pictures and bargain prices.  Maybe if I do this long enough, I'll make some progress.