Comments regarding Heirloom Roses

I've bought nine roses from Heirloom, always in person from the nursery (they're local to me). All the roses they sell are small (much smaller than the typical grafted roses I've seen). But after following the nursery's recommended planting procedure (which is a royal pain with the wet clay soil I have), every plant has flourished. Six of the nine bore flowers the first year, three of them in great abundance. I've always found their staff to be very helpful when I've visited in the off-season. The nursery has a wonderful rose garden, and gets absolutely mobbed on the weekends when the everything's in bloom; I imagine the staff wouldn't have the time to be as helpful then.

I ordered from HOGR in August 1998 and would recommend this company to any rose lovers. My six roses looked great and were very healthy upon receipt. I have planted four of them and all have took off great. The other 2 are still in their containers and are getting new leaves. This is the end of September and they still look great. This is my first year with HOGR and the customer service was great. I received them a lot earlier then I expected. I knew what to expect from own root roses, because I ordered from Hardy Roses for the North out of Grand Forks, B.C. All roses grown from their own roots are expected to be smaller upon arrival but once planted the next year the take off and make for lost time. I am very satisfied and plan on buying own root roses again.

I have been reading the comments about Heirloom Old Garden Roses. I would just like to say that I ordered from them the last two years and have been very happy with my roses. My David Austins and Bourbons that I ordered this year arrived in great shape on time as promised and even had blooms! They are growing with great vigor and the bloom frequency has been far more than I expected for first year own-roots. I hope that everyone else who does business with them will have the same positive experiences I have. I have found them to always be very courteous and polite.

I live fairly near St. Paul, so I've bought roses from HOGR both in person and via mail, and have never had anything but satisfaction. They freely replaced a rose that was eaten by a dog; I had to wait a year and a half for 3 Dublin Bay because they became very popular just when I ordered them, and I had forgotten about the order when they arrived. If you want slick customer service, go to a big nursery owned by a holding company in Japan (like J & P), if you want a family-owned, honest nursery, go to Heirloom. Also, yes, the roses are very small when you first receive them, but the important thing is not how the leaves look, but if the roots are developed. These are own-root roses, and they're a year old, and not grafted on a two year old root stock...I've planted over 100 roses from Heirloom, and have only lost the one to the dog.