Comments regarding Antique Rose Emporium

A year ago, I ordered four climbing roses for a trellis over a dock that was surrounded by raised beds. It sits next to a mid-florida estuary on the Gulf. They were good-sized full plants when they arrived, not bare root. All of them survived the three major hurricanes we had. All were totally submerged in brackish water for one and flooded up to the roots for the other two. They are healthy and growing up the lattice and two are almost at the roof. The Peggy Martin acts like it is on steroids and I might have to prune it back to give the others room to grow. Although my tropical hibiscus are beautiful and huge, I think I'm going to stick with roses and will be placing my next order from the Antique Rose Emporium.

All roses I received are happy . I appreciate their container size, & their selection.

Posted on July 16, 2023, updated May 5, 2024
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Posted on April 23, 2004, updated May 25, 2015
I ordered all old garden roses from this company: Marchesa Bocchella, Rose de Rescht and Zephirine Doughin. All were potted, with healthy foliage and tiny buds appearing. They are not as large as those from Edmunds, but I believe that this is normal for old garden roses. They are great specimens, very nicely packaged and easy to plant. I will not hesitate to order from them again.

Antique Rose Emporium is my go-to source for roses. I have had nothing but good experiences buying from them. My roses have always arrived promptly, in good health, and meticulously packaged. They have an amazing selection and they are very good about letting you know when something is back in stock. Love them.

I ordered 4 roses from this company for the first time this past spring (2 New Dawn and 2 Zéphirine Drouhin). They arrived on time in excellent condition and the packaging was very well done. My roses spent about a month in the pots they came in before being planted. They both grew to 4 feet or more over the summer with multiple large stems and even put out several blooms. I am very pleased with how well they all did.

To address any negative reviews about receiving roses that were cut back, with no foliage or skinny stems - this is how mine arrived also. This is a perfectly sensible way to ship plants and how I would expect to receive dormant roses in early Spring. The plants were very healthy and this had absolutely no impact on how well they grew. I would absolutely order from this company again.

I ordered one rose, Prairieville Prince & received mid-May 2022. I'm impressed with ARE's 2-gallon root ball, which is just as big as the 2-gallon roses from Home Depot. The weight of the root ball is worth the shipping cost. I didn't plant my rose until 1 week later, and now less than 1 month, it grows plenty of leaves plus 3 buds. This nursery has the largest own roots which can be planted right into my rock hard clay, and leaf out fast with many buds from bare stems.

I waited until I had my roses in the ground for a few days to leave a review. This rose company is great. My first time ordering and they did not disappoint. My roses showed up in great condition, packaged the best out of all the roses I ordered (7 all together). I had to contact customer service through email and it took a few days for them to respond, but due to the time of year I expected that. They were courteous and answered my question nicely and concisely. The roses that came are in perfect condition. They are well rooted and happy already. I'm excited to see them flourish next year!

I ordered a 'Graham Thomas' rose for fall planting, which arrived well-packed and sensitively pruned. It had no foliage when it arrived, but started to bud immediately. Several weeks later, it's a very healthy-looking little plant. I'm very pleased with my experience, and intend to order from Antique Rose Emporium again.

Posted on July 1, 2016, updated January 31, 2018
I visited their nursery and garden awhile ago, and it is an amazing place to see. Their mail order service is equally superb. A year ago I ordered Marchesa Boccella that arrived expertly packaged in a 2 gallon pot and had a nice healthy growth. I was still concerned if it would make it through our harsh winters. Not only that it did, but even blossomed spectacularly this year, completely covered in blooms. Wonderful company!

I'm surprised to see that many positive reviews are still ongoing when my experience with this company was extremely disappointing this year. They sent me defoliated roses when it was not required for my state. One rose was a band-sized little thing with 3 smallish and weak stems without any leaves, one of which was practically dead, stuck in the pot of 2 gallons of dirt. My friend got the same rose variety in the same week from them and it was in an excellent condition with foliage, multiple healthy stems, and all. While I'm happy for her, it left me with the feeling of this company's serious discrimination among customers. Another rose was in the same poor shape and also without leaves. It promptly died by the end of summer. I didn't want to call and complain because this discrimination among customers is unacceptable and I don't want to have any business with such company. It's beyond me how they decide who should get, for the same price, their regular roses that get so many accolades on this website and who should get duds that any reputable company would discard, but I would steer away from the Antique Rose Emporium.

This top-notch vendor never disappoints. I received my latest order of big, beautiful OGR plants from ARE and couldn't be happier. Antique Rose Emporium is one of the last great suppliers of quality ownroot vintage roses--in two gallon sizes, no less! I'm personally very thankful that they're still going strong so many years later. A+++ in every way.

I bought two roses last year and have recently received my third rose, a climbing iceberg. I could not be more pleased. This is a great company, very professional and I would highly recommend them to any of you. The roses they sent me were healthy and are doing well in my garden. The roses were well-packed with care, and it's obvious this is a great company to do business with.

Overall, was pleased with the roses I received. You may pay a few dollars more for their roses, but it is worth it, especially if you value a larger plant that does not require as much babying as a small band.

Shipping charges were not clearly explained on their website. Would recommend calling them before ordering to clarify.

I have ordered online roses for years. Some of them arive so-so in terms of their foliage, canes condition, etc; others are too small; others pakaged in a really lousy way...you name it. Until I found this company. They are extremely meticulous with their packaging and the roses come wrapped and protected. More so, these plants that I got today are way more than a skinny stick. They come in a gallon container (surprise) and ready to plant without the hastle of potting and repotting. I am officially in love.

Due to the success of the roses I have received from ARE, I have become a avid rose grower. I have been ordering my own and receiving gift roses from relatives for the past 4 years from ARE. My rose plants have arrived from November and March thru May. I live in Arkansas Zone 8 and find late Fall gives my roses the best start but all have done well. In all cases, the roses have been well packed and arrived healthy. All Mar - May plants have bloomed in the first month of arrival. The are nice size plants in gallon containers. I sought and received helpful phone advice twice since our humid climate can get terribly hot some summers. I want to stick to roses which are heat tolerant and disease resistant. I highly recommend ARE as an excellent source of roses for the South - both mail order and walk in. The web site is very easy to navigate and you can sort their catalog by any category such as color, height, kind etc.

Posted on April 28, 2015, updated April 29, 2015
I had ordered from ARE in the past and had a good experience. Unfortunately, I did not have a good experience this time. The rose arrived this afternoon (Tuesday) after 5 1/2 days in a hot truck from TX to CA. It is tiny - just 2 canes, each the thickness of a pencil - and about 12" tall. It is already experiencing die-back from the journey: there were four dead twigs that I clipped off and also there is a 1/4 to 1/2" dark black ring completely around one of the canes at the base. I paid over $32 for this?! And why they chose to ship such a tiny plant with 8 pounds of dirt is beyond me. Faster and lighter with plants is better than heavier and slower. When I called, Alison was very impatient with my concerns, but she did say that someone would call me back tomorrow.

I do really like this business overall , their website is easy to order from, they have a great selection, and their plants are usually top notch. I have had one dud from them- a crimson glory climber that got pampered along with the rest of my order last year, but it "grew backwards" all last summer to the point that now that there is only about 4" of living green cane left on it, I decided that if it doesn't pull through this spring it just isn't worth putting up a fuss to have it replaced- no biggie, the rest of the plants I have gotten from them are thriving.

All that aside, the experience that drove me to write this today was this, I just had a very disappointing/frustrating phone interaction that made me like this business a little less than I did before I made the call. Just FYI, when you choose your shipping date from the drop down menu when placing an order, those dates are NOT to be taken literally. The date I selected was the earliest available shipping day, which happened to be the day after placing the order, which was 3/16/15 - a Monday, on their site they say they ship only on Mondays so that the roses have a better chance of getting to you before the weekend so that they can avoid unnecessary time in transit, however due to the high volume of orders they have at the moment (a completely understandable scenario) my order won't be going out until Thursday, which obviously since I am in TN & they are in TX, these roses are not getting to me by the weekend, which isn't a huge deal, BUT they sure as heck didn't shipping on 3/16, which was the shipping date listed on the order form as I was placing the order... just a tiny bit misleading since they don't give you the actual shipdate until several days after your order is already placed.... even still all this is very forgivable, I am in the retail business, I understand.

However, the thing that I will remember most from this interaction with ARE was the woman's sour tone on the phone with me. I'm sorry but if you do almost all your business over the internet or phone your phone voice better at least be professional, if not airing on the side of pleasant. I know you are very busy, it is spring, I'm not dumb, & I refuse to be addressed in an aggressive manner by someone whom I have chosen to support with my business. In 2014 I purchased exactly 20 roses from ARE, and at $20 a pop, that is a total of $400 I spent with them last year, NOT including the shipping, as these were spread out over 4 orders, and shipping plants is not cheap no matter where you shop, that shipping added up too. This most recent order of 5 roses cost $100 & $35 to ship, so if I include this years order & last year's total for roses plus shipping, I have spent over $650 dollars with ARE in the last 8 months, I think you could say that I am a good customer.

Just as a comparison, I have had MANY phone conversations with the people over at Roses Unlimited, and they are in the same business, they are just as overwhelmed as any specialty rose retailer at this time of year, yet they always answer the phone in a polite cheerful manner and answer any questions I have with a smile in their voice, even if I have an annoying request to change an already placed order (something I have done more than once this year alone) they are still courteous and polite, as they should be since I have almost 20 roses on order with them for shipment next month. Since I am spending a pretty decent chunk of change with their business, (but even if I wasn't) I expect be treated like a valued customer and not an annoyance; this is how you treat people who chose to spend their money at your establishment, & this is how I treat people every day at my own place of employment and I expect the same service from anyone I spend hundreds of my own hard earned dollars with.

This is not my first order with ARE, and it definitely won't be my last, I won't let one person's bad attitude stand in the way of me purchasing things that I want to purchase from a scource that sells a good product, but next time I might consider waiting until normal business hours to call Roses Unlimited first, even though it is a lot less convenient since you cannot order from the website, I still might choose to give them my business before I check ARE's website since I feel that my business is appreciated there.

In January or February 2014 I received an email from ARE about a "phone in" special for roses. One of the roses listed was Belinda's Dream. I looked it up on the website and it states that it is a fragrant repeat bloomer with hips ,which is just what I wanted, so I ordered one. I received it in the mail and it was packaged well and looked good. I potted it up and noticed that it wasn't rooted very well but it grew and bloomed and it has absolutely no fragrance. I should have emailed them when I noticed but I didn't. Last week I finally got around to emailing them to ask if it may have been mistagged or if the fragrance varies from plant to plant. No response has been received as of this date. Even as a special the rose was not cheap and I understand that you get what you pay for but I paid for fragrance and didn't get it.

Two roses I ordered last year have done very well. I just received this years order and it looks as good as the 2013 plants. I like the fact the plants are shipped potted not bare root and they have their own roots. Plants seemed to acclimate faster than bare root roses I have ordered from other sources. Shipping is reasonable given weight of a full 2 gallon pot. Selection is vast!

I have now ordered a total of 8 roses from ARE. All have been beautiful healthy plants. Also got their long armed gardening gloves that are wonderful. I love this company and am trying to convince my husband a spring road trip to Brenham is necessary.

My first order was well packed and the roses were leafed out. 6 weeks later there are many blooms on my Le Vesuve, Blush Noisette and Souvenir de la Malmaison. I will definitely order again.

I placed my first order with Antique Rose Emporium a couple of weeks ago. The representative on the phone was very helpful and my order arrived right when she said it would. I received a "Peggy Martin" climber and, although it was stripped prior to shipping, it was already starting to leaf out when I opened the box. It was very well packed and in great condition. I planted it in the bed the weekend before last and it has already grown a great deal and is very healthy. I wish I could afford to buy all of the beautiful roses that this vendor offers...great experience!

Posted on April 24, 2013, updated April 24, 2013
My negative rating is pending outcome of ARE customer service resolving my issues. I live Z6B (more of a Z7 micro climate along coast). I operate a garden services business, specializing in rose/flowering shrub maintenance/care. I personally own over 100 roses and frequently incorporate into client garden design. I am not a novice gardener. I was looking for a grower offering own root roses. I stay away from the huge commercial growers because of quality control issues – I simply cannot tolerate high rates of return in my business. After reviewing positive posts on ARE, I decided to order this past winter Cecile Brunner shrub, Cecile Brunner climber (both on valentine special), Graham Thomas (for client), Francesca (for client), Mutabilis (for client) and two climbing white Iceberg roses (for client). This past fall I ordered Zephirine Drouhin (for client) and Pinkie (personal). All roses hardy Z6. The ZD arrived with nearly all leaves removed. I called ARE customer service said they strip all leaves at shipment. Obviously black spot I didn't mind considering black spot was rampant last year all over the country, the ZD was hard to find at the time and positive posts on this forum assured me all would be fine.. The P arrived with more leaves, but clearly leaves removed and black spot on canes. I treated both roses with lime sulfur spray, rose food. they took off well enough. The P was for me so I thought I'd roll with the black spot. As with all roses I own and others I care for, they were overwintered with 6" compost and topped with cedar mulch. Earlier this month compost and mulch were raked away. The Z survived the winter and the P had substantial cane death. The CB bush and climber arrived this month healthy, bushy with all their leaves...hmmm. The Graham Thomas arrived with most leaves striped off, remaining leaves black spot and fungus spots on canes. Disappointing for Spring delivery of roses overwintered. Yesterday Francesca and Mutabilis arrived. Mutabilis was healthy, fully leafed and clean. Francesca had NOT ONE LEAF - none in the box with black spot on the canes. Both Graham Thomas and Francesca had been previously subjected to the worst severe hack pruning I've ever seen. Canes were pruned horizontally with a dull shear and actually are splintered down canes. Mind you there is less than 10" of cane to work with on both roses. Pruning below the hack job would be severe and could shock the rose. ARE ought to know better and shipping both roses in this condition was not an oversight. I emailed ARE requesting return label and refund on Francesca stating the diseased condition was unacceptable. Still haven't heard back from them. I question the quality control at ARE. Clearly the Francesca should never have been shipped and the Graham Thomas is questionable. So until this matter is resolved, I rate ARE the worst negative rating available. I was looking for an own root source, but I may have to pass on ARE for future purchases - I'm not an ICU unit for roses.

I want to start by saying I am new to ordering plants online. However, my first shipment with ARE, I was very,very impressed. I had ordered two climbing pinkies, and the plants were beautiful and well packed for shipping. I was so impressed, I decided to order 4 more plants. I ordered 2 Belinda's Dream, a Buff Beauty and Duchesse de Brabant. I was home when the delivery arrived. I could tell from the outside of the boxes, it wasn't going to be good. Dirt was coming out the tops. Somehow during shipment, I think the boxes must have been upside down.
When I opened the first box a large bug came flying out. ( I killed him). There were a few broken stems and leaves, but that's kind of normal, I would think. I don't blame ARE for the shipping issues, they can't control how the boxes are handled. My Buff Beauty only had about half of her container of soil. The Belinda's have some dark spotting on them, which I don't know if it's normal. I got them all planted, and I hope they will all be fine and they didn't get too shook up on the way here.
Not sure if I will order again, if I had to base it on my last shipment. They do ship quickly and are pleasant on the phone to do business with. I did write them about this shipment, but have not heard back from them. As long as the plants do well, I'm fine...and would probably take my chances again. They do offer a nice guarantee on their roses if they die within 6 months. You need to have the plastic tag from the rose and $5 to cover shipping. So, that's pretty nice, I think.

I just received my first order. I was a little hesitant placing the order because of high shipping cost, but it was worth it. Excellent packing, very large healthy plants. I can't wait for my first blooms.

Posted on November 17, 2011, updated October 27, 2012
My mom ordered me a " Ballerina" rose from Antique Rose Emporium. Order arrived in time. Excellent packaging. No damage. Rose is very healthy too :)
S. V. Salisbury,NC

I bought two Peggy Martin roses last year and they are doing even better than I had hoped for because of our drought. They were healthy plants when I received them and still are. They are growing so much I had to add an extra trellis to hold the new growth up and they are blooming beautifully. Thank you.

I planted most of my seven roses in the last 2-3 years. I was just doing spring time garden maintenance and noticed that the roses from the Antique Rose Emporium were all flourishing like green bay trees. The roses from elsewhere looked quite spindly or, in one case, dead in comparison. These have all gotten the same care.

I also remember that the roses from the Emporium were very healthy when they arrived. An A+++ company.

Last week I received my order of 2 rose plants, and was very satisfied. The packing was great, and the size of the plants even greater. I would order from them again, and am very pleased.

I ordered three roses from the Antique Rose Emporium and am very pleased at how healthy they look and how well wrapped the bushes were. The roses I purchased from them last year have been doing well, and I'm sure these new ones will too. This is obviously a company that pays attention to quality and good customer relations. Thay have a wonderful selection as well.

Ordered five roses during the end of the Texas Summer. Rose shrubs came stripped of leaves to allow for better travel. For reorders probably better to order 2, 4, 6, 8 to keep shipping costs down as the 5th rose added more shipping as it shipped by itself. Planted and watered for a couple of months and then left them to their own devices. All of the roses are flourishing great in a lucky mild Winter. Two of them are already a couple feet round and tall maybe larger. Very happy with my purchase and have reordered. Also want to mention that I like the selection and website.

I placed an order fro three roses on a Monday (online) and received notification that the plants would arrive Friday (yeah, right!). Lo and behold, I received my order on Friday at 4:30 pm. Plants arrived in great shape, were of good size, and well packed. I could not have asked for better service - they really seem to have their act together.

Only inital concern was the cost of shipping - basically the cost of a fourth plant. HOWEVER......the plants arrived in great shape and were well packed - so actually the price charged was an accurate reflection of the value received. I realized that I would rather pay a bit more for packing in order to receive a well-grown plant in good shape vs. paying less and receiving a damaged/dried out/dead plant as I have received from other mail order companies.

Will definately be ordering from them again.

I ordered 6 yellow roses for a very particular client and received perfect rose bushes. They were well packaged and healthy. I will definitely order with you again. All the roses bloomed well and are still doing fine. Thank you for being such a wonderful source with great employees who go over and beyond to help out buyers.

Two roses arrived in great shape and are thriving. Have been a customer of ARE for years and never been disappointed.

WOW!! I love this place! I'll order again :)

Almost ten years ago, I planted a Antique Rose Garden at my honey & my first home.(Used ARE!) Now,two kids and several moves later, I am creating a new rose garden. What a blessing to return a company and find them just as reliable, as charming, as helpful, and even more knowledgable than before! We ordered three roses to begin. Called in the order. Service was prompt and respectful! Roses came early! All three are healthy and vigorous. All three have buds, blooms, or new growth. My daughters squealed with delight to see the ARE box on the front porch- and it did not disappoint! Spending our time now making a list of what to order in the Fall!

This spring, 2011, I ordered five roses from J&P, two from David Austin and two from the Antique Rose Emporium.

The two from Antique Rose Emporium were in pots, healthy and took right off. The others were bare rooted and did well.

I have to say that for the price and time required, Antique Rose Emporium was an excellent value! and superior to the others.

I will be ordering at least five more plants from them this summer. My experience was exceptionanaly positive.

Posted on September 22, 2010, updated May 4, 2011
Posted on April 25, 2010, updated September 22, 2010
I ordered seven varieties of Texas A&M designated Earth-Kind Roses and requested delivery the following week. The roses arrived as requested on April 20th and I planted them out the next day. I was very impressed with the packaging of the plants; four to a box in specially designed cartons that you could turn upside down without leaking soil or damaging the plant. The plants were exactly as described: one to two year old roses grown from their own root. I was specially impressed with the soil the plants were grown in. It was very close to real life, well prepared garden soil. It wasn't that light commercial mix so many plants come in where the root ball falls apart trying to take from the pot. Their soil is so close to the real thing that transplant shock is kept to a minimum. The plants arrived in excellent condition and several were blooming in spite of the light trimming necessary to make them fit in the shipping boxes. It's now been four days since I planted them out and several have grown new shoots in excess of two inches and others have put on buds. I highly recommend The Antique Rose Emporium, especially to people living in the southeastern U.S. where climate and soil conditions can be challenging.

i have ordered twice from this company; last year and this year. I was having a hard time choosing what roses to plant in a hedge because there were so many pretty ones but they helped me decide on Carefree Beauty. They all did fabulous. I bought a bunch of Iceberg's this year which i have planted and now can't wait to see the blooms.
They are very knowledgable and helpful.