You've found the famous Dave's Garden website! Join this friendly global community that shares tips and ideas for home and gardens, along with seeds and plants!
Check out the DG homepage for a brief overview of what you'll find in this gardening mega-site.
Login
If you don't have an account yet, visit the registration page to sign up.
On Jun 1, 2009, SerenaSYH Shawnee Mission, KS wrote:
I will not be ordering from Heirloom Roses in the future. From the 2 bands I received, I believe that they are removing and selling many baby bands way too early from the nursery. My minimum requirements are that bands should be at least 6"-8" in height and have the very minimum of 8 healthy, green leaves... Out of the 2 bands I received, one was healthy but! was 5" with only 6 leaves total on the entire plant... Thank goodness those leaves were very healthy and viable. On the other hand the other band I received was exactly 3-1/2" high with no viable leaves... Each tiny leaf on that band was only 1/4" max . and all! were shriveled or yellow-green... All the original leaves ended up dead... I am not sure what has been happening with 2009, but there were quite a few customers from a popular rose forum that also faced this issue with their orders from 2008-2009... Their roses were similar to mine when first received and did not survive their first year. But suffice it to say that I have been permanently scared off from Heirloom Roses....
Please note! if you ever receive either very sick bands or too small bands from HR, do not! plant them straight into the ground according to their original instructions... Those need to be planted into pots... they require a different growing method in order to reach enough maturity to endure the cold winters if you are in a cold zone...Their instructions to plant straight into the ground is a huge mistake if the bands are in ill health or are too small to achieve enough growth by fall.
Last year I ordered 3 roses from this company. Shropshire Lad, Mary something and New Dawn. They were about 6 inches tall and never grew anymore. I covered them for the winter and this spring they were dead except the New Dawn. She is about three feet tall and will be 20 when matured. Maybe!!
I notified the company and they said they are only guaranteed for three months. I paid a lot of money for nothing. I was very upset, so my daughter gave me three huge rose bushes for Mother's Day. She purchased them from English Gardens.
I ordered and received 3 very expensive Roses from them in late April. They were packaged well and were very healthy apon arrival but, I have never seen such small plants in my life. It's like a joke. They are so small that I have had to put ugly crabtraps around each one so that the rabbits and my dog won't damage them. I have this beautiful show stopping garden with these ugly crabtraps standing out for all to see. At their apparent growth rate, which has been minimal so far, I figure they'll be wearing them all summer long. This Company should grow their plants at least another 6-9 months before selling at such high prices. I'm not very happy.
I ordered 2 roses from this company. Jude the Obscure & A Shropshire Lad. In anticipation I dug two very large holes expecting to receive the size rose I've received from other companies in the past be they bareroot or not. I was shocked when I saw the roses. "Twigs" . 4-5". I'm not exaggerating. Stems were soft. Tiny. I wrote to them laughing because they were so tiny and I had dug these enormous holes. We had a rain storm and they didn't make it. So I wrote to them telling them of my disappointment and how their reputation is on the line sending out such puny roses. Seedlings. I paid over $40.00 for these twigs. I wrote my huge disappointment but received no reply. I proceeded to order from S&W and got healthy large, full potted roses that are beautiful and doing great. I wish nurseries would provide an example photo of what you will receive. MerryGro does this and I'm expecting a delivery from them soon with hope the photos were accurate.
On Aug 1, 2005, wordsilk7 Norwalk, CT (Zone 7a) wrote:
They ran out of the rose I ordered -- but I didn't find out about it for 45 days after I ordered. They claimed, in the letter they sent me, that they tried to contact me via email and telephone, but I received no email, phone calls, or messages from them until I received the letter via snail mail.
Furthermore: DO NOT TRUST THESE PEOPLE WITH YOUR CREDIT CARD NUMBER. They do not have security in place to safeguard against credit card theft -- when they sent me a copy of my order via mail, my complete credit card number was included on the order and, according to Laurel Anderson, she prints this out to give to people for shipping, etc. They may be a small operation, but credit card security is not that hard to implement (I do it for a living).
On Aug 1, 2005, Heirloom Roses responded with:
"Heirloom Roses, Inc would like to assure our customers that we have their security at the top of our list of priorities. Sensitive customer information is seen only by qualified staff at order entry and our website and billing practices are secure."
I ordered six roses from this company as so called "John's Minature Roses!" Two are nearly dead - as in dying and I don't know if I can bring them to life. They surely did not ship them priority mail because nothing has ever looked like this via priority - plus they took forever to ship them to me!! Never again for me - the sad part is this hurts other company's who try to sell via internet. NOT BUYING FROM THEM AGAIN!!!
On May 27, 2005, Yuska San Antonio, TX (Zone 8b) wrote:
Never again! I knew I might be taking a chance, but this is ridiculous! I only ordered because the variety I wanted I hadn't found elsewhere. I ordered in early March, and it was to be sent by 3/20. When by April 10 nothing had arrived, I e-mailed - "scheduled for shipment next week" I was told. After my credit card statement came with $24.65 on it, I wrote again; same response.
The box arrived today. Pathetic. Small doesn't describe it. To say tiny is being generous. I truly believe that once my order was received they rooted a cutting. If it survives, and that's a big IF, it will be at least three years before it blooms.
If I were a commercial grower, I would be embarrassed to ship something like this with my company's name on it.
It pains me to say it, because this vendor has an enviable assortment of roses, but my experience with Heirloom has been a disappointment. I read these comments prior to placing my order and I knew what I would get would be small, but seriously. The plants are VERY small. They are potted up and look much the same now as they did when I received them over a month ago. I will baby them and they will live, but for $16 per rose, the size is pathetic. These roses need to be grown on for another year. I will only order again if they have a rose that I can find nowhere else, and not sure if I would then.
On Nov 11, 2004, Cottage_Rose Cedar Springs, MI (Zone 5b) wrote:
I purchased 1 rose from Heirloom because I couldn't find it else where and it was the tiniest, sickliest rose I have ever seen. Its was barely bigger than a newly rooted cutting. I babied it but it never thrived and I finally pitched it. Never the less Heirloom did refund me for the rose upon my request. I have heard many people complain about their small roses plus I think their prices are too high, especially for what you are getting. I won't order from them again but at least they gave me a refund.
On Aug 15, 2004, branka Hobart, IN (Zone 5a) wrote:
Note: This company is also affiliated with climbingroses.com
I recently ordered one rambling rose from them. I paid $14.95 plus shipping, the bill was a little over $22.00. I recieved a small rooted cutting. It has two or three twigs on it and maybe 10 leaves, that's it. The only good thing about it is that it is green. I can't find anywhere on the website that states that a buyer will only recieve a small rooted cutting. It says the roses are potted and greenhouse grown which made me think that I would be getting a decent sized rose bush. I will never buy from this company again.
Ordered 16 roses from this company. They arrived very late (I ordered Jan 1), and I live in zone 5 - so they needed to be planted early to get established. They were "twigs" but not even healthy ones - 2 were DOA, 4 more were dried out looking, and the rest did not have developed root systems. I have received bands before, but never anything this tiny. They will never make it through the winter here - if they last that long.
Emailed them with a complaint - and received no response.
Then called to protest, and was told to "put them in the mail" and return.
I posted photos of what I received to and online rose group - and those who have ordered from them in the past agreed that these were extraordinarily puny.
On the other hand - I also ordered from Chamblees, Ashdown and Michael's. Got healthy plants (the ones from Ashdown were huge) with root systems, and they are happily developing in my garden.
Heirloom is also very expensive for what you get (or don't get). For the same price or cheaper you can get well-grown own-roots or bareroots, or 1, 2 and 3 gallon potted plants from other suppliers.
I realize that other folks posting here have had good experiences - but mine was more than negative - it was awful. Would suggest that if you live in zone 5 or above - don't ever order from them unless you plan to have twigs that you will baby for the next three or four years, if they survive.
I am mad about roses!!!!!I have 140 bushes in my Garden and I show them for fun.I bought 2 roses from this company and I have never seen anything sooo tiny. By the end of the season they had grown, as others have said, and they did bloom but only one decided to come back this spring , the other was the only one of 140 that I lost over the winter. As someone else said their web site isn't very user friendly for problems like this...so I cut my loss, but use caution when you order and realize when you get these plants they are little sticks...don't expect instant roses.They do have some choices you won't find anywhere else which is nice when you have as many bushes as I do, but I am not impressed enough to re order from this company
Bought several plants from Heirloom, and only 2 survived. The plants they ship are incredibly small, and their prices are high. I can get very well established,healthy, own-root roses from Chamblee's for half the price. Over the past 2 years I have ordered over 30 roses from Chamblee's and they are all performing beautifully in my garden. I decided a while back that I will no longer order from Heirloom Roses.
We no longer order from Heirloom. Of the dozen or more plants ordered from them, (over a period of 2-3 years) more than half of them were mis-labelled -- and they were not cooperative about making good on their errors. Jeri Jennings, Ventura Co, SoCalif.
Thanks for you site, which I find very informative. I am another of those not pleased with the above. They actually sold me a bare root PEACH TREE instead of a rose I ordered! Has grown great, but...
I ordered from Heirloom in Spring 1999. I was completing a bed for a friend. I also ordered from Antique Rose Emporium, who I've bought numerous plants from since 1990. I was appalled by Heirloom's stock. While the plants were clean and well-grown, they were completely small! Compared to the two-year plants from ARE, they were an embarrassment. My friend wanted to know why I had gotten taken. I called an complained to Heirloom and was directed back to their statement in their catalogue that states that they ship smaller plants. While I admit that they forewarned me, I will also say that I never thought about reading their statement as I've been ordering roses from ARE and Vintage and some other vendors for over 12years and I have never been presented with stock that costs the same, but is so completely out of whack with the marketplace. I certainly would urge anyone to order from another vendor because FOR THE SAME AMOUNT OF MONEY you'll get plants TWICE AS BIG. Again, I am appalled at Heirloom and am surprised that they've been able to survive so long while offering so clearly an inferior product. Buyer Beware!
