Help. Recieved Roses but can't plant

[nutmeggie]

I ordered rose plants online. I have never had a problem in the past but I recieved the plants a few days ago. There is still a few feet of snow outside which makes it hard to plant. They normally haven't sent plants in the past until I could plant them. What do I do to keep the plants alive until I can plant them? Is there anything or am I kind of out of luck with these plants? Thank you for your help.
Meghan

 

[patandchickens]

The best thing is, if you have fridge space, put 'em in the fridge. They need to be reasonably somewhat wrapped so they don't shrivel all up, esp. if you have a frostfree fridge; but you don't want 'em to be damp and then sealed tightly into a plastic bag either. Use good judgement

If you do not have fridge space, get some potting soil WITH NO FERTILIZER IN IT (check the label carefully, many have fertilizer already incorporated into them, and you do not want that). Get it somewhat damp but not soggy. Bury the roses completely in the potting soil (I am assuming they are still dormant, no green bits starting to grow yet?). You can do this in an old potting soil bag, or washtub, or just whatever you have that will work. Put the whole shebang somewhere that will stay very cold but not freeze -- an unheated garage? Chicken coop (out of reach of chickens of course)? Against house foundation? Whatever you can arrange. Try to protect against mice, insofar as possible.

Either method should keep them dormant til you can do something with 'em.

(Afterthought -- by any chance is this a late snowfall, with thawed ground underneath it? If so, you can immerse them in potting soil and put under the snow if you don't have anywhere else. Don't do this if your ground is all frozen tho).

If there is already growth starting, you may be somewhat S.O.L. (there are things you can try, but they are not high-percentage tactics).

Good luck,

Pat

 

[red-hen]

Wow. I learned a lot just reading this post. Good reply.


If I may ask - where are you that there is so much snow left? I was so glad to finally see the backside of our snow last week. I'd die if we still had feet of it! You poor thing!

 

[nutmeggie]

I live in Marquette, on Lake Superior in Northern Michigan. We got at least a foot a few days ago and about 18 inches a week or so before and about a foot a few weeks before that. The snow hasn't really gone away but has mostlly melted in between. Thank you so much for the suggestions. I really didn't know what to do with the roses until I can plant them. Thank you so much!!!!

Meghan:rose

 

[Gindee77]

I've been growing roses for quite a few years and have over 150 in my garden. When ever I've gotten roses that I can't plant (I'm in zone 5...our last frost date is considered to be in the first part of May) and I've taken delivery of some as early as Feb. I've managed to keep them until I could plant them in April or May.

Here's what I would do....First of all, are they potted or bareroot? If they're potted, they'll need to be watered frequently and in a room or window somewhere where they'll get plenty of sunshine. If they're bareroot, you can put them in a bucket of water in your kitchen or someplace like that. If they are wrapped up in some way, take all the wrapping material off them, then prune off just a half inch off each root so they can take up water easily. Put just a few drops of bleach (not very much at all) in the water to kill bad bacteria. I've kept roses like this for weeks! Change the water every two or three days. On nice sunny warm days you can set either type out in the sunshine but just be sure to bring them in at night before it gets cold. And it's best to start with a couple hours of sun exposure at a time to toughen them up a bit.

Good luck!! :rose