I got an e-mail yesterday from VG announcing their "One of a Kind" sale. They mentioned that the list of 400 roses would be e-mailed Saturday night (i.e. last night) and that people could start buying them Monday morning. Per Gregg Lowery:

Tonight, Saturday, July 21st, we will email you our list of some 400 varieties that will be released for sale.

It's Sunday morning and I have not seen the list. Has anyone seen the list?

It arrived about half an hour ago, Steve.

Here's the list:

Dear Friends and Customers of Vintage Gardens,

This list was planned to go out to you last night, however I ran into software complications and could not complete it until this morning. My apologies! Our sale is still scheduled to begin tomorrow morning, and I hope you will find the time today to peruse this list and make some choices for your orders.

Please remember that even if you only find one treasure on this list, and don't want to have us ship you just one plant, we are about to release one of the largest selections of roses we have ever grown, in just ten days, at the beginning of August. You will be able to add to your one of a kind order from our new fall inventory.

Below you will find a list of roses that will be available to order on Monday, July 23 at
6 AM PST. Please note that any orders received by us before that time will be logged in as received at 9 AM PST on Monday, July 23. In other words we will try to fill your 'pre-Sale' order by placing it early in the list of received orders, but not at the beginning. Do give us a large list of alternatives from the One-of-a-Kind list!

Our One of a Kind Sale has been good fun for our customers, and helps to see us through to the end of our slow summer season and into the fall season of new roses. We appreciate your good sportsmanship and good will in working with us on these ordering rules.

You may place your order on our website, by email or by phone. We WILL accept orders placed via voicemail message left on our phone, however keep in mind that our phones ring nonstop on that day, and it may be difficult to leave your order.

We're very excited by this sale; we have a wonderful collection of roses in very small numbers; only one plant remains in stock for most rose varieties.

Thank you for your interest in our roses. We appreciate your patience and understanding during this mad end of summer sale!

Gregg Lowery
Vintage Gardens

www.vintagegardens.com
One of a Kind Sale

All one of a kind roses are priced at $19.95

Class/Name/Quantity

A Mme. Legras de St. Germain 1
B Honorine de Brabant 2
B "Mme. Dubost" 1
B Mme. Ernest Calvat 1
B Souvenir de St. Anne's 1
B "Souvenir du Président Lincoln" 1
B Zéphirine Drouhin 2
Banks Fortuniana 2
C Des Peintres 1
Ch Arethusa 1
Ch Beauty of Rosemawr 2
Ch Fabvier 1
ChCl Fortune's Double Yellow 1
ChCl Lijiang Road Rambler (Sacramento) 2
ChCl Setina 1
D Léda 1
E Greenmantle 1
E Magnifica 2
Fl Alain 2
Fl Allotria 2
Fl Amy Vanderbilt 1
Fl Apéritif 2
Fl Apricot Nectar VI 2
Fl Bambi 3
Fl Bridal White 2
Fl Centenaire de Lourdes 3
Fl Chanelle 3
Fl Chic 2
Fl Commonwealth 1
Fl Coup de Foudre 3
Fl Dairy Maid 1
Fl Encore 2
Fl Eyepaint 3
Fl Firecracker 1
Fl Floradora 2
Fl Frensham 2
Fl Garnette VID 1
Fl Ginger 1
Fl Gold Cup 3
Fl Hobby 2
Fl Holstein 1
Fl Honey Chile 2
Fl Iceberg VI 2
Fl Lapponia 1
Fl Leprechaun 2
Fl Little Darling 2
Fl Mandarin 2
Fl Marieken 1
Fl Moonsprite 1
Fl Nimbus 1
Fl Norwich Castle 12
Fl Olala 1
Fl Orange Sweetheart 2
Fl Pariser Charme 2
Fl Peach Glow 1
Fl Picasso 1
FL Pied Piper 1
Fl Pink Chiffon 1
Fl Pink-A-Boo 2
Fl Plain Talk VID 1
Fl Rosemary Rose 1
Fl Rosenau 1
Fl Sweet Harmony 1
Fl Tenacious 1
Fl Titian 1
Fl Verona VID 2
FlCl Goldilocks, Climbing 3
FlCl Masquerade, Climbing 1
G Aimable Rouge 4
G Charles De Mills 1
G Cramoisi Picoté 3
G Duc de Guiche (Pickering) 1
G Empress Josephine 1
HB Fantin LaTour 3
HB Paul Ricault 1
HCh "Double Plum" 1
HCh Mercédès 1
HM Art Deco 3
HM Cosmo 1
HM Daphne 1
HM Darlow's Enigma 1
HM Diamant Rose 1
HM Excellenz von Schubert 1
HM Joan Taylor 1
HM Lavender Lassie 1
HM Moonlight 1
HM Plaisanterie 2
HM Poëma 1
HM Prosperity 2
HP Gloire de Bruxelles 2
HP Gonsoli Gaetano 2
HP "Grandmother's Hat" 2
HP La Reine 2
HP Mme. Boll 1
HP Monsieur Boncenne 1
HP Monsieur le Capitaine Louis Frère 1
HP Rembrandt 1
HP Schon Ingeborg 1
HT Akebono 2
HT Alabama 1
HT "Aldinglow" 2
HT Ambassador 2
HT Anne Letts 1
HT Aromatic 2
HT Auckland Metro 1
HT Augusta Luise 1
HT Babe Ruth 1
HT Baccará 2
HT Ballet 1
HT Bettina 2
HT Black Tea 1
HT Blessings 2
HT Blue Curiosa 1
HT Blush Queen Elizabeth 1

One of a Kind Sale


Provide as many alternate choices as possible when ordering on this sale!


HT Bravo 1
HT Break o'Day 2
HT Capistrano 2
HT Caramba 1
HT Casanova 1
HT "Catherine Kordes Ashdown" 2
HT Chandos Beauty 1
HT Charles Mallerin 2
HT Charlotte 1
HT Cherry Glow 2
HT Chief Seattle 1
HT Cinnamon 1
HT Comanche 1
HT Crown of Gold 1
HT Cuba 3
HT Diamond Jubilee 1
HT Dolly Parton VID 1
HT Dorothy Peach 1
HT Dr. A. J. Verhage 1
HT Duftrausch 1
HT Duquesa de Peñaranda 2
HT Edith Clark 1
HT El Capitan 1
HT Ellen Willmott 2
HT Éminence 2
HT Especially for You 1
HT Ethel Sanday 11
HT Ethel Somerset 1
HT Fantastique 1
HT Flagrant 2
HT Gail Borden 1
HT General-Superior Arnold Janssen 2
HT Girona 2
HT Gitte 1
HT Gold Glow 1
HT "Gold Glow Bronze Sport" 1
HT Grand'mère Jenny 3
HT Gruss an Aachen 3
HT Gruss an Zweibrucken 2
HT Hanne 2
HT Heinrich Wendland 2
HT Home Sweet Home 1
HT Honour 2
HT Ibiza 1
HT Ilse Haberland 1
HT Innocence 1
HT Invitation 1
HT J. Otto Thilow 1
HT Kalahari 2
HT Kathleen Mills 3
HT Lady Mary Fitzwilliam 1
HT Lemon Spice 1
HT Leonidas 1
HT "Lundy's Lane Yellow" 1
HT Mainz 1
HT Malibu 1
HT Maria Peral 1
HT Marian Anderson 1
HT McGredy's Ivory 1
HT Mission Bells 1
HT Mme. Jean Gaujard 1
HT Mme. Jules Bouché 1
HT Mme. Nicolas Aussel 2
HT Mme. Ravary 1
HT Mojave 1
HT Montezuma 2
HT Mrs. Aaron Ward 1
HT Mrs. Arthur Robert Waddell 1
HT Mrs. Jenny Deverman 2
HT Mrs. Lovell Swisher 2
HT Mrs. Wakefield Christie- Miller 1
HT New Yorker 1
HT Olympiad (1931) 13
HT Opéra 2
HT Padre 2
HT Panorama 2
HT Paradise VID 1
HT Peach Beauty 1
HT Peggy Rockefeller 1
HT "Phluger Flowmaster" 1
HT Pink Pearl 2
HT Pink Princess 2
HT Portrait 2
HT Potton Heritage 1
HT President Herbert Hoover 3
HT Président Plumecoq 2
HT Prinzessin M. von Arenberg 2
HT Purple Rain 1
HT Rex Anderson 2
HT Richard E. West 2
HT Royal Airforce 1
HT "San Leandro Dark Red HT" 2
HT Scent-Sation 2
HT Silk Hat 1
HT Silver Lining 1
HT Silver Star 1
HT Sir Henry Segrave 1
HT Sleigh Bells 3
HT Smoky 2
HT Soeur Thérèse 2
HT Solitaire 1
HT Sunlit 1
HT Taischa 3
HT Texas Centennial 2
HT Thanksgiving 2
HT Tip Toes 2
HT Trade Winds 3
HT Twilight Secret 1
HT Twilight Zone 1
HT Typhoon 1
HT Utro Moskvy 2
HT Westfield Star 1
HT White Christmas 2
HT White Lightning 1
HT World Peace 1
HT "Zalud House Shingled Raspberry" 2
HTCl Amy Johnson 2
HTCl Christopher Stone, Climbing 1
HTCl Dame Edith Helen, Climbing 1
HTCl Duquesa de Peñaranda, Climbing 2
HTCl Golden Dawn, Climbing 1
HTCl Red Talisman, Climbing 2
HTCl Souvenir de Claudius Denoyel 1
HTCL Tiffany, Climbing 2

One of a Kind Sale


All one of a kind roses are priced at $19.95




LCl Allen Chandler 1
LCl Aloha 2
LCl Burg Baden 2
LCl "Campanile" 2
LCl Captain Thomas 1
LCl Carpet of Gold 1
LCl Casino 2
LCl Cherryade 1
LCl City Girl 2
LCl Compassion 2
LCl Coral Satin 1
LCl Coraline 3
LCl Crème de la Crème 1
LCl Della Balfour 2
LCl Dreaming Spires 2
LCl Étendard 1
LCl Galway Bay 1
LCl Golden Arctic 2
LCl Highfield 4
LCl JACclam (aka America™) 2
LCl Le Reve 1
LCl Liane 1
LCl Louis Rödiger 1
LCl New Dawn 2
LCl Orange Velvet 1
LCl Penny Lane 2
LCl Pink Perpétué 2
LCl Rosarium Ueteresen 1
LCl Royal Sunset 2
LCl Sungold 1
LCl The Prince's Trust 2
LCl Viking Queen 3
LCl William Baffin 1
M Gloire d'Orient 2
M Nuits de Young 1
M Princesse Adélaïde 2
Min Baby Garnette 2
Min Little Buckaroo 2
Min Pink Frostfire 3
Min Rise 'n' Shine 1
Min Simplex 1
N "Lingo Musk" 1
P Duchesse de Rohan 1
P Marie de St. Jean 2
P Pickering " Four Seasons Rose" 2
P Rose du Roi (original) 2
Pol Anneke Doorenbos 1
Pol Britannia 2
Pol Clotilde Soupert 3
Pol Father's Day 1
Pol Golden Salmon 2
Pol Happy 2
Pol Jeannie Soupert 1
Pol Mrs. Alston's Rose 2
Pol Perle d'Or 1
Pol Raymond Privat 1
Pol Triomphe Angevin 1
PolCl Clotilde Soupert, Climbing 1
PolCl Marie Henriette Grafin-Chotek 1
R Aglaia 3
R Albertine 2
R Alexandre Girault 2
R Debutante 2
R Dr. W. Van Fleet 1
R Felicite et Perpetue 1
R Henri Baruet 2
R Indra 2
R L'Heritierana 1
R Mme. d'Arblay 1
R Mme. de Sancy de Parabere 1
R Senateur Amic 2
R Souvenir de J. Mermet 1
R Sweetheart 2
R White Dorothy 1
Rug Grootendorst Supreme 2
Rug Mme. Georges Bruant 1
Rug Mrs. Anthony Waterer 2
Rug Sir Thomas Lipton 2
S Applejack 1
S April Moon 1
S Dentelle de Malines 2
S Diablo 1
S Gay Vista 2
S Hawkeye Belle 1
S Henry Kelsey 1
S Prairie Fire 2
S Radway Sunrise 1
S Rainbow 2
S Rayon Butterflies 2
S Schmetterling 1
S Siwa 1
S St. Elisabeth of Hungary 1
S Sunny June 2
S The Imposter 2
S Weisse aus Sparrieshoop 3
S White Floorshow 2
S Zitronenfalter 1
S/Aus Ausap (Tamora) 1
S/Aus Ausblush (Heritage) 3
S/Aus Ausday (The Alexandra Rose) 1
S/Aus The Miller 1
S/Aus The Wife of Bath 3
Sp Eddie's Jewel 1
Sp Master Hugh 1
Sp Rosa setigera serena 4
Sp R x kochiana 1
Sp Theano 2
Spin Andrewsii 2
Spin Mary Queen of Scots 1
Spin Stanwell Perpetual 3
Spin Tall Single Cream 1
T Alexander Hill Gray 1
T Blumenschmidt 1
T Dr. Grill 2
T Duchesse de Brabant 1
T General Gallieni 2
T Gilbert Nabonnand 1
T "Le Pactole" 1
T Le Vesuve 3
T "McClinton Tea" 1
T Mlle. Franziska Kruger 1
T Mme. Antoine Mari 1
T Mme. Caroline Kuster 1
T Mrs. Dudley Cross 2
T Rosette Delizy 1
T Susan Louise 1
T White Maman Cochet 1
TN Chromatella 2
TN Marie Accarie 1


Thank you for your support of our efforts to keep alive so many hundreds of worthy old and classic roses!

Sincerely,

Gregg Lowery
Vintage Gardens
707-829-2035
You will find in the list above a number of items that were supplied to us by EuroDesert Roses and Cliff Orent. These are plants from orders that were cancelled over the past few months; we are no longer carrying the EuroDesert inventory, however you will find most of these can be obtained from the new provider of Cliff's collection of roses, Heirloom Roses in Oregon. Check out their website:Heirloom Roses.

Wow! THat's a long list!
What size roses do they ship?

I think they'll be bands. I'm only interested in 2 out of all of those, so, if I want, I'm gonna have to get up godawful early (for me.. I'm a nightowl) and put in my order hopefully first & get the two I want.

Good luck!

Good Luck Toni

The website has prices listed this way:

"Our currently available roses cost $25.00 per plant in gallon containers, $14.95 to $16.95 for plants in 5-6 inch deep pots (bands), and $17.95 to $25.95 for some rare and hard to root roses in bands. "

If I order 1-4 bands, the shipping price is 19.50. If I order the 2 I want, and they are gallons instead of bands, the shipping fee is $34. If I order 4, and they are gallons, it would be $50.50 for shipping, versus 19.50 for bands.
Maybe some are bands, and some are gallons and that's why the email does not specify?
We need a head-banging smiley here.......because that's what I'm doing.

When you choose your rose you specify "band" or "gallon"; but, I don't think I've ever seen a gallon rose available at VG. Not in the last three years anyway. The roses listed above are $19.50. As for shipping, they charge by the box, with up to 8 bands or two gallons per box - if I remember correctly. Shipping for 10 roses to AZ was $34.

I chose: Rosemary Rose, Pariser Charme, Utro Moskvy, Capistrano, Hawkeye Belle, Highfield, Campanile, Mme Dubost, Souv. Pres. Lincoln, and Duchesse de Rohan.

As all I wanted was Silk Hat, and it's too darned hot to plant anything right now (I got some plants from one of Mamajack's co-ops that I wanted shipped in Sept but they wanted to ship ASAP, so I'm hoping that they're OK) and I wasn't willing to pay $20 for a band plus shipping not to mention last time I got bands not one survived, I said to heck with it & decided that, if I'm destined to get Silk Hat, I'll find it someplace else. I'd be willing to pay more for a decent sized rose, but bands just will not make it for me.

oh I wish I had read Steve's post earlier!
Thanks for the info, Steve. That's much more reasonable.
I may still try to get in....my daughter and her roommate and I are headed off to the botanical garden before it gets too hot.

Even though I placed my order before seven o'clock AM, four of my first picks were gone. So I ended up with a few roses brighter in complexion than I had first hoped. And I ended up with more Centennaire de Lourdes than I had initially hoped for.

Centennaire de Lourdes has proven to be a lovely rose with pale pink petals with a soft rose blush that reminds me a bit of Parfait, but in my garden it is quite a bit more foliferous and remontant than Parfait. So it's mostly a matter of adjusting my plans and expectations. I had gotten used to the idea of a few huge hybrid bourbon roses like Souv de President Lincoln and Mme Du Bost growing in my garden. Now I have to think more in terms of something less grand. Much the same can be said about planting Rose du Roi (somewhat pretty) vs. Duchesse du Rohan (really pretty).

Then there's Kordes Brilliant. It's a rose I do want in my garden, but I was really hoping to get it from Palatine roses. Ditto Santana. If all the roses they ship prove to be large, vigorous, and persistent, then I suppose I will be satisfied.

The Kordes roses I bought last September and received this April from Palatine have thrived in the extreme heat this summer. I'll order more again this September, but I think this time around I'll ask for them for fall planting. This is based on the scientific conclusion that since we didn't have a winter last year, we'll never have winter again.
Heirloom offered the big beautiful Bourbon Auguste Renoir, so I have that coming. I lost my first one to Rose Rosette, but it put up a valiant fight. A. Renoir balls like crazy in wet weather, but it's never going to rain here, so I think it's perfect for my yard. It's one of the best cutting roses I've ever seen.
I would like to find Clair Renaissance since it's another that gets huge and holds up well in heat. I saw it somewhere and missed out.
I am hoping to shop some Cincinnati nurseries this weekend. If I find anything good, I'll just prune it back a bit, bare root it, and stuff it in my checked bag. Get it used to the rough life it's going to have in Kansas.
I didn't order from Vintage because I want what I want. Sounds like customers have to stay pretty flexible on what they get and they do have a long list of great roses, but I roll with uncertainties all the time and I'm at the point now where this is MY thing, I'm not getting paid for it, there's no deadline, so I can do it the way I want.
I hope Gregg sends you some great roses, Steve, since he couldn't send you the ones you really wanted. Daylily sellers send a more expensive plant if they have to substitute, so it seems reasonable to expect a larger rose as a sub.

It really will not be long until I will stop providing alternatives at VG. In fact, just the other day I was thinking I'm just about to the point where - if I want just one rose and it's not offered anywhere else - I'd be willing to offer VG their $45 price for custom rooting, provided that they send me a thriving, vigorous 14 inch tall plant to arrive precisely on May 15th of the year in which it is ready. I was a lot less picky when I had a garden to fill with roses. But now I need to spend quite a bit of time seeking good spots for new roses. And I will be pretty picky about what I plant, too.

Good luck with your trip to Cincinnati. I hope you find something perfect.

At this time, it's hard for me to believe I'll ever buy another rose from Vintage Gardens. I enjoyed walking over there and picking out my own plants when they had their retail outlet, but too many of the ones I've received by mail have failed to thrive or have turned out to be mislabeled. Besides, I think I already have all of the ones I want in their catalog. I bought some last year because they had those new ones from Eurodesert, but now it's always the same old lists. As for the custom rooting, good luck with that. I'm still waiting for the Caprice I ordered in May 2009. If it hasn't rooted successfully in more than 3 years, how long do you suppose it's going to last in my garden?

Until the shipment of roses I received from them this spring, I would have certainly said the much same thing, Zuzu. In that shipment there were two roses in about sixteen that were tiny rooted cuttings which died on contact with outdoor soil; but the rest of the roses were twelve to eighteen inches tall, and they were growing vigorously when they got here. They have continued to grow in the garden. Several of the floribundas are larger than the one or two I bought last year from VG and one or two that I bought the year before. In fact, the floribunda Permanent Wave in this spring's shipment has grown to twice the size of a John Davis climber that I purchased from VG three years ago! So it seems to me that something in their method of preparing roses might have changed at about the time of their incorporation of the Eurodesert catalogue.

It makes sense to me to try to buy OGRs from other sources first; but just about every old garden rose that they carry that is not also available from Pickering or Antique Rose Emporium is a rose I do not have in my garden yet. Of course, if the roses I get from them in two weeks fail impress me I might end up giving up on them, too.

Cases in point: Casino is now close over two feet high with three or four healthy canes. It has maybe five or six huge, heavy flowers on it, and leaves the size of apricots. It is bigger than one of the orange HT roses obtained a year earlier from Palatine. Looping has not bloomed, but it has two healthy four-foot canes. America, a bit scrawny on delivery, has two canes at two feet in height. Psyche has grown three canes that are five ft in height! Most of the OGRs in the order have produced either one cane four feet in length or several that are nearly 3 ft in length. In fact, I would be hard pressed to distinguish just by looking at them which of the OGRs in that new bed came from VG and which came from Pickering. This is not something I'd have been able to say last year of VG roses. It really seems like VG must be doing something different in the cultivation of their bands since they acquired stock from Eurodesert.

By contrast, I think of Golden Buddha which I bought two, maybe three years ago from RVR. It is approaching 1.5 inches high and four inches across. Or of HT Amatsu-Otone which I got from VG two years ago. It is now 12 inches high with one skinny cane. It produced one flower last year and two this year. Or of Brass Band which I got from Garden Valley Roses spring 2011 and moved over the winter. It is seven inches tall, maybe, and 12 inches across. Or of the noisette I got from VG three years ago that has not started to grow from its size of six inches in each direction. Maybe I'm just taking better care of them; but that doesn't fully explain why these stunted roses remain stunted. Does it?

Update. Not that it matters. I've reviewed the list above and if there is an instance of that cultivar in my garden, I am certain it is from another source. So any roses I bought in this order must have perished. Of other mentioned roses from previous VG orders three survive.

Psyche is a monster and on the short list for removal for being just a little too good at growing in comparison to blooming. It is a beautiful plant - for a different spot. It shades out less vigorous roses that might just work in its absence. Casino died the next year very rapidly. It was killed by late frost after leafing out beautifully. Looping and America continue being scrawny. This year both enjoyed getting water earlier in the season, - expecially extra doses in May and June - and may yet become gardenworthy plants, although America (yes, the climbing rose) is still is not quite waist high. Golden Buddha disappeared not long after the above was written. Ditto Amadsu-Otone.

Interesting update, but not at all surprising to me. My Looping from VG, purchased in 2005, is still less than a foot tall. (Note to self: Get rid of these annoying midgets!)

The 2009 custom order I mentioned in my 2012 post never arrived, and although I requested a refund in several e-mails the year they were closing, and received several e-mails assuring me that I would receive a refund, I never did. Vintage Gardens -- disappointing to the end.