There are 4 DA roses I covet:
Buttercup
Wollerton Old Hall
Desdemona
Benjamin Britten

I thought about getting them directly from DA (they are all available bareroot for spring 2021). The problem is that I've e never had much luck with potted plants and I've never grown a bare root rose. The shipping is quite reasonable at DA if I get all four there.

Is there a resonably priced alternative that isn't bareroot? Should I just get over it and not be afraid of bareroots? Can I put my bareroots in the ground? (I sound like an episode of Batman from the 60s!)

I prefer bare root roses because they adapt to the hole I put them in. Potted plants can become sulky if they decide the ground I put them in is inferior to the potting mix they were happy in. Sometimes the roots will not grow into the hole but just circle around it.

Out of all of the DAs you want I only have experience with Wollerton Old Hall. It is my second favourite rose after Windermere. It grew a bit in the first year and a lot in the second. I moved it recently to a spot where it can take over if it wants to so I expect it to not do much this year but to shoot up next year. I also have Benjamin Britten but he is new to me and I planted him before I read that he is not a happy chappy in my climate. Time will tell, I suppose. I had never even heard of Buttercup but I looked it up and now I want one.

Ironically, I would prefer to grow potted roses on their own roots, at least if I plan to leave the pots out over winter. That way, if I have a really bad winter, no matter what it does to the canes, the roots will send up new ones true to the cultivar, rather than grafted root stock. I say go for it. Just know that the first year the rose can be smallish as its roots get established.

I'm not worried about own root. My collection is divided fairly evenly beed grafted and own root. I've always got them potted though, either bands or gallons and put them in the ground pretty much immediately. Do bare roots need to be potted first?

Does everyone get their Austins directly from DA?

Hiyamakki said:Do bare roots need to be potted first?

Does everyone get their Austins directly from DA?

Hi Hiyamakki
Take a look at my David Austin's "Gabriel Oak" thread here you may find it interesting.
https://garden.org/thread/go/1...

In my opinion there's nothing wrong in buying a "bare root" rose and planting it directly into the ground with a bare root you have the choice of where to plant it in a pot or in the ground.

Oh and I would add the 2019 Chelsea Flower show Gold Award Winner "Gabriel Oak"
to your list of coveted David Austin's
cheers
Tafy

I purchased eleven bare root David Austins from their website
April 1, 2020
Darcey Bussell
Carding Mill
Windermill
Golden Celebration

May 1, 2020
James Austin
Lady of Shalott
Gentle Hermione
Benjamin Britton
Thomas a' Beckett
Queen of Sweden
Photo #1 shows progress of April roses; photo #2 shows progress of May roses





The "April" roses have all bloomed; the"May" roses have all leaved out and started to bloom.
The roots of all the Austins were soaked overnight. They were potted in large containers using quality potting mix.
These are the only bare root roses I have ever brought. I can say that without a doubt they are the fastest growing roses I have. In the future I will only purchase bare root roses if available.
Hiyamakki: you can't go wrong purchasing bare root roses from David Austin.

Thanks Tafy,
I think I will give bare roots a go! Got to keep evolving as a gardener!

My taste runs to more globular or cup shaped roses for the most part. I am also burnt out on pink. It's pink overload at at my place with a 5 year old girl obsessed with the colour! Not that I avoid pinks altogether but they rarely manage to catch my attention!

Wow Dennis! Those photos are a rousing endorsement! Feel much reassured.

I also prefer the globe shaped blooms of DA to any other type of rose, and I have gone off the pinks due to pink overload. Among my current favourites are Windermere, Jude the Obscure, Pat Austin, Lady of Shalott, Troilus (flatter shape but fabulous all the same), Ambridge, Wollerton Old Hall, Golden Celebration, and Charlotte.

All but one of my roses are grafted because that is all that is available to me. I grew one Windermere from a cutting and it is doing fine on its own roots. I will try to strike more cuttings this year even though I actually have nowhere to put more roses. My sheep are never happy when I fence another part of their pasture off from them and fill it with things they can't reach.

You have so many more varieties available to you that I have. I have a wish list of DA roses that I know our local growers will never fulfill. They seem to drop certain varieties for no reason and I have lost the chance of owning some lovely roses due to this haphazard culling from them.

Every bare root rose I have ever bought has been planted straight into the ground. You dont get the transplant shock like you do from container roses. And to me bare root roses planted into the ground grow better and establish faster than planting a container rose into the ground. 98% of my roses are in ground. Only ones I have in pots are old garden Roses I got as bands from Burlington. And DA bare root roses grow a lot faster for me than potted then into ground.

Heres my list of DAs. All bare root. Straight into the ground.

Molineux
Mill on the Floss
Carding Mill
Tess of the D'urberville
Winchester Cathedral ×2
Lady of Shallot
Lady Emma Hamilton
Munstead Wood
Jubilee Celebration
The Poets Wife
Darcey Bussell
Thomas A Becket
Alnwick
Abe Darby

I assume that Weluvroses comments related to the relative merits of container vs. in-ground planting was a reference to my post above. The purpose of my post was to assure Hiyamakki that he need not fear planting bareroot roses. In his subsequent post he recognized this. As to Weluvroses comments, I don't disagree that in-ground planting is superior to container planting. Since I live on a lava field in Hawaii in-ground planting is not feasible. It should be noted that Weluvroses provides no evidence that one method of planting is superior to the other. While I believe in-ground planting is preferable, I don't have any evidence either.

I saw that over all roses were bigger when grown in-ground. I bought roses from a guy who kept most in containers because he moved every 2 years. He had planted 2 in-ground and the difference was amazing! The soil was not that great either. But I still would have some roses in containers if I wanted.

Good for you, Hiyamakki, deciding to give bare-roots a try! I used to plant bare-roots out directly.but now that I have a good place for potted roses, I put them into pots and grow them up for their first year that way. However my gardening conditions are particularly tough and difficult; in a normal garden ,in your climate (zone 7 isn't very cold),they should do fine.