You may have had the same experience I've had many times. I see a photo of a beautiful rose on the HMF website, I click on the "Buy from" link, and I find to my dismay that the rose is available only from Ludwig's Roses in South Africa.
Well, here's some great news: Ludwig's has opened a branch in Phoenix, Arizona. The website is still a work in progress, but here's a link to it in its current, unfinished state:
http://www.ludwigsroses.com/sh...
From what I've heard, the roses will be grafted, either on Dr. Huey or on multiflora. Two-day shipping will be free anywhere in the United States. The prices ($22.99-$26.99) are about the same as you'd pay for a band from some of the own-root nurseries, and they would tack on a shipping charge and sometimes a handling charge.
The website must not have been proofread yet because there are a lot of typos. The rose called Myth, for example, is actually called Myrthe. If you look these up, be sure to check for all of the names. Many roses have unique names in South Africa, and you don't want to buy a rose you might already have. There's one here called Arctic Ice, for example, that's a rare beauty.
http://www.ludwigsroses.com/sh...
It's the same rose we know as La Rose du Petit Prince, however, which some of us bought as Le Petit Prince from Palatine this year.
The selection so far includes many Delbard roses, which is a very good thing, and some Barni roses. I love Barni roses!
The website is growing quickly. This morning it had 4 pages of roses for sale, but now there are already 7 full pages and the start of an 8th.
I don't know when they'll be ready to open for business, but I'm sure it will be soon. I'm enjoying watching the website grow.
