I have pretty much always gotten bare root. A little spendy to send pots up here, and pay for shipping dirt also.
I have gotten various sized roots and even a clump or three from Reath's in Michigan. His plants are spendy, but generally bloom well the next spring,. Adelman's also has been good. I think the only ones that didn't do well were 'operator error.' Planted in the wrong spots, moved too often in search of the right spot, etc. I got Cora Louise from Adelman's and the first year it was puny - no flowers, but each year it has gotten bigger and bigger with many blooms. Julia Rose was almost 60" tall before a really wet cold spring set it (and several others) back badly. I now remember that I bought two in pots from Lowe's last year. One did very well and bloomed well the first year; the other was slow but finally put out two blooms. I just don't know. Seems that it's a bit of a crap shoot as to what will do well immediately and what needs time. I waited three summers for Bride's Dream to finally bloom.
