Bare root roses fuel gardener’s inspiration

For me, gardening season really starts in January and February. And the reason for that? Bare root roses.

By the first of February or earlier, they start arriving at area stores. And I start making my visits there twice weekly, fearing that if I don’t, I may miss something important.

Come to think of it, what can be more exciting for an impatient gardener in a northern climate than the sight of rows of green twigs with suggestions of what will come in a few months? They are not just in a magazine. They are real living plants, some of them with new growth already. You can touch them, fantasize about them in your garden, ponder about their growth, agonize over the choices. You can smell them, if not with your nose then with your imagination.

I am a sucker for this.

I discovered bare root roses only three years ago. As I started to garden in earnest here in Spokane, I bought three bushes the first year. Not knowing anything about the care of the roses, I left them in the basement and forgot about them.

With names like Sultry, Magic Beauty and Gold Glow, I have to admit that I was more enamored with the names and pictures than the care required. Months later, when planting came upon us, I went to retrieve them and found them completely dried up. (Lesson No. 1: bare roots are living things that need care.)

The next spring, I bought a dozen more. This time, I learned. I watered them periodically and constantly checked the moisture in the packaging, fretting about the temperature in the garage, where they were kept. I moved them into the house if the temperature dipped, and moved them out of the house if I thought it was getting too warm.

I was like a mother cat moving her kittens around to find a safe haven. But the hard work paid off. They all survived the long wait and did reasonably well in summer. It was not until the next June that I learned my second lesson. The ones that did not survive the first winter – and there were quite a few, it being a cold winter, I took back to the store. The clerks all pointed out to me that the guarantee was for one year, from the purchase date.

Who in February is digging up dead roses to return?

I had signed the receipts and had to gulp down the lesson with dismay. That was a hard lesson to swallow.

This year, Costco’s bare roots come in late in February. And as soon as I saw them, I snatched up six, among them Crown Prince Margareta, a David Austin rose I have been eyeing for two years but was not willing to pay the retail price.

I am more than willing to give bare root roses another try. Besides, I am doing something different this year. I will be potting each of them up now and leaving them in the house to monitor their health and give them a head start for the spring. Although it does take longer for a bare root rose to come into its own, the sheer joy and inspiration it brings at this time of year is wholly worth the wait.

Even for an impatient gardener like me.