Bare Root Lost Label Roses

I have just got a pack of 6 bare root lost label roses, the plan was I was going to pot them up over the winter, give a couple to my mum and then decide in the spring where I was planting them.

However they are much bigger than I expected, some of the roots are about 18" long so I think they need to go straight into the ground or is there any way I can pot them up (without buying massive pots obviously)

Also how long will they survive without planting, I am not going to see my mum till Xmas to give her the ones I was planning to?

 

The general advice is to plant them asap or at least heel them in, i would heel them in my friend

 

Heeling in is the safest option, definitely!

 

Sorry if I am being a bit thick - heal in meaning what... I guess temp plant them or something??

 

Black cat you are not thick my friend, heeling in simply means temporary planting until you have time or conditions are right to plant to hell the plants in, select a reasonably dry piece of ground but not too dry make a slit in the soil with a good spade wiggle the spade to open the gap if needed dig some soil out then put the roses in the hole/slit and gently press the soil in with your heel this will keep the roots ok for a while and will stop them drying out dont worry about planting distance etcc. this is only a temporary holding area which will give you time to prepare the finished position. good luck my friend do let us know how you get on.

 

You also can put them in pots - those that your giving to your mum. What you would need is a pot that is deeper than the roots, and wider. Plastic will do, but your mum will need to protect them against freezing til planting.

Use a mixture of multipurpose and vermiculite, and a good handful of bone meal and slow release fertiliser.

I did that with some rescued roses which were bare rooted, and then once they had settled in the pots and grown roots, and indeed flowered to show what they were, planted them where I wanted. They did fine.

 

and you could also think about buying mum a nice poinsettia for xmas. cos the rose is going to look a bit sad, and does not want to be hanging around indoors for very long

 

when planting roses should the graft union be above soil or below tryed reading up on this but got diffrent answers hope someone can help please

 

Below.
Here's the advice from the RHS on planting a rose...

http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles1100/planting_roses.asp

 

All

Thanks for the replies - the ones for mum were not an xmas present just paying her back for the amount of plants I have got from her over the past few years!!