We’ll be specifically covering bare rooted standard roses, but if you check out our YouTube channel, you’ll see a playlist that covers many different types of bare rooted plants. Also, most of the things discussed here, will apply to other bare rooted plants as well.
What are bare rooted plants?
Bare rooting is the process of selling, transporting and storing plants out of soil with their roots bare. This is possible in winter when many plants, like roses, are dormant. Roses are the first plants arriving in the nursery for sale bare rooted this season. We have rose plants for sale in many varieties and colours, each in good quantity.
How are bare rooted roses grown and sold?
So let’s backtrack a bit – what is a bare rooted standard rose? To understand this you need to know how the growing process of roses works.
For standard roses, growers will start off with a cane field of wild roses and cut sections of cane, about two to four feet long, and then put those cuttings into the field. This happens around the start of May.
Then in the summertime they graft or bud the type of rose that they want, like an Iceberg or Mr Lincoln. Once it’s grafted, they keep growing it in the field. They’ll trim it and shape it up a little.
Then when winter comes and they drop their leaves, Growers will dig that rose up from the field and sell it bare rooted.
The other alternative, which you’re probably familiar with, is they pot the rose and sell it in the summer within that pot. So essentially, buying bare rooted is buying it fresh from the field. Got it?
Is it better to buy bare rooted or potted roses?
Okay so what are the advantages? 
Firstly, nurseries are able to put hundreds and hundreds of roses in a small space. This is good for you because it means you can buy in bigger bulk and have a greater selection of different types and colours.
Normally with potted roses, because they take up a lot of space, you can only get about three of one particular colour. But with bare rooted you could get up to twenty of one colour!
Secondly, it’s much, much cheaper. In summer, when they’re all potted up, you’ll pay anything from $30 to $60 for a standard rose.
Right now, we’ve got standard roses (bare rooted) starting at $15.99. So you’re paying a quarter to half the price you would be buying in summer for essentially the same plant. Insane.
Thirdly, it is a hell of a lot easier to transport bare rooted roses than ones that have been potted up. When you buy our bare rooted roses, we pull them out of the potting mix and wrap them tightly up with moist sawdust to keep it close to the roots. They pretty much just look like a bunch of sticks and they’re going to fit very easily into your boot or backseat.
If you were getting a dozen standard roses, you’d need a van to deliver them, or pull up in a big station wagon. Even then it would be a bit awkward to fit them in because they’re four foot tall in these big pots that have to be placed vertically.
Now the bare rooted version is about three or four feet long too, but they are packaged together in this slimmer bundle that doesn’t have to be placed perfectly vertical. You can actually keep them in this bundle for about three weeks. You don’t have to water them or worry about them, just keep them in a cool shady spot.
Fourthly, similar to the previous point, they are very easy to handle and move around. So you’ve popped them in your regular car and driven your standard roses home.
Now it is the easiest thing to pick dozens of them up at once and carry them to your garden. You don’t have to go back and forth, back and forth, carrying these heavy pots of roses. Because just like the groceries, no one wants to do a multi-round trip. Then you just cut open the plastic packaging and plant your roses.
To sum it up, there is a real ease in buying, handling, transporting, and planting your bare rooted standard roses. So if you have a big project with roses, or looking to do your garden on a budget, wait till the winter and buy bare rooted roses.
Standard Roses vs Bush Roses
The next thing you’re probably wondering is why would you grow standard roses as opposed to bush roses? Standard roses have a lot of advantages. Let’s break them down.
With a standard rose you are getting much more opportunity for colour in the garden.
A normal bush rose is low growing and prickly, which means you can’t grow anything underneath. Also when you’re weeding the garden it’s a terrible task. But a standard rose is going to grow up higher, meaning the prickles are higher and out of the way of the weeds. All you have is that stem down low which gives you an empty garden bed underneath, that you can fill with whatever you like. Your garden is going to be more dynamic and interesting for these different layers of plants. You could have two, even three times more colour in your garden.
Also regardless of bush or standard, there will be a time in the year where your roses are not flowering. With a bush you are just stuck looking at this bare thing, however with a standard you could be smart about it and plant something that flowers during this time. Hint: we also have a playlist on that, just check out ‘How to Have a Colourful Garden During Winter’ on our YouTube channel.
Standard roses are also an excellent solution for small gardens, as you can fit more plants in a confined space. It also brings the flowers up high where you can really enjoy them – three feet is perfect sniffing height.
The Best Standard Roses
There’s hundred of varieties, all with their own unique colour, scent, and shape. Here’s Chris’ list of what roses to actually buy if you’re having trouble making a decision:
Iceberg Roses
Standard Iceberg Roses are by far the most popular, and for very good reasons. Firstly, it’s practically prickle free. You barely get any thorns on your Iceberg Roses. The next thing is that they hardly get any diseases. With some other roses you might get spots, mould, or leaves dropping because of disease, but this rarely ever happens with Iceberg Roses. If you were to rate the hardiness of roses, Iceberg would get an 11/10.
From late September you will get masses and masses of flowers, and with plenty of fertiliser you could even have flowers in the dead of winter. These flowers come in clusters of threes and fives which makes for a very beautiful show. What’s really interesting about Icebergs is that they are actually a family of roses. many years ago there was only a white Iceberg. Now you also get shades like a rich pink or burgundy. Which means you can add an extra dimension of colour in your garden, whilst still having that strong flowering and disease resistant characteristics.
Double Delight
A big reason why people buy roses is for the fragrance, but there are quite a lot of roses out there that fall a bit flat when it comes to potency of scent. Double Delight is not one of them. You practically get punched in the nose with an amazing powerful rose scent. It’s also just a gorgeous rose. You have a bit of white, a bit of cream and a bit of red, combining in this delightful medley of colour. On top of that you’re getting a tough, mostly disease resistant rose.
Charles De Gaulle
We’d actually love to rename this rose as Blue Moon, because it’s everything people hope the Blue Moon to be. It has the romance of the Blue Moon, but a much more vibrant mauve hue and a stronger scent – about three times stronger than the Blue Moon. Just like the other roses on this list, it’s also disease resistant.
Mr Lincoln
This is another all-time classic. Probably one of our number selling roses, it has that classic red colour. That beautiful dark velvety red is practically begging to be plucked and given to your amor. Its scent has a unique richness and depth to it that is very captivating. You just cannot go wrong with Mr Lincoln. Somebody wants a red rose? Give them Mr Lincoln.
Camp David
Now this is like the slightly less great cousin to Mr Lincoln. It’s still a great rose, and it’s honestly quite easy to mistake it for Mr Lincoln. The red shade is slightly lighter, a more medium sort of red. Camp David is an easy rose to grow, with a lovely fragrance. It has low chances of disease and doesn’t require too much work in the way of trimming and spraying. We’d put it at about nine-tenths as good as Mr Lincoln, and even place it as almost being up there with the Iceberg. So if you’re after a red rose that is easy to look after, then get Camp David.
Oklahoma
This is another beautiful red rose with a really lovely smell. It will bloom in flushes throughout the season and has this gorgeous dark green matte foliage. This is actually one of our Growers absolute favourite roses for scent. So if you’re wanting a red rose with an incredible scent, then Oklahoma is a great choice.
Pope John Paul
Pope John Paul is a very sophisticated looking rose, perfect for those modern or classy gardens. It has a magnificent fragrance and the ultimate double flower. Pope John Paul is actually grown in the Vatican’s private garden! On top of that it has won medals all around the world for its fantastic fragrance and superior disease resistance. What a rose!
Peace
For SO many years, Peace was the most popular rose in the world. Which it fully deserved to be. The colours are absolutely superb, a yellow centre blends into cream shades, ending with pink tips. The fragrance is lovely but not overly strong. It’s one of those all-time classic roses and even though it’s not as popular anymore, it should never be forgotten.
Just Joey
We don’t think anyone has ever come up with a better orange rose than Just Joey. The centre is a beautiful rich orange, moving to a delicate peach hue on the edges of the petals. Just Joey also has a wonderful fragrance. It’s fairly disease free, easy to grow, and an all-round hearty rose. There may be other roses with a tinge of orange to them, but there’s nothing else quite like Just Joey.
Gold Bunny
If you’re after a yellow rose than Gold Bunny is perfect. It doesn’t have much of a fragrance but makes up for it with its exquisite shade of delicate yellow. Just take a look at how beautiful it is! I actually love pairing Gold Bunny with Charles De Gaulle, because the yellow and purple shades look so good together. But even on its own, Gold Bunny is a standout.
Fragrant Charm
Planting this rose through a garden looks amazing. The colour is incredible, and the fragrance is even more incredible. Whoever named this definitely made the right call. The colour is a vivid pink-red and the flowers are enormous. Fragrant Charm is a good strong grower, but it’s one that not a lot of people know about. So we’re bringing it to your attention here. The striking pink looks great mass planted. Although it’s wonderful having a variety of different roses, but if you’re only after one rose then Fragrant Charm makes a big impact.
Best Plants to Pair with Roses
If you’re making a rose garden, there’s more to it than just roses. Sure you could fill every square inch with roses, but uhm well, I figure most people are not looking to do that.
English Box
We’re actually about to start selling bare rooted English Box, which makes this pairing even more perfect. Regardless though, the dark green of an English Box hedge or topiary compliments Roses incredibly well. Particularly if you are using a Standard Rose, which will stand up well above your hedge and create those dynamic layers mentioned before. The English Box looks great all year round and is a Melbourne favourite.
Dwarf English Lavender
Many types of Lavender would work great with Roses, but we’ve specifically chosen Dwarf English Lavender for its flowering peak in the summer. This is when your roses are also going to be looking their best. So you have this fabulous display of roses and lavender all at once. Munstead or Hidcote are great Dwarf English Lavender options for this summer flowering.
Catmint
Catmint grows into a nice little mound that has multiple periods of flowering in the summer. So it will flower, finish, you trim it back, and then it shoots up and flowers again. It will do these two or three times in the summer. You can get it in a blue or white shade. Catmint is quite a small plant so nowhere near as big or demanding as your Lavender.
Blue Convolvulus
This is one of our favourites to plant under roses, especially Iceberg Roses. The powder blue shade looks incredible with the stark whiteness of the Iceberg. Blue Convolvulus is a really hardy plant and a very fast grower. If you have rows of standard roses and you plant Blue Convolvulus between each row, it will cover the whole garden bed in no time. Blue Convolvulus flower from mid-September right through to early May. So by the time your roses come into flower, Blue Convolvulus is already putting on a spectacular show. We have a lot of customers come in looking for a plant pairing with their rose, and we almost always suggest Blue Convolvulus because its colour goes with pretty much any rose.
Gaura Butterfly Bush
Gaura
flowers from spring through to autumn, meaning that they are flowering at the time that roses are peaking. It has this lovely feathery foliage with flowers that are aptly named for their butterfly appearance. When the breeze picks up, it truly looks like a cloud of fluttering butterflies. This light and fluffy appearance looks great with roses, you’ll actually see a lot of florists pairing the two together in their floral arrangements. You can get Guara in white, light pink or dark pink, which means you can decide what hue compliments your roses best.
The key thing with these choices is that they are a supporting act to the rose, not a competitor for the spotlight. With flowers like Dahlias, they almost seem to compete for attention as the key feature in the garden. Now there’s nothing wrong with that, but we quite like the way that the four plants highlighted here, keep the rose as the star.
So there you have it – the reasons why you should buy bare rooted standard roses and how to build an incredible garden with them. If it isn’t obvious, we are currently selling tonnes of bare rooted standard roses, so now is the perfect time to come down to Hello Hello. Just come in your regular car and save up to half the amount you would have in the summer.
See you there,
Chris
