I purchased from MBC right out of college when I didn’t know better, and swore I would never purchase from them again. Several of the herbaceous perennials arrived miniscule (cuttings I take today are larger before I strike them), shriveled, dead, and moldy. They told me to try planting them anyway, and I did, fool that I was.
I didn’t know that gladiolus bulbs could be so miniscule, but ultimately, they did okay for me. Most of the other stuff never grew.
I got one rose. It was grafted, and had only one single scrawny cane coming from the graft. Of course, it never did well for me. (Grade 3?)
$15 does not sound like a good deal to me, coming from them. I would rather get my body-bagged rose at the big box store for 1/3 - 1/2 that price where I can see what I’m getting.
Sorry, but I think the likes of that company can only harm the reputation of the rose for most gardeners, IMHO. Wasn’t this the company that used to get its sales from color ads in the back of the Sunday comics back in the 80’s?
Maybe they’ve changed, but if they were smart, they would have also changed their name. There cannot be value in that brand recognition.
When I was looking into getting wholesale roses I think I saw that Greenheart sold plugs. Maybe (probably) Michigan Bulb is just ordering from them and turning around and mailing them out retail. In which case the quality should be pretty good. I can also get wholesale potted 4" roses from Spring Meadow Nursery. Tempting to think of just turning around and selling them without having to re-pot and grow them. If I was going to go into the mail order business I would post a picture of the actual plug right on the variety page.
What is holding me back is not wanting to become a mail order business and the issue of smaller roses possibly not getting established enough to survive their first winter in this severe climate.
Concerns such as MBC are clueless. They are so focused on their “Century long rich history”, they feel people will buy from them simply due to their name and longevity. Perhaps the three repeat customers they have had (until the customers died of old age…) did get something worth growing, but my experience repeated what Philip reported. Everything I received from MBC was their version of the similar condition dreck I’ve always received from Hortico.
Sherando Roses had a thriving rose and later clematis nursery in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia. It is now closed (he retired). When he would acquire a new cultivar, he would ask on the Garden Web forums concerning what nursery source had a good vigorous, healthy selection of the plant (no RMV, etc.). In this way you knew his plants were from good cultivar selections recommended by experienced rose forum members.
He specialized in mostly OGRs but had a very good selection. He also had a display garden so customers could see the plants growing in a garden setting. He was also no spray. All his plants were cutting grown and therefore own root. AND he did not do mail order. You had to go there to purchase the roses. You might phone the order in but had to pick them up there. Even Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello (our third US President and an avid farmer/gardener in his senior years to our non USA forum members) placed orders with him. He had a good clientele and the drive was so pleasant people would make a day of it and do lunch out.
Randy (I think that was his name) gave good quality plants at a fair price. I think he had a good business and without the hassle of mail order.
He had a very simple web site which mainly listed the roses in their categories and the prices as well as contact and driving information.
Remember, Joe, gardening is local and word will spread. Get your nursery going and people will come to you gladly or even friends will pick up an order for friends. I recall the last time I drove down to Roses Unlimited in South Carolina, a rose friend in Richmond placed his order and said I would be picking it up. I was going anyway and was very happy to get his order along with mine.
I know what Kim and others are talking about–I ordered some stuff from Michigan Bulb in the bad old days (nearly 40 years ago). What was sent was probably dead when it was shipped, and the shipment (way too late in the season) did not revive it. After wasting postage to complain, and getting more of the same compost the next year, I gave up.
For what it’s worth, MBC seems to be doing a lot better in customer satisfaction these days. It’s not a perfect 10 yet, but it is doing better. Dave’s Garden ratings of MBC are up quite a bit from what they used to be, and probably some of those ratings are influenced by MBC’s less-than-wonderful history. My guess is that the roses are just as MBC gets them from whoever grows them. Looks as though there is some customer service activity at MBC these days.
This past week I received a catalog from White Flower Farm. The Austin rose Darcey Bussell is for sale for $41.95 (bareroot), which is the first time I have seen a rose that is not on a standard sell for over $40 and I have to admit that I almost choked when I read it. This is not by any means meant to be an indictment of White Flower Farms as a few local nurseries in my area have also had roses selling in the mid-thirties range. However, that type of price , especially in an area where winter survival for most commercial roses is “iffy” at best is going to make one hesitate and in the present economy it puts these plants out of the price range of many, if not most people. The solution may be the smaller, newly rooted cuttings–or plugs.
The reputation of MBC has always been poor and I was advised by experienced gardeners never to order from them right from the time I began gardening–so I never did. However, I have always been pleased with products and service from Gardens Alive, other than the fact that shipping time is rather slow. If the parent company for Gardens Alive has taken over Michigan Bulb Company then things may be changing there. It might be worth giving them another chance–although I agree that a name change would benefit the company.
Joe, I understand your concerns about the smaller roses in our harsh climate i.e. will smaller plants (newly rooted cuttings) survive or are we better off starting with a larger plant? In the past, my feeling was that newly rooted plants are definitely at risk while the same cultivar in a larger size has a better chance to survive that first winter. Then, three years ago David Zlesak sent me some cuttings in 4 inch pots to plant for the Earthkind pretrials. The plants arrived in April and were planted because spring had definitely arrived early that year. They settled in well and leafed out quickly–only to get nailed by a late May frost, which caused the death of several plants. However, a number of these plants survived and established fairly well, although they were certainly smaller than a full-sized, two year rose. I have to admit that when these roses arrived, I figured I was wasting my time as I was doubtful that any of the plants would survive the first winter given the fact that they were cultivars from J & P, Kordes, Tantau, and a few from Conard Pyle, etc. In other words, their survival in our area was questionable even if they had arrived as full-sized roses. No one was more surprised than me by the number that made it through not one winter but two. By the end of the third summer they were the equivalent of what most two year roses would be (remember that this is northern Wisconsin and our growing season is short). So, I’d advise you to give a couple a try with a few caveats: 1) do not plant them until the last chance of frost has passed (or have a plan for quick covering) and 2) mulch them well.
that type of price , especially in an area where winter survival for most commercial roses is “iffy” at best is going to make one hesitate and in the present economy it puts these plants out of the price range of many, if not most people.
White Flower Farms has been the highest-price supplier since the early 1980’s when the business changed hands and the new owner started to target the upscale Westchester NY/Fairfield CT market and introduced a matching upscale mailorder business. They used to side-trade in teak garden benches at a grand a pop, not your typical garden accessory (but the best there is for the purpose).
My personal opinion is that there is a great opportunity waiting for someone with the vision to transform the increasingly obsolete wholesale-distributor-retail model into a vertically integrated model suitable for the 21st century. I have yet to see a well designed online rose retailing website, for instance.
I’m a Michigander born and raised and I would never recommend the Michigan Bulb Company to anyone. They have had a notoriously bad reputation for years and I doubt it’s improved since the first, last and only time I dealt with them a good ten years back. Another place you want to avoid like the plague is Growquest! Worst experience I ever had. Hortico was a superlative in comparison! I always like to browse White Flower Farm but they are way too pricey for me.
I have bought bands several times with mixed results on first winter survival so I think I’d be really hesitant to buy something even smaller than that. If the band is a really vigorous grower over the first season it usually will make it but if it’s a slow starter it’s probably going to be toast by spring. I can’t imagine that a plug would be of sufficient size by winter for it to make it here.
Heirloom’s plants are pretty much identical from since I can earliest recall. Their varieties offered are what varies – theyre extremely random per year, with the catalog only being the base format of some of what is offered for that year.
Today I received my rose plugs from Michigan Bulb Co. I ordered a total of 7 plants (Texas, Tiddly Winks, Livin’ Easy, Easy Going, Koko Loco, Ketchup & Mustard, and Sugar Moon). For the price I paid, and what I was expecting because of that price, I have to say I am really impressed. All 7 varieties are even better than the ones I received several years ago and they seem better than many varieties I have received as band plants. The roots sytems is what really impressed me. They are very thick and held the soil in tightly. When I planted them in larger pots (the ground still wasn’t ready for them) I teased the bottom roots free to encourage them to fill the pot. As long as nothing goes wrong with these, I would definitely say that I would go this route again if given the chance.
Hi Andre, that K&M plug does look to have a great little root system.
What a great idea!!
I have not seen these plugs offered in my country in any big way.
Now that I think about this, I did once (about 8 years ago) receive in the mail a plug of a size very similar to that in your picture. It was a cutting-propagated Scabrosa sold to me by some small “heirloom seed-saver-come other things green retailer” type company in Victoria.
The Scabrosa plug had a smaller root system that yours, but still it took off no problems, once plonked into the sun-facing aspect of the garden.
…ummm which reminds me to go online now and see if they are still in business, and see what roses they might be offering, these days!
Picked up 10 roses today and the most $$$ was for a one gal. potted husky plant for less than 1/2 the plug price. So much to do and so little time, their still in the trunk of the car. Neil