I finally got two blooms and the scent is mesmerizing. Perfume like and I can’t wait for more blooms to come.

My roses were very well packaged and arrived undamaged. The bushes had lustrous foilage and, two weeks post planting, seem to be enjoying their new home. I live in the mountains so it's already getting quite cold - I don't expect my new roses to do anything at the moment except to hunker down and dig in roots. I can't wait to see them comes Spring.

My home is in zone 7 in New York, on a hill adjacent to the Hudson River. I redid a section of the garden that is exposed to strong winds, particularly March through May. I planted 5 roses purchased from Heirloom Roses. They all came through the first year really well. Apricot Impressionist stands out. It is very elegant rose bush, always blooming, with a gracefully form. The color is exceptional. I have Wisteria, white/yellow roses and a coral shrub rose near it. I continue to add more roses, but Apricot Impression remains my favorite!

There is a story behind buying this rose-

I had been debating if I wanted to invest in buying roses for our backyard or not. We live in the desert, bought our house 3 years ago in North Las Vegas, and 90% of the plants we had planted died within the first couple weeks after planting them. I don't have a "green thumb" by any means however, I did follow the planting instructions.

One day while I was sitting on our back patio I noticed a big red rose on a plant in the flower bed. I was shocked since I had no idea we even had a rose bush! When we bought our house there were drab, small green bushes planted here and there in the back yard. We got rid of them when we planted new plants. I didn't notice the rose bush at that time. I hadn't watered it or done a single thing to it since I didn't know it was there. Since that rose bush managed to survive 2 years of neglect I decided roses were exactly what I needed to add color to my back yard. I went on my search for good, hardy roses.

We started watering the red rose bush we had and I bought a pink rose bush from the local nursery. We hired landscaper's to put in our rocks etc...and they planted my pink rose bush and some other plants, cacti and a couple small trees. Within a week my pink rose bush wilted. I tried to save it but it died. I was about ready to give up!

I went online and researched rose bushes and found information on buying from local nurseries and how many plants end up with diseases, roses getting a fatal one. I don't think that is what happened with my pink rose bush. I believe it was planted wrong or unhealthy to begin with and went into "transplant shock". I searched for rose bushes online and at some point I came across Heirloom Roses. I was immediately impressed with the beauty and selection of their roses. I read up on how they grow them, ensure they are disease free etc.. It took me a while to decide if I wanted to spend any more money buying roses or any plants for that matter but I decided I would buy one rose bush from them and see how it goes.

The rose showed up the week I selected. It was nicely packaged and the rose bush itself was prefect! I was terrified i'd plant it wrong so I was careful and followed the directions. Well, I, not knowing, added fish fertilizer to my baby rose plant. I did the only thing I could think of and that was dig it up. I rinsed off the roots and drowned the soil. I thought it would go into shock for sure but it didn't. I got it replanted and all looked great for a couple days until I saw the new shoots coming off my red rose bush. They looked odd and I'd remembered seeing that before on a rose bush that had the rosette disease. I had my husband go outside to give me his opinion and he agreed it looked sick. Of course my Apricot Impressionist was planted about 3 feet from it. The wind blows one direction here 90% of the time and my Apricot Rose Bush was down wind from it. Anyone who knows about that disease knows my concern at this point. We dug up the red rose bush and got rid of it. I had to dig up my Apricot Impressionist, again, just in case it got infected and move it to a pot with brand new soil. At this point I was certain it would be in shock and die. Four days have gone by and it looks as healthy as the day I got it, with the exception of losing two small branches during the replanting ordeal. This morning I noticed some tiny new growth. I was thrilled! It survived.

Heirloom Roses are very healthy and strong plants. I am so happy with them that I ordered 4 more roses plants. I ended up ordering another Apricot Impressionist in-case my other one died. Now it looks like I will have 2 of them! =)

I will never buy rose bushes from a nursery or any local store that sells them again. I found out that the rose rosette disease is in 60% of roses bought at nurseries. I am sure the red rose bush was planted by the previous owners of our house and if I hadn't known what to look for all these beautiful healthy roses we bought from Heirloom would have got the disease.

I am so pleased with Heirloom Roses that I will buy all my roses from them. Their customer service is top notch as well. They have been super helpful in answering all of my questions since I have minimal experience with roses.

Thank You Heirloom!

Kate