Comments regarding Heirloom Roses

They ran out of the rose I ordered -- but I didn't find out about it for 45 days after I ordered. They claimed, in the letter they sent me, that they tried to contact me via email and telephone, but I received no email, phone calls, or messages from them until I received the letter via snail mail.

Furthermore: DO NOT TRUST THESE PEOPLE WITH YOUR CREDIT CARD NUMBER. They do not have security in place to safeguard against credit card theft -- when they sent me a copy of my order via mail, my complete credit card number was included on the order and, according to Laurel Anderson, she prints this out to give to people for shipping, etc. They may be a small operation, but credit card security is not that hard to implement (I do it for a living).

"Heirloom Roses, Inc would like to assure our customers that we have their security at the top of our list of priorities. Sensitive customer information is seen only by qualified staff at order entry and our website and billing practices are secure."

I ordered six roses from this company as so called "John's Minature Roses!" Two are nearly dead - as in dying and I don't know if I can bring them to life. They surely did not ship them priority mail because nothing has ever looked like this via priority - plus they took forever to ship them to me!! Never again for me - the sad part is this hurts other company's who try to sell via internet. NOT BUYING FROM THEM AGAIN!!!

Never again! I knew I might be taking a chance, but this is ridiculous! I only ordered because the variety I wanted I hadn't found elsewhere. I ordered in early March, and it was to be sent by 3/20. When by April 10 nothing had arrived, I e-mailed - "scheduled for shipment next week" I was told. After my credit card statement came with $24.65 on it, I wrote again; same response.

The box arrived today. Pathetic. Small doesn't describe it. To say tiny is being generous. I truly believe that once my order was received they rooted a cutting. If it survives, and that's a big IF, it will be at least three years before it blooms.
If I were a commercial grower, I would be embarrassed to ship something like this with my company's name on it.

It pains me to say it, because this vendor has an enviable assortment of roses, but my experience with Heirloom has been a disappointment. I read these comments prior to placing my order and I knew what I would get would be small, but seriously. The plants are VERY small. They are potted up and look much the same now as they did when I received them over a month ago. I will baby them and they will live, but for $16 per rose, the size is pathetic. These roses need to be grown on for another year. I will only order again if they have a rose that I can find nowhere else, and not sure if I would then.

I purchased 1 rose from Heirloom because I couldn't find it else where and it was the tiniest, sickliest rose I have ever seen. Its was barely bigger than a newly rooted cutting. I babied it but it never thrived and I finally pitched it. Never the less Heirloom did refund me for the rose upon my request. I have heard many people complain about their small roses plus I think their prices are too high, especially for what you are getting. I won't order from them again but at least they gave me a refund.

Note: This company is also affiliated with climbingroses.com

I recently ordered one rambling rose from them. I paid $14.95 plus shipping, the bill was a little over $22.00. I recieved a small rooted cutting. It has two or three twigs on it and maybe 10 leaves, that's it. The only good thing about it is that it is green. I can't find anywhere on the website that states that a buyer will only recieve a small rooted cutting. It says the roses are potted and greenhouse grown which made me think that I would be getting a decent sized rose bush. I will never buy from this company again.

Ordered 16 roses from this company. They arrived very late (I ordered Jan 1), and I live in zone 5 - so they needed to be planted early to get established. They were "twigs" but not even healthy ones - 2 were DOA, 4 more were dried out looking, and the rest did not have developed root systems. I have received bands before, but never anything this tiny. They will never make it through the winter here - if they last that long.

Emailed them with a complaint - and received no response.
Then called to protest, and was told to "put them in the mail" and return.

I posted photos of what I received to and online rose group - and those who have ordered from them in the past agreed that these were extraordinarily puny.

On the other hand - I also ordered from Chamblees, Ashdown and Michael's. Got healthy plants (the ones from Ashdown were huge) with root systems, and they are happily developing in my garden.

Heirloom is also very expensive for what you get (or don't get). For the same price or cheaper you can get well-grown own-roots or bareroots, or 1, 2 and 3 gallon potted plants from other suppliers.

I realize that other folks posting here have had good experiences - but mine was more than negative - it was awful. Would suggest that if you live in zone 5 or above - don't ever order from them unless you plan to have twigs that you will baby for the next three or four years, if they survive.

Dee

I am mad about roses!!!!!I have 140 bushes in my Garden and I show them for fun.I bought 2 roses from this company and I have never seen anything sooo tiny. By the end of the season they had grown, as others have said, and they did bloom but only one decided to come back this spring , the other was the only one of 140 that I lost over the winter. As someone else said their web site isn't very user friendly for problems like this...so I cut my loss, but use caution when you order and realize when you get these plants they are little sticks...don't expect instant roses.They do have some choices you won't find anywhere else which is nice when you have as many bushes as I do, but I am not impressed enough to re order from this company

Bought several plants from Heirloom, and only 2 survived. The plants they ship are incredibly small, and their prices are high. I can get very well established,healthy, own-root roses from Chamblee's for half the price. Over the past 2 years I have ordered over 30 roses from Chamblee's and they are all performing beautifully in my garden. I decided a while back that I will no longer order from Heirloom Roses.

We no longer order from Heirloom. Of the dozen or more plants ordered from them, (over a period of 2-3 years) more than half of them were mis-labelled -- and they were not cooperative about making good on their errors. Jeri Jennings, Ventura Co, SoCalif.

Thanks for you site, which I find very informative. I am another of those not pleased with the above. They actually sold me a bare root PEACH TREE instead of a rose I ordered! Has grown great, but...

I ordered from Heirloom in Spring 1999. I was completing a bed for a friend. I also ordered from Antique Rose Emporium, who I've bought numerous plants from since 1990. I was appalled by Heirloom's stock. While the plants were clean and well-grown, they were completely small! Compared to the two-year plants from ARE, they were an embarrassment. My friend wanted to know why I had gotten taken. I called an complained to Heirloom and was directed back to their statement in their catalogue that states that they ship smaller plants. While I admit that they forewarned me, I will also say that I never thought about reading their statement as I've been ordering roses from ARE and Vintage and some other vendors for over 12years and I have never been presented with stock that costs the same, but is so completely out of whack with the marketplace. I certainly would urge anyone to order from another vendor because FOR THE SAME AMOUNT OF MONEY you'll get plants TWICE AS BIG. Again, I am appalled at Heirloom and am surprised that they've been able to survive so long while offering so clearly an inferior product. Buyer Beware!