Comments regarding David Austin Roses (US)

Posted on December 27, 2011, updated April 3, 2012
It is disappointing to read the most recent reviews given that I plan to order at least 8 to 10 roses from David Austin this winter. It should be noted that most of the complaints center around customer service and shipping and this mirrors my past experience last year.

In late December of 2010 I ordered 9 rose standards and in the order gave specific comments that the plants must arrive on or before February 12 as I would be leaving the country on the 14th. I do not recall the specific chain of events but I repeated my delivery deadline in a follow up email and received a confirmation. Then it came to pass that the shipment was not made in time to insure delivery by standard shipping. In telephone conversation, they agreed to ship by 2nd day air and the plants were indeed received one day before my flight.

The holes were already prepared and the standards went from box to a willow water soak to the ground within hours. Reading the other negative reviews, the plants were indeed bare roots in a plastic bag with no moisturizing media but they were certainly in quite elegant boxes.

They performed beautifully: planted on February 12, they were in full and very glorious bloom by the 2nd week of April and re-bloomed profusely throughout the year. They bloom lightly even as I write and would likely be in far more generous bloom had I not been over a month late when I pruned then in November. Other than a quickly terminated bout with thrips, there have been no diseases or pests and the same thrips infested other non-Austin roses in the same border.

It’s a great gene pool, a fine product. I doubt every product within the range is stellar - I have a friend who says that Wm Shakespeare’s canes are too weak to support it’s heavy blooms and my Winchester Cathedral (as a standard) perhaps produces too long a cane for that form but these standards are by far the most satisfying roses I have in a collection that includes quite a few old roses from other sources.

It’s the worst possible situation when a company has a good product but insufficient means to deliver and service the inquiries of its customers. Provided their US operation’s culturing is up to par, their deficit lies in the steps from order to shipping and customer service communication and I hope they are aware of the comments made on this site and will make steps to improve their service. I will still order from them in the next few days and then be sure to closely monitor the promised delivery dates.

Posted on March 17, 2012, updated March 18, 2012
Posted on March 16, 2012, updated March 17, 2012
I ordered a "Châpeau de Napoléon" rose from DA. It arrived and I can say, the delivered plant has great roots and many canes. No complaints there.

The problem is the packing. The rose was placed in an empty plastic bag, nothing was included to keep the roots moist... No shredded newspaper, no wood shavings. The only moisture was the water left on the roots from the washing they got prior to shipping. I understand the need top reduce shipping weight, but REALLY?

Also, I was not given an e-mail notice that the plant was on its way, or when it was due here, so when it arrived and was delivered to a neighbor, as requested, it was a couple days before the package was opened.

It is raining here, has been for a week and will be for another week, so it's going to be impossible to plant anything for a while. A heads-up e-mail would have allowed me to get a big pot and some soil in advance.

I sent a message to DA a couple days ago, and so far have not gotten a reply. As I said in my message to DA, this is not the quality of service I expected from what I consider to be a generally fine company.

I received 6 roses from David Austin this year. They were all in good shape except one and that issue was promptly addressed by the company to my satisfaction. All of the roses have broken dormancy and some even have new basal breaks on the graft. So far so good. I would order from them again. Maybe they could release Wollerton Old Hall in the US next year... hint, hint.

I placed an order with David Austin roses, U.S. last winter. I would guess that I ordered in Jan. 2011, or at the latest Feb. I ordered about 15 roses and had plans to start a rose garden using only their roses. I had no special instructions about when I wanted them, just as soon as they could be sent to my area, which is usually mid April. I never bugged them, but when I needed to leave town for a few days in late May, I wondered where the roses were and called to make sure they wouldn't be sent while I was gone. The woman I spoke to said they would be sent after I returned. Weeks went by. I had the area prepared and ready. Finally a box arrived in the last week of June. The bare root plants were dry as a bone in a plastic bag. But the real problem was that I received 3 plants, not the 15 I ordered. Worse still the plants I received were badly damaged. One had a split through the rootstock up into the graft and was totally unsalvageable. The others had broken main roots and were pathetic. I called immediately. I asked where the rest of the roses were and was told they were out of stock. I did ask how that was possible, given when I ordered them, but she had no idea. I told the lady that these plants were unacceptable and that I was not even going to bother planting them. I was told that they dipped the plants in some special solution and that was why they were shipped dry, but there was no explanation of this in the box. I was also told that I would have to wait until next year (spring 2012) to get the rest of my order. She said they had some "production problems" this year. (I want to make it clear that I had checked my email several times between May and the end of June looking to see if I had somehow missed the explanatory emails you might expect in this sort of situation, but had never received even one.) I told her to cancel my 2012 order and to refund me for the plants they sent, which she immediately and politely agreed to do. I can't believe that a company like this would allow this to go on in their name.

If there is someone from DA reading this please make the changes necessary. Why are you based in Texas? How about Oregon and Ohio or Tennessee, like most other companies? Reading the reviews from this year I see that some people received their orders and some had exactly my experience. What really irks me is that several people who got their fabulous roses ordered them long after I did.

I still look wistfully at my beautiful, luscious David Austin catalog. I still have a large area set aside and ready for roses. I keep thinking about whether to give David Austin another chance and can't decide. That's why I came here--looking to see what other people thought. Now I can see that it wasn't just me who had a bad experience. I've thought about calling and asking about whether they've resolved their problems, but what's the use? I might have to wait another year to figure it out. How ridiculous to have to wait a year and a half for roses.

Does anyone know of any other source for these roses? I'd like to buy them in containers so I can see what I'm buying.

"On Jan 13, 2012 1:18 PM, David Austin Roses (US) responded with:

We are very sorry indeed that some of our customers last season were disappointed by the service they received. For some time, alerts from this website have not been received by our management team. Alerts are now coming through correctly and everyone who has left a negative comment on this site should by now have been directly contacted by a senior member of our customer service team.

Following an appearance on a well-known television program, we experienced an unusually high level of demand for our roses last spring. In an attempt to deal with this increased interest in our roses, we appointed extra staff and mid-season, we installed a new computer system, designed to help us improve our level of customer service.

Unfortunately the transfer from our existing computer system to our new system was not as smooth as it should have been. A small number of orders were incorrectly marked as having been shipped on our new system when they were still outstanding. We understand how very disappointing it was for these customers when they did not receive the roses they had ordered last season. We would like to publicly apologize to them and will be rectifying this at the earliest opportunity.

A full review of the issues raised here has also taken place and as a result, several changes have been agreed which will help us to improve our communication with customers going forward. Extra training is being provided to our team in order to help us offer a high level of service to all our customers. We appreciate all the feedback, and encourage any gardener who is not delighted by the service they receive to contact us toll free on 800 328 8893, asking to speak to Angela Folse, our customer services manager.
"

I've purchased a few times from David Austin Roses and I've never been too impressed with the quality of the bare root roses received. Just today, I called the company about my Christopher Marlow that never really took off last year when I received it. I got a pretty curt customer service rep who told me that there was a one year return policy. Ok, got it in 2010 and now its 2011...isn't that within the one year period? Whatever...I'm done ordering from them and getting 'less than' quality. If I want one of their roses bad enough, I'll just go to the local garden center where I won't get the snippy attitude.

I just got off the phone after asking for advice on how to remedy the persistent black spot on my strawberry hill roses. I have sprayed fungicide and cleaned up leaves below my six bushes but the lower part of the bush is almost defoliated. They are in worse shape than my heirloom roses. The customer service operator's response was go to your local nursery we are in Texas and don't have that problem here. I told her that I purchased the bushes directly from them at the Pennsylvania horticulture society flower show on recommendation from one of their representatives from England.
She kept on repeating the company line that their roses are resistant not immune. She says that they give no technical support and could only advise about roses in Texas. I asked if they were a regional company to which she replied no,so therefore, it is my belief that they should have knowledge about other areas. Very disappointing to find they have done so poorly in fact worse than all my other roses. Will never buy from them again. If you look at the recent ratings 30% of them are negative. Shame on you David Austin.

I ordered five own-root bare-root roses from Austin for the first time this year. I was afraid one would not survive as it was one of 3 "Crown Princess Margarets" roses and the only one that had no signs of growth at all, but once planted it caught up with the others and is blooming like crazy. What I did not expect is that the purchases from the U.S. site are converted from dollars to pounds, so I wound up having to pay currency conversion fees. My only other complaint is that I wish they offered more of their roses as own-root.

I love David Austin's roses, and have had positive experiences in the past. I sent several roses to a friend as a wedding gift and they're doing great. I also grew four varieties in my California garden successfully.

However.

When we moved into our new house in SLC, I ordered two roses. It was early June, and the company emailed on June 14 to say that they could not fulfill my request because it was "far too late" to send roses to our climate. Never mind that it snowed on May 25 that year.

Angie offered to save the order for this year. I said ok, and waited all winter for my order, which was supposed to ship in late March or early April. In March, nothing. In April, nothing. On May 7 I emailed. No reply. On May 16, I emailed the customer service account through the website. Angie emailed to say they were very busy and she didn't know why my roses failed to arrive.

So they dug up my order and sent me a box with one rose. Here's where it starts to get bizarre.

I ordered: one Graham Thomas (my absolute favorite) and one Constance Spry.

Angie emailed that they could not send Constance Spry, and I replied asking for Jude the Obscure or Graham Thomas. Sure, she said.

Here's what they sent:
On June 1: one Gertrude Jekyll. (What??)
On June 1: one Graham Thomas
On June 8: Another Graham Thomas

[Note that when I originally ordered these roses early June was "far too late" but apparently when DA forgets all about you...it's fine.]

So I got two of one rose I like, plus a rose I didn't order, didn't substitute and don't like (scent and color are wrong). Also, note that I ordered two roses and received three. I don't know yet whether I was charged for three roses.

But wait! There's more! I'm pretty sure they're all dead. Yep, dead. Shipped too late, not in good condition in the box, exactly as others have noted here - dry, no packing material, blackened at the tips. I put them in a nice spot, but I think they were DOA. There's no sign of leafing out.

I love the product, and would plant more David Austin roses in a heartbeat. But I will order my plants from another source because the disorganization at the David Austin (US) distributor is just too much. They're very nice but at some point you want things to be RIGHT.

I am very disappointed in the service I've received...David Austin should be ashamed! I've ordered several roses for my Cape Cod and San Francisco gardens from this place...never had a problem until this year. I ordered several months ago; 1 Mme Alfred Carriere and 3 Claire Austins. The reason for our order with PRIMARY to get the Mme Alfred Carriere, but we had had good luck with Claire Austin in our garden on the Cape and I thought I would get a few more for our cutting garden. Firstbof all, I never received a confirmation of the order, so wondered if it had gone through (this was an order on the Web), I followed up and got confirmation they received it, then come April, I hadn't heard anything about the shipping so followed up via email on May 11th, received an email back the next day telling me they would ship the next day. Fast forward to June 1st, I've still not received my roses..I follow up again via email and received an email response telling me they shipped last week and we should have them tomorrow....but, Ooops, a little problem.....we just don't happen to have the Mme Alfred Carriere..out of stock..we can send you one next year!! The whole reason for my order was to get this rose!....no notice, no nothing...I would have cancelled the whole order had the told me this!

We order from countless antique rose places....Vintage Gardens, High Country Roses, Rouge Valley..all family run businesses and they have always been attentive, and certainly if they find that they are outnof stock, they contact us in plenty of time so we can find other sources in tin me for planting season in the same year...David Sustin ought to be embarrassed that his large operations in the US provide such shoddy service...!!!!

Here I had corresponded several time

Posted on May 13, 2011, updated May 18, 2011
Once again I received great looking plants. I had nine roses arrive today and I was pleased with the condition.

I placed an order on their website for one bare root rose on May 5, 2011.On May 10, 2011 I sent an email inquiring about them sending shipping notices. I then received an email almost immediately from them saying "Your order shipped yesterday. Regards." That would mean my order shipped on May 9, 2011. I checked the UPS website to find out the approximate transit time to try to arrange for someone to be here with me on the delivery date since I am disabled and did not want the rose to just sit until I could arrange help. UPS stated transit time is about three days. On May 17, 2011 I still had no rose or any shipping info. Then late that afternoon I got an email from UPS saying a shipping label had been created and my shipment had a tentative delivery date of May 20, 2011 but that was all the info I could access at that point. So I called the toll free line at David Austin to find out why I am being told by UPS that my rose shipment had just been started today May 17th when I was told by a David Austin representative the rose had shipped out on May 9th. The woman I spoke with could not explain why and told me that the email I got meant the order would ship as soon as possible. How you get asap out of "your order shipped yesterday.Regards" is a mystery to me! She asked if I would like to talk to the woman who sent the initial email,when I said yes I was place on hold for seconds then told she had left. Then I was told if I would like to talk to her tomorrow I have to call her back! This is the first time I have ordered with them and it is now the last order I will ever place.

This was my first time ordering roses online. I am starting a new garden and I was hoping to have a positive experience and be able to order the rest of my roses from David Austins collection as they have beautiful roses.
However, my rose (Jude the Obscure) was shipped to me on a very hot week in early May. Because this is my first time I was unaware of timing for shipping bare root roses. I was only told that I would have two weeks from the time of arrival to plant the rose. We were moving in a week and I was planning on planting the rose at our new house in my new garden. Kind of a "garden warming" present.
When I received the rose it was already sprouting new growth all over the 2 canes. Several of the roots were broken and or very small.
I also thought that the rose would have more canes at least 3, (as described and illustrated in the David Austin Rose Cultivation Book) but there were only two small canes.
After immediately soaking the roots in a bucket I called the company to inquire about the condition of the rose and I was told that there is NO Warranty because of the season. I was also told that since it had broken dormancy I needed to plant it immediately. This is very disappointing as this rose was intended to be planted in the ground not a pot.
At this point I only hope it lives or that will just be the cherry on top of this disappointment.
I feel that I was taken advantage of because of my inexperience. Instead of educated and guided to successful roses, the company just took advantage.
The website states two weeks to plant - Not True
Multiple Canes - Not True
Buyer beware, although they speak of a Warranty, there is NO WARRANTY.

Received a great looking rose. Quick shipping. Best practical planting instructions ever from any rose company. So far so good!

DA puts out some of the most marvelous roses I have ever smelled in colors I am only blessed to be able to see!

I purchased a Climbing Heritage last Spring (2010) directly from DA online. It came perfectly and carefully packed. Our weather was so warm that my rose had started growing before I planted it. In a matter of days it had new growth everywhere and it bloomed so much during the Summer I thought it was going to exhaust itself. We had a very unusual cold spell for Texas this past Winter with several days in the 20s and my rose sailed through it without even a burned leaf! I am getting ready to order more thornless from David Austin, I highly recommend them.

Absolutely wonderful experience with this company. Super friendly and helpful customer service. I planted my David Austins 2 weeks ago and they are already getting huge. Best quality roses I've ever bought!!!!!

I 2nd the comment from the earlier review about finding it hard to believe anyone could have a negative opinion about David Austin roses. While I have gardened for many years it was always shade gardening. I finally have a sunny yard and last year I purchased 18 roses from DA. These were my first roses ever! I received these bare root "sticks with roots" that I thought they would take a whole growing season to get established. Was I wrong! I planted them just as DA suggests and all of the roses took off like fireworks. Very very vigorous and they all bloomed well the first season and grew several feet. This year all 18 have come back more vigorous then ever and several already have buds in MArch! David Austin Roses made me a rose fan. They are a first class company and Mr. Austin is a rose patriarch in my humble opinion. I appreciate what he has done with these plants. I will definitely order again.

I have ordered from David Austin for several years now and have always recieved very nice roses. If ever there is a problem, they are more than happy to solve it. The roses grow very well, and are as described. I highly recommend this company!

It is hard to imagine that there would be any negative ratings for this company. I have had nothing but complete success with both their bare root plants and their container plants. The plants are generous in size and come well packaged. The other huge plus is the excellent customer service I have had from Angela Fossie. Angie has assisted me with a special order on short notice and her concern would tell you she has genuine/ excellent skills in customer relations. I would rate my experience with David Austin "right up there' with Chamblee's (another top rose nursery)

I received 5 roses from david austin and 5 roses from chamblees the five rose from chamblees within two weeks, are all thriving 3 from chamblees came budded 3 of the david austin roses were fine . pat ausin rose was puny and half dead with two small canes i called they replaced it the other which was the most expensive 25 dollars! was the smallest dead with again two small canes . it died and I called they sent me a form and want a pitcher theyll get a pitcher and they see a 1 dollar rose that i could have got at kmart.the problem is you excpect to get what you pay for and like rolls royce . or chamblees they have a reputation . take my advice buy from chamblees and if youre buying perenials buy from sooners never had to return from these companys they are the rolls royce of the online nurserys.and buy the way kept all my roses moist planted in top soil and black compost with 6 hrs of sun.

I have had orders from several companies over the past 10 years and my experiences have been totally disappointing. But then I tried ordering from DA. I could not believe the large rose bushes I recieved from DA. They have been in the ground for over a year and I have just convinced my wife to pull about five department store roses and replace them with DA roses, because their roses were the only plants to go throughout the year without any pest or disease problems and they really look good!! I also, proved to my wife that you might spend more than you would at Target or Wal-Mart, but it is worth a lot more, too.

Posted on April 19, 2010, updated June 21, 2010
Quality: The most robust roots, the thickest and healthiest stems. I planted the numerous (over 30) roses I ordered this year and most have already sprouted leaves! By contrast, the other rose bushes from other companies are struggling and I do hope they will survive. The weather has been erratic this year... in the 70's earlier this month (unheard of in zone 5) and now down in the 50's so it is comforting to see that the Austins are doing so well.

Service: Incredibly patient. As I was planning the garden, I changed my mind a few times. Each time, the representative did not flinch and continued top roll with the punches. Moreover, there was never a mix up on any of the orders. She was also incredibly responsive. By speaking virtually several times a week, we were able to precisely coordinate the shipping of the roses so that I could plan the timely completion of the plantings.

i just made my first purchase from DA roses and i couldn't be happier. being impatient to plant my mothers rose garden i went against the advice of the CS representative as to the correct planting time for my area. nonetheless they shipped my roses except for two of one variety that would not be ready until the spring. what follows gets even better. my roses arrived shortly after our conversation very well packed with plenty of moisture on the roots.after following all included instructions i heeled the bushes in for a week until final bed preparations were complete and then proceeded to plant. new growth on all 6 roses within two days and progressing nicely. mom stated she never saw such nice robust plants as these anywhere else. cannot wait until spring to order many more as soon as the rose bed is increased in size to accomodate many more. i am one extremely satisfied customer. i will continue to update my roses progress.

Posted on June 10, 2008, updated May 26, 2010
Simply put, Superb!

The climbers I ordered are far and away the most vigorous I have ever seen. Your customer service was exemplary in assisting me. The planting guide has proven invaluable.

I will absolutely return for more of your signature English Roses!

Last spring I ordered about 12 climbers and one bush fl from Dave Austin. Here in Utah the weather is pretty brutal. Strong winds, dry air, hot hot summers and freezing winters- oh and late spring freezes. Mildew is the only thing we don't have. I expected loss of about 1/4 of the bareroot I put in. They all survived and are doing great! My orders were available and they arrived quickly and in fine condition. Second the plants rooted in well last year and I had flowers- which I did not expect. The winter freezes did only minor damage to the climbing canes so I will have a rose hedge much faster than I had thought. This spring these roses are already growing very vigorously and the last three nights of freezing temps/dry winds hasn't seemed to bother them. I am very very happy. The only downside I can say is that one of my chickens loves to eat the leaves off of one of the bushes so I will have to fence it. I am ordering more bushes this year.

I ordered two roses this year--they arrived at a reasonable time, sizable and healthy, and both are growing well. As long as they turn out to be the right roses (they ARE labelled) I have no complaints.

I haven't had the greatest luck with David Austin. The first order I placed this year they had to call me because they lost my order but somehow had some of the information (like my credit card #!). I had to look up what I ordered myself and get back to them. So keep a record of what your order because they don't, it seems. I received my second order today, missing one rose and with a major root on one of them broken. I called them and they didn't know why the one was missing--I had to tell them which one it was and finally they told me it was sold out. And of course that's the one I most wanted and why I placed the order in the first place. They are supposed to substitute and didn't--but they still charged me so I had to go through giving my card # again so I could get a refund. I just hope they can do that right. If a rose is sold out they should put that on their website. They also blew me off about the broken root. The rose only had three roots to begin with. So we'll see how that one does.

They seem to be having trouble with the basics of customer service.

Warning! Do not buy bareroot David Austin roses. The company is not careful about shipping the bareroots dependent on weather.

I fell in love with David Austin roses because I have an Evelyn in my garden. Last fall, I excitedly purchased 5 roses. This winter the east coast had an unusually cold winter. I was very worried when I received an email that the roses had shipped the first week February. I live in 7b and David Austin uses the same ship date for 7b to 10 as Jan/Feb. I can not even find the shipping info on the website now. It snowed after the roses arrived and I could not plant them for 2 weeks. I called David Austin and they told me to soak them overnight which I did twice trying to save them. I have been very hopeful, but it is apparent that the canes have died on four out of the five roses. According to David Austin, It is now too late to send replacements. They say I should have called them in January and asked to postpone the shipping until the end of February. But, I do not understand why they did not keep up with the weather. It was well known that February was unusually cold this year. The David Austin website mentions nothing about calling and asking to postpone the shipment. One of the roses I ordered is available in a container, but David Austin would force me to pay the difference for the rose. I spent over $100 in materials for preparing the site for the roses. The David Austin company only uses broad block dates to determine shipping. The canes of the roses I purchased died and I could not determine this until it was too late to receive replacement for this year. The David Austin company will not provide a refund. The David Austin company will also not provide compensation for lost time and money on materials.

"On Apr 20, 2010 1:37 PM, David Austin Roses (US) responded with:

We do our best to supply roses at the right time for planting and are sorry that, due to this year’s unusual weather conditions, we have failed to do so in your case. When our customer service representative spoke to you recently, we did not realise that a refund would be acceptable to you. We are sorry about this misunderstanding and are happy to refund your purchase if you will contact us again. Please call our freephone number 800 328 8893 and ask to speak to Angie. The shipping zones information can be found on our website http://www.davidaustinroses.com by clicking on ‘Deliveries’ on the top menu bar and then on ‘For details of our shipping dates for each state click here’ which is underneath the first paragraph, which is titled ‘When to expect shipment’.

"

I ordered 26 David Austin roses last year and was astonished at how healthy and vibrant they were when they arrived; I had an actual bloom within two weeks !!. I planted most of them in large pots and planted eight in the ground. The pots actually did the best and continue to do so. I only had one rose that didn't grow well, but it's putting out much better this year. I have already had a huge bloom from my Abraham Darby this spring. The plants look fabulous. I ordered twelve more a couple of weeks ago and put all of them in pots. I'm spending a fortune on pots, but I love being able to move them and they're doing great in them. I ordered 12 more last night and am going to "color co-ordinate" my yard by putting red, yellow and white in the front and pink, white and fushia in the back. I have underplanted the front pots with red and white Gerber daisies and white petunias and the back pots with pink and white petunias; it's looking great.
On another note, I ordered 5 roses last year from another company and was totally dismayed when they arrived. They were little twigs about 10" long and not much wider than a matchstick ..... and they were EXPENSIVE !! They are all still alive and growing, but still not much over a foot tall. One branch from a David Austin beats them big time.

Wow, I can't believe I haven't posted a review for this company yet. I have ordered for the past two years and just love them. I am so sad to see all of the neutral/negative reviews. I hope I didn't just get lucky with my experiences. Love these roses! I have to find room for more!

I have grown David Austin roses in the past but moved to a different climate and had no roses. After visiting the gardens at Alnwick rose garden this summer, I knew I had to try them here even though we get very hot summers.

I recently ordered 34 directly from David Austin and they arrived in perfect condition. I can't say the same for the packaging but the roses are absolutely the best barerooted roses I have ever seen! My only complaint will be listening to my helper as we dig the holes deeper to accomodate the very healthy roots.

I had asked for a confirmation as I travel and didn't want to miss the shipment. They graciously accomodated my request and they arrived exactly at the right time.

Thank you David Austin for such good service.

Got a Lichfield Angel last year from David Austin (US).

I had purchased (6) David Austin roses from Chamblees over the last (3) years and have been very pleased. I saw the Lichfield Angel as a 2008 offering and was very excited about receiving it.

I received a very healthy looking plant from David Austin (US) in the early spring last year (2008) and planted it right away.

The rose grew well ... and bloomed moderately its first year. I was very excited about this year.

However, it didn't take long for me to realize this year that my rose was a victim of Rose Mosaic Disease. Even so, it grew and budded well. Unfortunately, the weak canes wouldn't hold up the blooms ... and its clear that I'm not going to get even minimally adequate performance from the rose.

I hadn't thought about contacting David Austin about this yet.

I should ... they need to know that they sold me a diseased rose.

My initial order was for 3 bareroot standards in mid-May. I received a phone call from DA asking whether I really wanted to get bareroot as it was late in the season(?) and they couldn't guarantee them. I wasn't worried about getting them to grow so I continued with the order. I received 3 great looking standards that were huge. However, I only noticed two days ago that 2 of the standards were substitutes and I only had authorized one substitute. Oh well, partially my fault for not checking the order. But all 3 standards are doing great and looks like will be blooming this week (7/6/09). Near the end of May, DA sent an email for a sale on bareroot roses (so much for late in the season rules) and I ordered 4 roses. This order was totally correct and are now doing great as well. It helped that MA had a lot of unseasonably cool weather so that the bareroots weren't shocked. My only criticism is that I would like to see real time inventory or notification before the order is finally submitted that my selection is or is not in stock and that the order is placed correctly. Packaging and condition of the roses were wonderful. Definitely would order from them again. Would like them to expand their container rose selections.

Over time I have ordered by mail and planted well over 500 bare root rose bushes. I have replacement knees to show for it! But I must say that upon opening my three David Austin roses all I could do was gaze at them and exclaim, "Wow!" These had to be some of the largest bare root roses I'd ever handled. Their names are William Shakespeare and Louise Odier (2). Like a previous customer, I had to revise my hole depth when I saw them.
They ended up soaking in buckets of water for a week before I could get them in the ground, but seem to be doing well. It has been two weeks and they are breaking dormancy with shoots coming out of their big green canes. I am really pleased, to say the least, with Bill and both Louises.
I was concerned about the shipping situation until I read here that something is put on the roots so they maintain moisture. These roses sat at the UPS center in Syracuse two and a half hours away from me all weekend before being delivered. Yet they were properly moist and almost frighteningly vigorous when I got their box opened and the wrappings off.
I never doubted that David Austin roses would be good, I just didn't know how good!

I have had many orders with DA roses over the past couple of years. I ordered five more again this spring. One came completely black. I emailed a note attached to my order form, and was answered back straight away. Another plant was mailed out the next day. I have never had anything but good service. I shall order from them again next year.

I have/do/will order roses from David Austin because of the type of roses they carry. With that being said, I placed an order this spring. Like others, I had to post a question on their website asking: 1) if they received the order; 2) if I could get an order number; and 3) if they made note that I wanted the plant delivered the fourth week of May. They replied that they had received the order. I wrote back asking that they please give me the order number; I never got a response. My rose arrived in perfect shape...just 2 weeks earlier than I had asked.

Double delight is one of the roses I always want. Last week, I received their email about their half price sale. DD is on the sale list, so I placed my order. I know it was almost the end of the planting season in my zone, but I really wanted to have it and I planned to plant it in a pot. I received the bare roots about five days later. I was so excited until I opened the box. I ordered two totally. One has a big split in the middle among three canes, a break on a major root and some black end canes. Another one has a lot of black spots on two canes. I called right away and could only leave a message. I sent them a email after. Luckily they responded my email right away. They sent out the new roses for replacement right away. Now I only hope they will arrive in an acceptable and better quality condition. Someone already warned me since it is the end of planting season. I may still receive bad roses. I hope not!!

I am very surprised at the quality from such a well-known rose vendor. I thought they were good. This was not my first time order from them, either. I had good experience before. If they think half price sale is equal to cheaper quality, then they should have made it clear. I would not place my order at all.

Now I am hoping I will receive good quality roses and I do not need to fight for refund again.

"On Jun 10, 2009 8:26 AM, David Austin Roses (US) responded with:

All roses bought direct from David Austin Roses are covered by our guarantee. We are proud of our reputation for high quality and have an exceptionally low level of complaints from our customers overall. We monitor the quality of roses very closely and analyse the reasons for any failures to help improve service, but with living plants, some problems do occasionally occur.

As we have explained, we are happy to replace the roses under our guarantee and are very sorry for the inconvenience caused to you. We hope that the replacement roses we are promptly sending (which in this case exceed the value of the roses that were unacceptable) will help to restore your faith in our service.

Best Regards,
David Austin Roses"

I have a large garden. I wanted english roses and finally ordered 5 david austin english rose deal for 5 of the most fragrant. They arrived 1 week later in a beautiful rose toile brown and black box and inside the roses were in plastic and moist. They included a beautiful rose catalog and planting instructions. I am keeping the box to use for storage, its so pretty. They are bare root, so there is no foilage or flowers/buds., and they are extremely healthy, completely green with no dead wood and the roots are healthy and established. I Planted them in their own rose garden area in rows with other new roses and used generous amounts of gramulch soil, I know they will do well, will post later if for some reason they spoil.

Last year I had great success in buying David Austin Roses. This year, not so much. I bought 8 roses, and they came with mold and broken roots. I also live in upstate NY and have had nights of frost as they were delivered at the end of April. (I did cover them.) One died, two are not doing so well. The others I think are going to make it although I am disappointed by the response by DA Roses. I called and all I got was a voicemail. I called, in total, 5 times over a month before I finally got a human. I got two call backs, but it was weeks after my first call. Although they are currently replacing 3 of the roses, I have to admit I am suprised by the slow response. I have read the company's comments and if the main branch corporation cannot supply you with enough help during the busy season then they should not be surprised if they begin to lose customers. (I understand your dilemma, but this is not the way to cut costs so hopefully this will be corrected next year.) Quite frankly it is a shame because I had such good luck last year and I so very much love the roses!!!