It is not time to plant roses here is Green Country 

Set down if you are not already setting because I have something to tell you that may take you by surprise.  Are you ready?  OK, here goes.  We are right smack dab in the middle of winter.  Don't be fooled by the weather the last several weeks.  It is going to get cold and we will most likely have snow, single digit temps, ice or all the above before winter is over in mid March.  I do not care who has rose bushes for sale now.  Unless you have an uncontrollable urge to dig a hole in your yard, you are just wasting time, and money. 

 As I always do, I bought some roses at a local box store a couple of weeks ago to see what they were selling.  I can not tell my readers what is there by what I saw in years past so I spend a few dollars each Spring to test the offerings. 

I spent several minutes going through the selection of roses stacked there on the bench.  There were no quality grade 1 roses in the offering and most would grade out to be culled. The roses had just got in the store so although they were inside the warm store they had not broken dormancy or at least it wasn't evident. I picked only roses that did not have any or little new growth.  All were covered with wax.  I took the bushes home and begin to unwrap them.  In most cases the sawdust and paper in the bags was dry and the roots were dead or dying. We got some great photos of them but they are not available to me at this time. No matter how the top looks, if the roots are dead the rose will not survive.  I had to trim off a lot of dead root.  Sometimes the root was dead within 2 inches of the main can of the plant.  I trimmed the tops of the plant down to match the roots and potted the roses.  Next month I will give you an update on the progress of these plants.  After two weeks they have grown very little.  Some have a few swollen buds and a couple have a leaf set.  They are all in the greenhouse and while these have not grown I have some liners within a couple of feet that have grown 6 inches in the same amount of time.