At least they are still in business.

I use to buy from them all the time. Then they sold and the prices went sky high. I'm on a fairly tight budget, so they got to rich for my blood.

ARE is also.rating theirs again.

I see that Madame Anisette is in stock, but at $54. Nice quality but yikkes

Last year I emailed Andrew at Northland Rosarium to request Madame Anisette since the previous owner of the nursery had offered MA a few years back. I haven't seen it on their website yet but I bet she will pop up at some point . Andrew kindly got a Rouge Royale for me. Even when the chances are slim I'm learning to ask.

I also have found that asking is the best way to get roses that do not appear to be available, and also I have had great luck just picking up the phone and calling.

Jackie

Wow. Their prices are already pretty high. I guess they'll keep boosting them until people refuse to pay that much. ($65 for an Austin is absurd, I feel. I could get a big nursery pot Austin in full bloom at one of my local garden centers for $60. Not that I'd pay even pay that much, but still). @berrypiez6b, I hear you! The only clothing I buy with any regularity is running shoes, which you kind of have to replace every 6 months or so if you don't want to kill your knees. But then, I'm lucky enough to work mostly at home, and I have enough "nice" clothing for when I have to do in person professional stuff. Now if I can only remember that I must, MUST get changed before I set foot in the garden in these clothes! (Can't tell you how many I've ruined thinking "oh, I'll just prop up that one branch before I head into the city ....")

I would pay the price if Heirloom had a rose that I simply had to have, but when there are other places we can patronize such as Burling, ARE, Rogue Valley and others, why bother? I just put in an order at ARE for the rose Quicksilver and another at Rogue Valley Roses for Madame Bovary and Guinevere, and am happy that I can help these worthy places to carry on, in my own small way. They'll be shipped at the end of September and in the meanwhile I'll have that delicious anticipation of how they will beautify my garden and my life.

I suspect that some of the pattern of raising prices particularly on the Austins may come at least partially from policies by Austin itself. Given their marketing strategies, I wouldn't put it past Austin to keep raising their base prices to other vendors so that buying directly from David Austin Roses is cheaper and they get to keep more of the profits.

I agree that Heirloom prices are high but when roses go on clearance there can be some nice roses for $20-25 including shipping that I order. I only add other roses to the clearance ones if they're only at Heirloom (like if they ever restock Relais & Chateau).

Cynthia

I posted about this as well. Austins were $54 in Summer 2021. Then they were $60 in summer 2022. Now they are $65 in summer 2023. This is outrageous pricing when many of the same roses can be purchased from David Austin for $35 and are also own root--not all, but a LOT of them. I am flabbergasted that they have increased by 20%.

I only hope that they are paying their employees a living wage with a generous benefits package that covers their medical, dental, vision. A retirement contribution wouldn't be a bad idea either. I'd pay these new prices if I knew that their employees were well taken care of.

I paid $115.77 for Remember Me and Amazing Grace from Heirloom a month ago. I really only wanted Remember Me, but I added Amazing Grace to get free shipping. Not sure if that math added up, but they sent me two healthy roses that are already growing nicely.

I think my RU order was 102 for two really wonderful scarce roses - Heaven on Earth and Versigny. My average rose purchases over the last year are running right around 50 apiece give or take a few dollars. When I see how much people are paying for annuals and plain green bushes and trees, that makes roses a bargain.

I recieved Desiree from Heirloom a few weeks ago. It is their own rose so they were the only place to find it so they kind of had me. But it is a nice big rose that has bloomed non stop so while I'm not thrilled with the prices , I am happy with my expensive rose.

Oh god. Yes Yes! I meant 20%. What a day!

I agree the prices are high but they have a lot of roses you can’t find elsewhere, which does take a lot of greenhouse space. And they are on the west coast so the shipping is cheap compared to some east coast nurseries that wanted $65 to ship one rose.

Robert, that’s a good point about their employees so I got curious and looked. It looks like they offer full medical/dental for their gardeners even. I appreciate an employee that takes care of its employees and pays them a living wage. Here’s a cached copy of a recent job posting:

Medical/dental/vision benefits from Providence Health are provided on the first day of employment!
Our most affordable plan, yet generous plan, is only $100 a month for an individual employee. Heirloom Roses pays the majority of the monthly cost.
Generous 401k plan matching with eligibility on the first day of the quarter after start date.
Physical therapist on-site each week to provide stretching exercises for employees, develop new ways of working, limit repetitive movements to avoid injury and assess individual employee concerns.
Paid time off of 40 hours the first year, based on the number of hours worked each pay period, up to 80 hours.
Free company-wide lunch each month, including celebrations and fun events.
Free eggs on a rotating basis from our free-range chickens.
Free rose on Mother's Day for each employee, including shipping.
Free Heirloom branded items including hoodies and hats for sun protection and winter cold, cooling towels during the hot summer days, cold drinks for any day the temperature is above 90 degrees, and more.
Employee discount of 50% for any item we sell on our website.
Gorgeous location and free flowers during the summer month when our roses are in bloom.

Still can’t afford them personally but really happy to see they are taking care of their employees!

Wow that is really impressive !! I wish I was young and could work there...

Amara, want to get a job ?

@Ryan Coastal LA Zone 10bthat's a great benefits list for sure, but they don't give their employees free DA roses? Sigh. Hahaha just kidding. And as much as I am surprised by their rate hikes, they are certainly not alone. My Cheerios went from $3.99 for the large box in 2020 to $6.59 in 2023. Price hikes seem to be everywhere.

I keep forgetting the price isn’t including shipping. They are usually well developed roses and I think I’ve only lost ones that I was pushing it on hardiness with. I’ve probably spent more on fledgling roses that didn’t ultimately make it through the winter.