Use a good quality potting mix rather than a made up recipe.

I'm not familiar with the products you mentioned, but they sound more like soil amendments than potting mix, which are two different things entirely. A container is a much different environment for roots than the soil in the ground. More richness is not necessarily better.

Hi Hrose, I would not use that much manure, only use 1/4 portions. The rest equal parts should be fine. My potted ingredents consist of, 4 parts potting soil, 4 parts bagged garden soil, 2 parts peat, 1 part bagged humus, 1 part perlite, 1/4 part bone meal. I know it is a bit over the top. It is a recipe that I slowly developed over the years and is what I finally settled on, and the potted roses love it. Make sure you have plenty of drainage holes on the bottom and dont use a saucer. Give the rose plenty of sun and water and dont expect tons of flowers at first. When good growth begins to happen start feeding with bottled fish fertilizer every couple weeks. Hope this helps bob.

I grew almost ALL my prize winning HT's in large pots when I lived in SE FL. (almost all of my other roses also). I like Bobbyb 123's except I used 1/2 good potting soil. No bagged garden soil. My roses grew like a weed and pumped out tons of beautiful blooms. Feed them with a good organic food.

wow thanks for the quick reply's

I agree with hoovb "More richness is not necessarily better."
i burnt all 7 of my in ground roses last summer because of too much fertilizer although they recovered about a month after (probabaly because they were in ground if they were in a pot i'm sure they wouldnt make it) and were very healthy for the rest of the summer

thanks Bob i will try my recipe and see what happens i will skip the fish fertilizer though the rose soil i;m going to use already has humus and peat i think(is bone meal a fertilizer?)i will update in May or June

Thanks again

"My roses grew like a weed and pumped out tons of beautiful blooms" that sounds very good my friend

i really hope thats how my rose plant turns out Whats a good organic food? bone meal? the roses i buy from the store already will be fertilized with tons of buds and some blooms is it a good idea to fertilizer it still? i'm afraid if i feed it anything even a rich soil will be too much and cause burnt leaves

what do you recommend for a good potting soil? Miracle-gro garden soil?

Thanks in advance

Hi hrose, Bottled fish fertilizer is organic food, trust me roses love it. Just make sure the plant is actively growing and follow the directions on the bottle. Bone meal is a soil admendment, it is ground animal bone. It is exellent for strong root development. Your new rose will need strong root development before it will push itself for flower development. It all starts under ground first.
you are concerened about using to much fertilizer and causing burnt leaves this is the problem with manure only 1/4 portions. but in reality you dont even need it. I use miracle gro potting soil and garden soil

Hi Ken-n.ga.mts's I almost didnt use bagged garden soil because when I first opened the bag this stuff was soggy black and heavy, but then I saw earth worms inside so I decided to try it. in the end after every thing was mixed up I had this light fluffy black soil that freely drained, which I did not expect. Been using it ever since

alright thank you very much for all the help

this is my recipe now miracle grow potting soil,cow manure,bone meal,peat moss,perlite and hummus the hummus comes mixed with soil and i dont think i need the rose soil anymore

"Rich in humus; black loamy texture gives a finishing touch to flowerbeds, hedges and trees
Enhances every ornamental garden arrangement
Made with decomposed black peat humus
100% natural and disease free
25 L bag"

I will update with pictures in May or June

I'm pretty curious about the potted rose thing, too. I want to try a tender rose, so I'm really curious to know how your potted rose turns out, esp after the winter. Maybe what I need is a free resin pot to get me motivated.

Hi Grandmothers rose, Growing roses in pots works great, it offers greater flexability than plants in the ground. You can control how much sun the roses get due to mobility. Its great for controlling blackspot/ mildew or if a particuler plant needs afternoon shade. The only thing I find harder is watering, you have to be on top of watering in hot weather. I find myself watering a couple times a day during 95/100 degree days, which can be challenge if there is a lot of pots to look after, Otherwise the care is the same as in the ground.

This post's soil info is really helpful. I also plan to plant a rose in a container. I may increase the size of the container over time, but it will remain in a container. I need help in deciding whether to go with a "Knock out rose" which was descibed as a shrub/landscape rosa- or -DA's "Darcey Bussell" which vender describes as container compatable. The Knock out is described as being easy care, disease resistant, something that attracted me. But how do you keep a shrub controlled and happy in a pot? The Darcy Bussell is descibed as having a "habit" which is container compatable, but can find no information on its disease hardiness. Can someone help me?

Hello Glo407, Im sorry I cannot be of more help but I only grow mini's and minifloras in pots. As far as keeping roses that size in pots I imagine it can be done, but the pots will need to be quite large, probably 15 or 20 gallon but im really not sure. As far as controlling a rose they are pretty forgiving as far as pruning goes. Keeping it happy, well you will need to replace the soil every couple of years to keep the plant happy.
Knock out roses are marketed as being more care free than other types, I dont have any so I cant say. David Austins "Darcy Bussell" sorry once again, I cant help. But here is the link from Helpmefind.com that may help.

http://www.helpmefind.com/gardening/l.php?l=2.41083&tab=1

I've grown large OGRs, climbers and I have 20 or 30 HTs in big pots now and they do just fine. Good quality potting soil and good drainage are the key things you need.

Any good, light weight potting soil will work fine. It just needs to drain very well. If you use too muck heavy additives it will retain water, get soggy and the roses will not thrive. And you'll know it because the pots will begin to stink!

I have a number of 18 to 24 inch pots with full size HTs in them and it takes them a good 5 years before they need to be potted up or root pruned. If the pots only have one hole in the center drill a few more around the bottom for better drainage. I put some packing peanuts in the bottom (instead of stones, it's lighter) and line the inside of the pots with bubble wrap to insulate the roots and also to keep the pots from cracking over winter. Then fill the pot 1/4 way up with soil place the rose and then fill the rest to about 2 inches from the top. On the top put a good quality fine particle mulch to help the pot retain moisture.

Get the pots up off the ground with some kind of pot feet or a pot trolley, preferably with 4 wheels, the 3 wheelers are tippy. Do not use the trays that come on the pots. They inhibit drainage and your rose roots will rot. Take the trays off and use the feet or trolley to keep the bottom up off the ground to allow water to drain out.

Glo, forget the Knock Out and go with Darcy Bussell. You don't say where you live but in my neck of the woods (Det. MI) KOs black spot just like all the rest of my roses and are not care free. You still have to prune, feed an water them like all the rest. So if you're going to do the work at least get something lovely and fragrant like that Darcy! I think you'll be much happier with it.

Really?! Thanks, seil, I actually have the bubble wrap (I love to pop 'em). And I can easily have the rest by rose planting time.

Glo407 - I vote for something, anything besides a Knock Out. If you want ideas on other roses, try searching "disease resistant" or "black spot resistant" there at the bottom of the forum. When you want to see what the roses look like, open another page(?) and go to "Help Me Find Roses." You can search that site for info on every rose.

Here is a link that might be useful: Help Me Find roses

I am new to roses and I just love them. I was wondering I have never put them in pots, what type of pots are you using, clay, ceramic, plastic, metal??? Sorry if I sound stupid.

Thanks everyone for your advise. This rose will be a big jump for me - the beginner. By the way, I live in So. New Jersey. I'm so excited I can barely type this. I've ordered the own-root, bareroot "Darcy Bussell" rose. I'm starting with a 20" dia. pot that's about 18-19" tall along with the wheeled-trolley to elevate it. I have bags labeled as container soil which I plan to mix with MGro potting mix and pine bark fines. I'm hoping this will give me a light, airy soil. I've read some posts on the garden forum that suggest a "Grit Mix" which includes "Turface" as a formula for a light soil. Would this "Mix" be better for my rose than the soil I plan to use?

Yes, Grandmother's rose, for real!

Willylynn, I prefer the foam type pots because they are the lightest weight, they hold up to the elements the longest and they provide some insulatin for the root ball but plastic ones are fine too. Eventually the plastic ones will crack from UV exposure though. I do have a few metal ones but they're a little heavier and are getting old and starting to rust some so eventually I'll have to replace them. I do not recommend ceramic, pottery or terra cotta pots. They will crack (as in disintegrate) the first winter and they're just too heavy when you fill them with wet potting soil and a 4 or 5 foot tall rose. They're also very bad for controling moisture. Every one thinks they would be good because they retain moisture. And they do! Which is the problem because the pot will actually suck the water out of the soil away from the rose roots. You have what appears to be a damp pot on the outside with a rose that is dying of thirst on the inside!

Glo, you don't need any kind of fancy mix of potting soil. Any good quality commercial potting soil will work just fine. I use the Stay-Green brand from Lowes because it's the cheapest. It doesn't matter if it has fertilizer or moisture crystals in it either. I've used them all and the roses grew just fine in all of them. And with roses even if the soil has fertilizer in it you're still going to have to feed them during the season. Expecially in pots! Because of the mechanics of pots and how roses like a lot of water but very good drainage you end up washing out a lot of fertilizer. So you have to compensate by feeding potted roses a little more frequently than you would ground planted roses. In the spring when the roses start to wake up and after I have pruned, April for me, I feed all the roses with a scratched in slow release type fertilizer like Osmocote (or what's on sale). After that I feed my ground planted roses about every 6 or 8 weeks with something, Miracle Grow, Spray n Grow or what ever is on sale when I need it. The potted ones get fed about once a month. All of these are water soluble foliar feeds and sometimes a soil drench. The first part of August I may scratch in another slow release if I get to it.

I would (and do myself) use those pine bark fines as a top dress/mulch on the tops of the pots. It will help with water retension.

Come August when you all are ready to start thinking about how to winterize those potted roses post the question and I'll let you know how I've kept my 30+ (at one time 60) potted roses outside all winter.

Seil, you're a tease! I'm gonna hold you to that winterizing promise!

Mega thanks to Seil and Grandmothers_rose. Your advise is leading me down the right path. I've already purchased soil, pine bark fines and liquid fish fertilizer. I have to get popcorns and a mesh to cover the bottom of pot. I'm sitting by the front door waiting for the delivery guy and my rose.

willylynn-I'm a beginner also. I'll be using a large plastic pot because that's the type I have on hand. I live in an apartment and cannot take plants inside. This year, for my perennials, I have purchased smaller pots (15" dia. and on sale) made of a heavy-duty UV protected resin which manufacturer says allows them to remain outside all year. I've seen larger pots made of this material, but found they can be a bit pricey for me. When I use these resin pots, as well as the plastic one, I will still wrap them for winter protection.

seil-I've never heard of "foam pots" mentioned in your post of Jan 25. Pots of this type of material sounds extremely light weight and just the type needed for an apartment balcony garden. How do they hold up to your Michigan winters? I've lived in Michigan and now in So New Jersey so I know your winters tend to be harsher than mine. Do you bring them indoors? If not, how do you protect the pots so the weather doesn't destroy them? Where do you get them? Can you tell more about them?

Glo, I don't know the exact term for the pots, maybe it is resin. I call them foam pots because they are thick walled and look and feel like sytrofoam. And yes, they are very light wieght but they are also very sturdy. So no, I don't bring them inside. Besides they're full of roses and roses HATE being inside! I have some that are on their 6th winter out there and they still look great! A lot of them at first glance look like real pottery until you go to pick them up and realise they're fake, lol. The dense thick walls really help to insulate the root ball of the rose too. But even so I still add the bubble wrap inside for extra insulation. I have a couple of dents and scratches in places because they got banged around going in and out of the winter pot storage but the nice thing is they don't ever seem to crack like the plastic ones can if you bang something into them. They usually are more expensive than the plastic ones but they do hold up better and last longer.

One tip for everyone on pots. No matter where you put them, even if you think you'll never, ever have to move them, you usually do for some reason or another. Look for pots that have some kind of grip to them, a heavy rim or something you can hold on to if you have to pick it up and move it. Last spring Al found these huge gorgeous gray faux granite double walled plastic pots at Costco for what was really a steal for a pot of that size and quality. He bought me 3 of them, bless his heart! They are very sleek and modern looking and I really like them. The problem is that once I planted roses in them I realised the sides are completely smooth, no ridges, rim or lip on them. I couldn't get enough grip on them to even lift them up 2 inches to get them onto the pot trolleys! He says he thinks he can add some handles to them but I'm afraid that will destroy the integrity of the pots so I'm not sure I want him too. The biggest thing I've learned is that any pot gets incredibly heavy and unwieldly once it's filled with soil (and watered too) and planted with a rose. So you have to plan ahead for all contingencies. I use one of those hand trucks/dolly things all the time to move them and the wheeled pot trolleys really help too. Just thought I'd share some of the things I learned the hard way over 6 years and as many as 60 roses in pots to save you all some trouble.

This is a great thread with a lot of good advice. I thought I would mention a couple of things based on my experience of growing roses in containers in two climates.

There are a lot of right ways to grow roses and over time you will probably get some conflicting information. Use what works for you and forget the rest.

I avoid any potting soil that has fertilizer mixed in with it. At the processing plant, the fertilizer is often not mixed in evenly and you could end up with a bag of soil that has too much fertilizer and will end up burning the new feeder roots.

I also do not fertilize the roses until I see new growth on the plant. No matter how careful you are when you plant your rose, you will break off some of the feeder roots and the rose needs to grow new feeder roots, which are very tender and susceptible to fertilizer burn. btw ... these are the same roots that pull moisture up into the plant, so you may need to water more often until you see the new growth.

Once you see the new growth, you know all systems in the plant are working. Then you can fertilize and the plant can utilize the nutrients you are supplying. I prefer to use a diluted strength of liquid fertilizer more often for my container plants because the roots are in a confined environment.

I have also noticed that spider mites tend to attack my container roses sooner than they do for the roses in the ground. So plan on washing your plants, especially the undersides of the leaves, at least once a week.

Good luck with your roses.

Smiles,
Lyn

All good advice, Lyn, thanks! I very much agree with washing the roses. I know you all have probably been told not to get the leaves wet but a good hosing off with a hard spray from the bottom up is a good way to control both insects and diseases. I wash my roses once a week all season and since starting this have seen very few aphids, no mites at all and have had less black spot as well.

Ooops ! I forgot to add the most important piece of advice anyone with any experience in growing roses should pass along to someone who is beginning their rose life ... ENJOY your roses !

It's something I often have to remind myself when I am hot and tired from digging rose holes, or any other rose task. I stop and look and enjoy. That makes it all worth while.

Smiles,
Lyn

I'm new at growing roses in containers, but I've grown many other plants in containers outdoors. I grew a couple floribundas in Smart Pots using a pine bark based mix last summer. The mix was the 5-1-1 mix discussed on the container forum. There is an academic study comparing a typical peat-based mix to a predominately pine bark based mix for Knockout roses in plastic pots vs. fabric pots on the website for Smart Pots that some of you might find interesting. The fabric pots with bark mix did significantly better. Follow the menu to academic studies to read it.

Here is a link that might be useful: About fabric pots

Glo,-
Your post had me smiling.......and your enthusiasm is contagious, lol! You may be waiting a long time, if you plan to sit by the door and wait for Darcy Bussel to arrive in January. I share your impatience, though. I've considered moving some of my potted roses into the house, so that they break dormancy sooner and perhaps by the last frost I'll have roses! [one advantage to having some roses in pots!] The pots are quite large and clumsy, however, and my husband and boys would need to be "conned" into helping me......hmmmm, "lemon meringue pie, anyone.....oh, ahem, first I need help with something......"
I think you'll do great, and you made a wise choice. Knockouts are for those places where we rush by at 60 mph, not for enjoying up close. Darcy Bussel has much prettier blooms. One product I really like for roses is Garden Safe's neem product. Just don't spray when bees are active, wait until evening. Great for aphids, black spot, and it's systemic, so it will go through the entire plant. Organic, so you aren't harming your environment. Best when used early in the season, as a preventative, although still effective when disease or insects are present. You just need to be persistent. [I even enjoy organically grown rose petals in salad, so that's important to me!] Darcy Bussel is not the fussiest of roses, so you may not have need for worry in your zone.
Best wishes!

"Knockouts are for those places where we rush by at 60 mph, not for enjoying up close."

Posy, you hit the nail on the head!

Thanks for the advice Seil. Are you using a 15 in diameter pot or bigger? This may sound stupid but if they are made of what you think is Styrofoam could one use a cooler??

I don't think they're the same kind of foam as the coolers. Those styrofoam coolers are pretty flimsy and I don't think they'd hold up very well at all. Besides they aren't very good looking.

I have pots anywhere from 12 to 24 inches in diameeter and height and I plant them according to the supposed mature size of the roses. But then the roses can't read and don't always know how big they're supposed to be and often surprise me. I'm always having to change them around because this one didn't get anywhere near as big as I thought and that one got WAY bigger! Some springs it's like a Chinese fire drill with pots around here, lol!

willylynn,
You may have something there......I wonder whether an old cooler could be used for a "pot", if it leaks anyway, [like one of mine] and some extra holes are added to the bottom. My son made an attractive rectangular planter for me last summer out of cedar that I put a confederate jasmine into; perhaps my old cooler could be "disguised" that way. Might work well for insulating the roots??
We've got winter weather coming this weekend and I'm so excited about trying some of these ideas! .......can't plant roses, but we can build a planter.....or two or three.....

Well there is only one way to find out, and that is to try it. All you would have to do is decorate the thing. See if it works, I might try it. Another question, what would you plant near it to keep pests away, you know flies, mosquitoes, Japanese beetles, etc?

disaster!... :( follow link for pictures

http://s840.photobucket.com/albums/zz322/amon_03/

miracle grow potting soil,peat moss,perlite,humus,soil,clay soil,compost half the pot i filled with miracle grow and the other half a mix of all the other stuff

the new growth is kinda white almost like fungus but its not fungus i planted the rose into the pot about two weeks ago its not too late to pull it back out but i want to know what i did wrong ???? BOB???...anyone??

After all the great advice, I put two roses in pots yesterday (Saturday). I planted Duchesse de Brabant because I though the nodding blooms would be closer to my nose in a pot, AND she is hardy to z5; and The McCartney Rose because she is NOT hardy in my zone and I want to see if I can keep her alive over the winter - Seil, I'll be wanting that winterizing advice in a few months. I'll be putting them on my screened in porch during January and early February. Unfortunately, I forgot to line the 20 gallon double walled resin pots from Costco with the bubble wrap. If the consequence is the pot cracks in 3 - 4 years, I can live with that. If the consequence is the roses are stressed out more and die I'll dump out the soil and line the pots with the bubble wrap. So, what is the most likely consequence in z6?

I'm in the DC area and leave roses in "foam" pots outside over winter -- I place the pots against the foundation of the house near the dryer vent and forget about them until spring. Yes, I'm a bad egg! If we get a hard winter one of these years, my potted roses will suffer. But so far my sloth has been rewarded and the roses look great.

Don't worry about the bubble wrap. It's not worth upsetting the roses for. At some point down the road if the pots split you can do it then and/or eventually all potted roses need to be root pruned and repotted in fresh soil so you can do it then too.

I'm looking forward to seeing some pictures of those beauties in bloom!

Not sure how cold you get, cecily, but I wish I didn't have to do more to mine than that, lol!

Whew! Glad I don't have to go back and add the bubble wrap. Hopefully, the scare will stay with me so I remember to add it the next time.

I am hopeful they will survive on the covered deck. I put a thermometer out there last winter and the area 3' from the house stayed a consistent 10 degrees warmer than the outside temps. If it works for cecily maybe it will work for me, too. If my roses die, oh horror! I'll have to buy more.

Curious - what is all that stuff posted by monsterbeats and why is it on the *Roses* Forum?

The deck should work a lot like putting them in the shed or garage. You do want to wrap them some, though, to protect them from wind.

monster is a spammer.

Ah. He should at least have the decency to spam us with garden related items!! But I see someone has already enforced civilized behavior and deleted his message. THANK YOU!

Ack! I'm edging into winter protection advice area. I'll save that question for a post a little later in the season.

SO, how is everyone's roses doing? I just moved into my new house so I haven't been able to do anything. Did any one try the Styrofoam coolers yet? How did you get rid of mosquitoes, flies, beetles?

Mine have been in the pots for 3 weeks and are just putting out a new leaf or two, just like the ones I planted in the ground. We had 6 inches, yes, 6 measured inches of rain in 2 hours yesterday during a once in a lifetime thunder storm. Evidently the pots have good drainage, because they are not any heavier than they were yesterday morning. Yea! One thing done right.

A friend 15 minutes away didn't even get a drop of rain.

I used miracle grow moisture control with a 2 quart bag of perlite mixed in. I believe next time I'll use something else. Maybe the mix in the black bags from a local nursery . . . It might be my imagination, but I don't see any improvement in my regular potted plants with the moisture control, so next year I'm using the regular miracle grow or whatever that mix is in the black bag. It IS pricy, though.

I just discovered this thread on potted roses and read it from beginning to end. I'm pleased to see that it is still active.

I live in Tulsa and about three years ago found myself using a wheelchair. I have always loved roses and have a large deck across the back of my house with an open pergola across one end. Last year I decided that I could take care of some roses if I put them in pots and placed them on the perimeter of my deck. I put 12 varieties of rose in 22 inch resin pots and filled in the sides and bottom with Miracle-Gro potting mix. They transplanted well. The winter was mild and everything came through with no damage. We had an early spring and I pruned them back and fed them with some slow release granules. They all seem to be doing OK and are blooming nicely,

PROS: I like the resin pots. They are made for Better Homes and Gardens and sold by Walmart. They are light, flexible, durable, attractive and look like glazed pottery. They are on 4 wheel coasters and move easily on the wood deck.

Having them around the perimeter of the deck makes access very easy for pruning the dead heads and general fussing with them. I have never had the patience to wrestle with a thorny rose and keep it clean and I am surprised by how much dead-heading seems to be encouraging repeat blooming. I applied a liquid fertilizer about 4 weeks ago and have sprayed for insect control and for black spot. So far we are doing pretty well. I am watering with one of those long gentle rain wands. One lap around the perimeter of the deck and I'm done.

CONS: For some reason I am having a problem with blackspot. All these roses are supposed to be resistant to blackspot but the lower leaves keep turning yellow and falling off. I pull off the yellow leaves and in a day or so they are back again. I have sprayed with Bayer all purpose and with a copper solution and neither seems to do much. I should say that the foliage above the yellow leaves is shiny, green, and healthy.

I am not sure that I am feeding and watering them properly. The soil will dry faster in a pot than if it is in the ground and water runs through and no doubt carries some nutrient with it. In the ground excess water and nutrient remains near the roots. I am getting better at judging the right amount of water to avoid flooding the pot.

Please excuse this long entry If you have any suggestions I would appreciate your sharing them.

Why not try and put a tray under the pot so the nutrients won't wash away then you can put the soil back in. What are you using for the black spot? What are you using to get rid of mosquitoes and other insects, natural or chemical?