If they were mine I would get them into the ground as soon as practicable (which for you may be April). We usually do all new planting in the Fall, so it can take advantage of the winter rains (of course, there weren't any this year, until 8 days ago). However, they will do much better in the ground than in pots over our hot summer, and the sooner they get into the ground the better, whether or not they are blooming. I would water them as much as your local water authority will let you during the Summer, but don't feed or prune them - just let them be to hopefully grow some roots.

Jackie

When I said I couldn't have the new bed ready until April,
this was a definite statement. There is no way it can be done until April.

I really need to know if I should plant my roses in April of wait until they stop doing their spring 'bloom thing'.

Thanks for answering,

andreark

Is there any way you can just keep them in pots until September? In my experience,here in Italy,it is just so vastly better to plant roses out in the fall;they really struggle in the heat and drought of summer. In September, even if it's still hot and dry, at least the days are not so terribly long,and the sun is not so high, though putting it off until October might be best.If it was me, if I had the possibility,I'd either leave them in their nursery pots for now,let them bloom, and then ,if they seem too crowded in their present pots, move them into slightly larger ones for the rest of the summer. You can keep the pots in part shade if necessary. Or else, if they seem really root-bound and already too crowded in their present nursery pots, you could cut off the flower buds and transplant them immediately into the larger pots. Then, when the days are shorter, cooler and hopefully wetter, you can plant them out in the garden...bart

Thanks for your answer Bart. I understand what you are saying. I guess I will have to try to plant them in larger pots for a while.

Thanks again,

andreark

It depends if you can provide them better with the water they need when in pots or in the ground during the summer. Be aware that if in pots they will most certainly need daily watering in a med climate's dry and hot summer. If you decide to keep them in pots for the summer just make sure they are not too pot bound otherwise you should pot them up. Some fertilization will be needed if kept in pots. One thing you might want to consider is that up-potting them and keeping them properly fertilized will be much costlier than planting them in the ground.
Nik

This post was edited by nikthegreek on Wed, Feb 12, 14 at 4:35

As for keeping them in those pots until April, no sweat. The nursery will still have them in those pots and be selling them until then I'm sure.

How long before you start getting really HOT? If it's going to be 6 to 8 weeks yet after that April planting I'd say plant them. They'll be much better off in the ground during high heat than in pots where they'll dry out much quicker. The ground is better insulation to cool the roots too. As long as you're careful to disturb the roots as little as possible when you transplant them they should not suffer much from shock at all. And with at least 6 weeks before the heat hits they should be well set up to deal with it when it does come.

Thank you Nik and Seil.

Seil, our hot weather doesn't start till around the beginning of jULY, so I will plant them in April.

Thanks a bunch again,

andreark

Andrea if the roses were bands or in small pots there might be a problem, but if they're already in 5-gallon pots I think they'll be sturdy enough to be acclimated to the heat if you plant them in April. When they're in the ground you can do a better job of watering and mulching to get them through the summer, whereas in the pots they'll be much more vulnerable to the heat.

Ingrid

Well, it seems I'm out-numbered! but I had a terrible disappointment planting out potted roses in my climate in spring. Maybe i didn't coddle them enough or something but last spring, since it wasn't too hot and dry, I tried planting out 12 potted plants from Barni:6 roses, 3 wisteria ,3 clematis.Only one of the wisteria survived, and 2 of the 3 clematis.Only 3 of the roses did decently; of the others, one died, one seems to be alive, though it's reduced to one short cane ,one I moved back into a pot and I don't know if it'll survive...so I would avoid trying to plant potted stuff out in the future in spring!