OMG!

Are all those roses going to stay in pots?
Are they miniature rose bushes?

I get excited when I see roses in pots. I only have 6 roses so far and 4 are in pots.
(new here *grin*)..

Yeah! I knew you wouldn't be too far behind me Seil :) My pots came out about 2 weeks ago, and its looks like I only lost Mlle de Sombrieul...not too bad for my first winter!

Yes, Daisy, those are all roses permanently in pots and no, they are not all miniatures. They are a variety of all classes, Climbers, OGRs, HTs, Flories, Shrubs, Miniatures and my tree rose. I've grown them all in pots. Besides that I'm down this year to 32 pots from 65 last year! This is my 6th year of wintering roses in pots here and I've rarely lost any of my pot roses. I lose more in the ground every year than the pots.

Sorry to hear about your MdS, Tammy. Was is on the outer edge of your winter protection. When I have lost a potted one it's usually on the front west corner where the prevailing winds hit all winter. I've learned to add extra leaves around that corner for more protection.

Thanks for those pics, Seil. The leaves do a good job keeping the soil moist. I dumped lots of leaves on my tomato garden, I checked the soil under today: really wet. It's more wet that the soil under bark mulch. I like leaves since I can collect at least 20 bags from neighbors for free in the fall.

Hi Seil,

Of all your roses in pots which ones surprised you the most by doing really well?

I take my hat off to our rose friends growing in cold weather. You really have to love what you're doing to go to that much hassle!

Thanks
Lee

Thanks, Strawberry. Yes, the leaves do hold a lot of moisture. That was one of the reasons I wanted to get them out of there. Because of the high temps and all that wet I was starting to worry about them getting cankers.

Thank you, Lee. I'm not sure there were any really big surprises other than that they were all so far leafed out already even under the leaves. Usually that growth is white and weak but not this year. Even the growth at the bottom looks green and good. And many of them had full on open leaves at the top already! I'm always delighted when the HTs do so well because some of them are only rated to zone 7. I hate it most when I lose a mini because they're all own root and I expect them to come back even if they die to the soil. But I've found that in the pots they can sometimes be more tender and need to be further back in the packing to keep them warmer.

Time to clean up, prune and get a good look at what is on the way.

Yep, Ken, I did the new bed today. Ugh! 6 hours of pulling leaves off and weeding. How come the weeds under the mulch are green as grass but the new growth on the roses that was under the mulch is white as snow? It ain't fair!

Congratulations on pulling all those pots through the winter, Seil! They look terrific. I just bit the bullet (or thorn) myself this week, and took some days off work to do all the pruning. I figured since they're fully leafed out already, nothing I do is going to slow them down, so I might as well clear the way before spring planting begins. Here's hoping for some nice sun in MI to brighten up that whitish new growth on your roses, and you'll forget all about those pesky weeds!

top potting, Seil. Yep, it is a labour of....well I was going to say love but not sure that really illustrates the endless humping of cans, hoses and fertiliser. I have a pot garden too and really welcome our seasons because by September, I have had enough and never want to see another watering can again - for a coupla months at least.
Your house and surrounding area look awfully familiar to me - kinda like a little outpost of flat east anglian fens.
Still, onwards and upwards.

Wow! Impressive amount of labor to tend all of those guys--I'm glad to hear they all made it through the winter well. I'm desperate to get things into the ground in spring so that I can put them on the watering system and not have any more work to do here

Thanks, Nipp! I need to clean off the pots and prune them all now. Things have cooled down here to more normal so it should be nice to work outside.

Thank you, Campanula. I know exactly what you mean about needing that winter break. Along about September I'm getting really tired of the routine myself. I'm surprised you think it looks familiar but then I've never been to merry old England and wouldn't really know. To me it just looks like very suburban, USA.

Thanks, stlgal, I don't have a watering system for any of my beds other than soaker hoses. I'm the watering system! The path to the one bed is under 30 feet or more of concrete driveway and the other is too far out. I have a hard time even getting enough pressure with the hose. I need to redo all the soakers this year and that's going to be a big job!

Hi,

We've had record warm temps. in MN for 2 weeks, so I dug up my potted roses. It might be strange, but I didn't know what to do with my potted roses, so I buried them pot and all. Well, a few of them had to overwinter in my basement since I ran out of time, space and energy.

Anyway, the temps. are going down. Last night the low was suppose to be 40, but when I checked this morning it was 34. At what temp. should I bring the potted roses in?

Thank you,
Kitty

You don't need to worry unless it's going to go down under about 28 degrees for a long period of time. A light frost might burn some of the leaves but it won't kill the rose.

Thank you. I'm so glad you saw my question. I was about to haul my plants in for the night. I will take your advice and hope the weather man isn't WAY off.

Thanks,
Kitty

Seil, I think I lost Mlle de Sombrieul because I watered her too much. She had a built in drip tray (now removed from the pot) and I think I almost killed Symphony too...but that one seems to be comeing back. ohwell, lesson learned!

My other lesson I learned is that while my ordering may have been fun over the winter, it is KILLING me now! I think my biggest mistake was all the bareroots. At least with the pots, I can just keep watering them, and get them in the ground when I have time. This past week, I rec'd both my Hortico & David Austin orders (10 roses total), and had to get them in the ground this weekend while having strep throat and a cold! God forbid, I should let them soak in a bucket too long and go to waste...that's love!

Good for you Seil. They'll be leafing out and blooming soon.

A beautiful collection of potted roses, Seil, that's good to hear that they did so well.