Hi. No, wire does not work long-term. The little b*stards eventually get through it.

POTS: BIGGEST POTS YOU CAN GET. We have used mostly 15-G, but wish we had more 20-G.

Take a drill, with a 3/4-on bit, and make enough holes to look like Swiss cheese.

Do you have the "Sustainable Rose Garden" book? An article, with photos, is in that book.
OR, I can send it to you as a PDF. It needs to go on the Gold Coast HRG site, and I'll see to that, next week.

Then, it's a matter of digging the hole big enough for the pot, with some ammended soil underneath. Our "native soil" barely grows cactus, so we plant always in a mix of potting soils.

Jeri

Here is a link that might be useful: BOOK

When I lived in FL I grew 3/4 of my roses in pots in the ground. 25,20,15 gal pots. I put all the pots on 6' centers so I had room to move around the garden. I used either Walmart's "Expert potting soil" (orange bags) or Low's "Jungle growth". Which ever one was cheepest. Always added a bunch of extra drain holes.

Or if you don't want to dig a hole (in my yard its next to impossible because you run into limestone about an inch or two down) you can paint big nursery pots a grey green color, drill big holes in the bottom for good drainage and so the roots can go out, and set them on top of the ground. I use a door knob hole attachment on the drill. With a few companion plants around the pots pretty much disappear. Since I have the rock problem at least I don't have a critter problem, but there is no way I can dig holes for all the roses I have although I have a few in raised beds. This has worked great for me for quite a few years. A few of the pots that show are 'pretty' pots. My pots aren't all that large either, some are 7 1/2 gal, others 10 to 15 gal. I have a few containers that are 20 to 25 gal. for the larger roses.

Here's a photo from last summer when the companion plants were pretty sparse because of the drought, but I was able to keep the roses moist since they were contained.
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I recently discovered that I can buy washing machine tubs at used appliance stores for $5.00. I don't grow roses in them, but they could be used for that purpose. I have seven of them in total and they allow me to grow a lot of plants for which I couldn't otherwise provide moist growing conditions. The tubs come in white and grey.
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So if you want to have a garden in difficult soils there are many ways to do it.

There are quite a few pictures of my 'pot garden' posted on the Texas Gallery. Or if you are ever in San Antonio you are invited to drop by.

Here is a link that might be useful: Most of the roses you see here are in pots ...

When I grow roses in pots in the ground I do not use potting soil, but instead the local soil of that area amended with compost. Potting soil is created for drainage and light weight. The weight is not an issue if you are burying the pots in the ground. And after I add 50 or 60 drainage holes, I can't believe that drainage is an issue either.

Potting soil is not intended for permanent plantings, a year being the expected life span of this medium. I learned that in a soils class at a local horticultural program.

I do use a special soil mix for my blueberries, native soil very heavily amended with peat, fine bark nuggets, and some added sulfur. This is because my native soil is too alkaline for blueberries, so they are a special case.

However, most of my roses are planted in gopher baskets, not nursery pots. Gopher wire has smaller openings than chicken wire. Gophers have no problem passing right through the openings in chicken wire. I have never lost a rose planted in a gopher basket. The roses I lose are those that I planted in the days before the gophers showed up. The first few years I gardened here, the gopher population was much smaller and they stayed away from our garden. I have no idea what caused the population explosion, but now they are a fact of life.

Rosefolly

We learned early on that in OUR area, the "local soil" was the Kiss Of Death for almost all plants. Y'all in NoCal have far better soil than we have down here.

As to gopher population explosion -- they reproduce like RABBITS. Worse. And I think they will "move in" to an area where there is water, and there are growing things whose roots they can eat.

Jeri