The best rose I've grown for a large container is the thornless floribunda, 'Valentine'. Its only shortcoming is that it is not fragrant.

Randy

Valentine is on the right side of the below photo:{{gwi:51001}}

The "Sunsprite" is a yellow floribunda with a nice fragrance, a long blooming season, a shinny leaf with very little care required. The only negative is it does not make a good cut flower. Al

I have not grown them myself, but we grew Cecile Brunner in the ground, and it is supposed to adapt well to a container. It's disease-resistant and reblooms, a lovely pale pink little rose - my grandfather always wore one in his buttonhole. Another one is "Souvenir de la Malmaison", also a pale pink - I'm eager to grow that one in a container myself. It's SO beautiful! It reblooms as well, though it apparently has a tendency to mildew (I'm in North-Central California, and mildew seems not to be a big problem here - at least in our garden). These are both Old Roses, or Antique Roses as they call them on the GardenWeb.
Good luck!

I would highly recommend the Tea Hybrid. I call mine a raspberry rose, even though that is not the correct term. I bought mine 1.5 years ago and it has doubled in size. First of all, I would recommend a half wine barrel for the container. The rose will have more room to grow canes and expand. (I use the 1/4 wine barrel for lavender and herbs, but it is too shallow for roses). I have been rather successful with my rose in my wine barrel. The one I have, starts out light pink and a vanilla color, then the rims turn pink and eventually the pink works its way into the center. They are fragrant, but not as fragrant as other roses might be from a distance.

I usually have 4-6 buds or roses at any given time.

Here is a picture of mine.

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Randy - What a beauty! May I ask what is the name of the white one on the left?

Al - Being a good cutting flower is not so important. Our deck is outside the sliders of our dining room and kitchen and we look at the flowers all the time. "Very little care" sounds so good. Would love a good yellow rose.

Organic - Our neighbor has had an in-the-ground Cecile Brunner on the corner of her house for at least 20 years. It's Huge! Souvenir de la Malmaison is such a nostalgic name for a rose. And pink is always a temptation. We're on the Monterey Peninsula and hardly ever see mildew either.

Mangomoon - Your Tea Hybrid looks a lot like the Double Delight. Our DD also eventually turns pink. What is it about the wine barrel that you like? All my containers are terra cotta, extra large ones for the roses. I've been pleased with them, except that they are so heavy; can't move the roses without DH's help. Do you think the wood is better for the plants than clay?

Any more suggestions?
Sable

None of my four types of roses are recommended for containers or for Texas except Angel Face, a floribunda, (more lavender than pink and very fragrant and prolific), but all four have been doing well and disease-free in containers for over 2+ years in humid Texas climate. They may also work in your zone.

Christian Dior (a deep red magenta color), a Tea Hybrid, is also another favor of mine in color, fragrance, shape and duration of bloom. Angel Face and Christian Dior are keepers for me.

Chicago Peace and Peace come in peachy yellow, yellow, and other shades, but my Chicago Peace is slower growing with less roses per year than the other three cultivars.

Queen Elizabeth (soft pink), a Grandiflora, maybe a little too tall growing for containers, but it is pink (soft or light pink) in color with a lighter scent and pretty prolific. I was slightly disappointed with the form and shape of the rose, but you may like the form.

Regular use of seaweed emulsion seems to be the factor in keeping my roses from needing to be sprayed even in a humid climate - no use of chemicals or fungicides for over two years and on-going.

Oh, a weekly (during hot active-growing season) or a bi-weekly upward moderately forceful spray of water (and proper pruning for good air movement) will keep the roses free of pests and diseases by physical means and reduce the need to use chemicals hopefully.

In general, floribundas and polyanthas are good choices for containers because of their form. But I've also been pleased by the teas (true teas, not hybrid teas) and the lovely shape they take in containers. You can also grow climbers, if you have a railing or wall to give them support and your containers are large enough. Ohio Belle has done wonderfully for me, with clematis interplanted at the base; I'm looking at intertwined pink and purple blooms, right now. I also have Compassion (pink/peach,fragrant) and Sombreuil (creamy white, fragrant) in containers.

Look for reblooming roses that are antique, in terms of their heritage. They're generally more bulletproof in terms of vigor and disease, except for the extremely dark reds which can be mildew magnets.

Since space is limited, everything I put in containers has to be reblooming, fragrant, and/or a butterfly/bee/hummingbird magnet.

Enjoy your roses!

I'm glad this was brought up. I have all but given up on roses because of the J beetles. But I would love to grow a nice fragrant yellow one in a large container. The bugs don't seem to bother plants in my containers as much when I put them on my pavment. filix.

Sable: In answer to your question, I like, or shall say, love, wine barrels, primarily for the romance of it, or because it adds cottage chic to my yard. I am into cottage decor! Here in Southern /Central, the wine barrels are sought after, but they cost $50 at a fine nursery. I found a guy that salvages them and sells them on a street corner for $25 and will drill the holes for you while you wait. He is a landscaper as well, and he informed me that if you are going to put roses in a container, that the barrel is the best way. I love the floribunda and will have to buy one! Those can survive well in terra cotta.

I do use terra cotta and in fact have many sizes from small to medium, but I don't like the huge ones because they can break. I do mosaic, so because a nursery will charge you in excess of $80 for one mosaic pot, I learned to do it myself, only I keep them in the back yard to avoid theft, because they would be stolen if they were in the front yard.

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Continuing thanks for all the suggestions! DH and I are going to remove the large patio table and chairs, which we rarely use, and make room for some of these lovely roses. Two small chairs and a little table by the sliders will be enough, and then we can have our rose garden. Our deck is accessible only from our dining room and has very high stucco walls. It's mainly for my gardening and the cats' playground. It has several micro-climates and only half of it has enough sunshine for roses.

Mangomoon - I think that our Flower Girl is a florabunda. When it's in full bloom, it's awash in pink! So do try an FB.

I will have to think about wine barrels. The fact that roses do very well in them is a big plus. I have stayed with all terra cotta because 1) that's what's sold out here) and 2) our house is sort of Mediterranean in style and the t.c. and red tile roof just look good together. I haven't had a large t.c. pot break, but then ours stay in one place and aren't moved. Do you have pictures of your barrels and mosaics posted anywhere? When you talk about drilling the holes, are those the drainage hole on the bottom?

Newbieroselover - I envy you your climbers - would Love to have them. But we can't, because our two cats would climb them, especially if there were a trellis base. Once they've climbed them, they're atop the wall of the deck, on to the roof, then to the trees, and into the yard. These kitties must be indoors and deck only. So I had to arrange the deck so that there was nothing near the walls that would allow the cats to jump or climb out. Huge sigh.

Sable, the blush colored rose in the container on the left side of my photo is an old polyantha rose, 'Clotilde Soupert'. Although it has many fine characteristics, I didn't recommend it to you because mine had problems with thrips, mildew, & balling all during the spring. In the summer, it is a very fine container plant. I just couldn't bare to go through another spring with it, so I got rid of it. By comparison, 'Valentine' is good during all seasons.

FYI, the roses in my photo are in the "foam" type container. But I prefer the look of the true terra-cotta clay container that you said you use. I love the look of them as they age! If I lived in your zone 9 climate, I would use nothing but true terra-cotta because plants like growing in them and because they are casually elegant in appearance to me. Unfortunately, terra-cotta sometimes cracks here during our short winter plunges below freezing. So, I use mostly annuals in smaller terra-cotta containers here (14" to 16"), and bring them into the garage during our short winter freeze periods.

Randy

That's all I grow on my second floor apartment balcony is things in containers: palm tree, hibiscus, roses, English & French lavender and a collection of shade lovers (plain & rex begonias, alocaisas, african violets and a dendrobium orchid.)

Whew! Thatsa lotta pots...yes..there is still a place to sit and a path through...just barely! I use those plastic, cheapie nursery-style pots inside pretty clay pots or decorative fiberglass planters; just as long as they have good drainage--all good by me. Added bonus: the pot-inside-a-pot tactic provides moisture retension & root insulation in my hot Florida summers.

Roses--I have 4 floribundas: Angel Face (mauve & strongly fragrant,) Europeana (red & light fragrance,) Sunsprite (yellow & strongly fragrant,) and Our Lady of Guadalupe (pink & fragrant) is on the way.

As far as rose care--I've gone organic, so no icky chemical sprays (they didn't do much anyway!) By far the best care I've found is maintaing overall soil health. Repotting with fresh soil every 3 years with good grade soil (I like Jungle Power, sold by Lowes in these parts,) a good feeding program (I tend to forget, so do it every time I water,) using solid product like Mills Easy Feed (has micro-everything in it so no weird deficiencies) and regular attention. It goes without saying that lack of attention--ahem, water--is the greatest stressor and that invites disease with open arms.

It sounds like I work at it, but not really. A little bit by little bit, and it's all turned out wonderfully. Everything blooms & blooms...my DH teases that he is jealous of the TLC the plants get, but I remind him that he is first on the list, well..maybe after the cats are fed in the morning--ok, second on the list and well ahead of the plants.

Sable, I have a yellow tea rose in a big, plastic pot that looks like terra cotta unless you look real close and it's at least 3/4 the size of a wine barrel, if not a bit more. (I can't remember the name of the rose - sorry)--and I use a plastic pot so I can safely leave it out all winter as it's too big to store anywhere inside or even in the garage.) I have her all covered for winter, but if she doesn't look healthy in the spring, then she'll be tossed and replaced by another. I treat roses like annuals due to our harsh winters. If I do have to replace her, I'm going to get a Bonica Rose. I used to have one. It was the toughest, lowest upkeep, and prettiest rose I've ever grown. It's a shrub rose but the petals themselves look like a tea rose - pink and very beautiful! Apparently this rose is know for it's hardiness and ease of care. Anyway, every fall, I work compost and organic fertilizer into the potting soil around my potted rose -- that's about 2-3 weeks before I expect our first frost so it doesn't have time to make the rose put out new growth, but it's there when the plant starts to warm up in the spring. Later in the spring, if the rose is growing all right, I'll add "hanging" plants around the base, so they drape down over the pot. Last year I used deep blue, light blue and white petunias (with a yellow rose). It really looked nice. This year I want to try something different but haven't made up my mind yet.
MacThayer

I have been thinking about growing roses in pots...stumbled into this thread and I found all the answers I needed. Thanks to y'all!

There is a rose grower, Rogue Valley Roses, with a mouthwatering online catalog with lots of search options, including growing in pots. I've included a link to that page for you.
I've bought 3 of their roses, so far, that are all doing great in their pots & will be buying more! marea

Here is a link that might be useful: Roses good for growing in pots