When we first planted the gardens at Florida Southern, our plants were all on 'Dr. Huey' roots, since we didn't yet have virus-free 'Fortuniana'. So we put all of the plants in 20-gallon pots, submerged in the garden soil, as a protectant against nematodes. That was 17 years ago, and I think we still have 2 or 3 plants in the pots. They grew well,and may have been somewhat dwarfed -- not sure of that.

The great disadvantage of the pots is that you have to be very sure they get watered regularly. A big plant in a (relatively) small pot for the size of the plant will need very frequent irrigation.

Bare-rooted roses received by garden centers here often have roots pruned back at potting time. This surely dwarfs the tops, especially since they were already bare-rooted (fine feeder roots all gone) but vigorous kinds still have enough horsepower to make comparatively long canes that get in the way if plants do not sell early in season.

Thank you both for the info.

I had not thought of burying the pots. A small swamp borders our property and the whole neighbor hood drains into it via our yard. Our Florida sand feels sodden for days after a rain. Perhaps that will help with the watering situation.

I think I will try the "roses in pots" solution to holding back the size of the teas until my "sun" options change. One tree is diseased and I am limbing up several more. Things are improving.

Where there is a will, there will be roses.

Beware of drowning roots.

And, eventually, you will probably have to remove them from the pots and root-prune them.
Sounds like way too much work to me, but YMMV.

Jeri