congratulations! Mutabilis is a beautiful rose. Most people pot up babies in a 1 gallon pot until they grow up enough that their roots fill the container & you can see them coming out the drain holes. A 1 gallon pot is a common nursery pot that is about 8" tall by about 6" wide.

Use good well-draining soil. Don't give the young plant granular fertilizer. You can water it daily & can use 1/2 strength liquid fertilizer once a week or so. Keep it in a place safe from deer or rabbits. Sun is good but usually a sheltered place with good sun in the morning & some shade during the hot afternoon is ideal.

When Mutabilis fills up its little pot with a strong ball of roots you can move it into a larger 5-galon pot (like nursery shrubs come in) or move it into its permanent place. Dig a large wide hole for it & plant it with good well-draining soil. Put plenty of mulch around it to protect from drying. Locate it in a sunny position & water well.

Mutabilis can grow up to be a huge shrub. Its blooms start out a very pale yellow & each day they blush pink more & more until the oldest blooms are a pure dark pink. A big plant will have flowers in all stages--very elegant. People call it "butterfly rose" because of its delicate open flowers that cover the bush like butterflies.

Enjoy.

P.S. This forum has lots of good info for any question. Here's a question similar to yours just down the page.

Here is a link that might be useful: How long do I keep baby roses potted?

Thanks, Bluegirl, for the general info. My 'baby' has a bud on it already! Now, can you give me any siteing info specific to mutabilis? I had one years ago and killed it, so...(*grin*)

You are at the low end of its cold tolerant range, so plant it somewhere where it gets plenty of sun, and some shelter (like on the South side of a building) from Winter wind. It will tolerate some shade, so don't worry if the best place only gets 4-5 hours of sun a day.

By the way, it HATES to be pruned (my MIL's "gardeners" pruned her lovely one hard, and it died back 95%, and took 6 years to recover), so don't let anyone tell you to prune it hard as if it was a hybrid tea. You can of course, take out any dead growth, and shape it lightly, but that's all.

Oh, put it somewhere where it can get at least 6 feet wide so that you are not always fighting it.

What bluegirl said about when it is in a pot is all correct.

Jackie