It is much more difficult to grow plants in pots than in the ground. The relationship between soil/moisture/fertilizer is tricky to maintain month after month. However, I'm all about experimenting and learning from success or failure.

Any rose you like (probably not a climber) can be grown in a pot. The bigger the pot, the easier for you. I personally wouldn't spend a lot of money on my first experiment. Get a good pot but a $10 rose (if it dies) is no big thing. Get a good soil-less potting mix with water crystals.

I had very good luck with a small Austin that had weak canes. They were very pliable and easy to peg down so they draped gracefully over the edge of the pot. A regular HT will be very upright and awkward looking in a pot.

Learn how to feel the soil for moisture or get a meter. Be prepared to check soil moisture and water daily if necessary. Use fertilizer exactly as recommend on the label. Start with a morning sun location if possible.

I got a nice big pot at Wal Mart for $20 last week. It is about 24' and nearly 2ft tall. Nice muted sage green with a big drainage hole on the bottom. That is up here of course and I know even WalMart can differ from one place to the next. But it may be a good place to start looking for a decent pot at an affordable price. It has an Austin in it (Radio Times). The pink blooms should look really nice against the green pot.

I agree too that you should get the largest pot you can or at least 5 gal and good potting soil.

The secret for growing good roses or any plants in pot is to maintain good drainage while not letting the soil dry out too quickly. Water crystals help, but even better is when you use a water catching plate (shallow dish) underneath the pot, then you donÂt need water crystals. I found the terracotta color dish in light foaming material at Lowes. Water just enough and stop when you see the water leaks out and fills up the plate. If the soil in the pot is not yet saturated, it will reabsorb the water from the plate. Even when you see standing water in the plate, donÂt worry, this will serve as a reservoir for the next day or so. Practically, there will be no nutrients run-off from the soil due to watering as everything is reabsorbed back into the soil, assuming you donÂt have lots of overflow from the plate, and the soil moisture is maintained more evenly. When you no longer see water in the plate, wait for about 2 days and water the pot again. The firmness of the leaves and blooms will also tell you when the plant needs water.

Without the catching plate, water tends to run off the drainage holes very quickly and lost when you water, especially when the soil has dried out too much, and the much of the soil inside the pot is still dry.

Put a light layer of mulch on top. Liquid fertilizer or granules can be used just as you would for roses in the ground. Voila, place the whole thing under the sun, sit back and enjoy your roses.

Dear spiritual gardener, you can be really
successful at growing roses in containers. I grow
most of my roses in pots. I have the opposite problem
you have. I have sandy soil, since I live next to the
sea. Just make sure they get as much sun as possible and
get watered well. Make sure there is good drainage too.
Oh, and use as large a container as you can. I use those
24 by 24 lighweight ones that look like fancy terra-cotta pots.
My roses are doing terrific!!!

I grow all 40 of my roses in pots and have for years, and it's not that hard. The keys are having big enough pots so that the plants don't get too root-bound, sticking with varieties that won't outgrow the space, making sure the plants are well-drained and in good quality soil, and of course Water Water Water. I water daily during our long summer. It's a quick routine and it makes all the difference.
Unlike roseleaf, I would NEVER use a tray under a rose. It works for roseleaf, but it means you have to watch like a hawk to be careful not to overwater. I don't have time to monitor that closely. Rose roots die quickly if they stay in standing water. Even a couple of days can do it. If your drainage is very good, it's hard to over-water roses.

One last thing: if you have a choice, use own-root roses for pots rather than grafted. Rootstocks tend to sprawl, especially Dr. Huey, the dominent roostock in the West. Own-root roses vary, but in general they tend to be happier in a confined space of a pot than do their grafted counterparts. If I can't find a rose variety on its own roots, I'll buy the grafted and figure on replacing it with a rooted cutting after 3 years or so.
Mike

I grow lots of roses--including climbers--in pots, very successfully. In fact, I prefer growing in pots. Large pot, good soilless mix, more frequent feeding and watering. I love my container roses. If one croaks, there's no "hole" in a bed. Just pot up another one. Easy to move around. I honestly find them easier to care for--you don't have to bend over as far to work on them and when you get to my age that's a good thing, LOL. PLUS--and this is a real plus for me because of limited space--they don't get as large in containers as they do in the ground. Just make sure that the rose you put in a pot is 2 zones hardier than your zone. For example, you--and I--need to container grow roses that are hardy to at least zone 5.

Barbara

I had the same reservation as Mike about placing a tray underneath. But when I thought about the ownroot bare roots from Spring Valley Roses that I submerged from 3 days to a week with no ill effect before planting, I decided to give it a try. And they havenÂt failed me. The roots that reach the bottom of the pot are likely big anchor roots and they can take water well, while most feeder roots that are more sensitive to waterlog are found near top of soil. The water level in the dish is actually only about under 1" at most when in full capacity, minus the part volume of the pot that is submerged, so thatÂs not a lot of water at all, and the rose will use it fast. And the best part is you can not really over water it because anymore water coming out the drainage holes will overflow out of the [already full] tray. But I donÂt want to over water it as I mentioned earlier because I donÂt want nutrients run-off. I actually found out that when IÂve used the trays, I donÂt have to water as often as when I didnÂt use them, and the roses grow better too.

So Mike, if you havenÂt tried the tray, give it a shot. If it failed on you, ah well, stay your course :)

I have several roses in pots.I have a huge knockout rose in a huge pot,the kind that nurseries plant trees in for sale,and its been in this pot 4 yrs now and doing greatI also have the 4th of July climber in the same size pot,and its in its 2nd year in this pot and doing great,but I haven't let it climb.Trying to keep it as a big bush,but tis growing so fast I may change my mind on it and place it some where,where I can put some thing to climb on.I have iton a cement slab in the side yard right now.I also have a Color Magic in a 24inch pot,Belinda's Dream tree in a 24 inch pot,and a George Burns in a big pot,all of these been in the pots for 4 or 5 yrs,doing great. I almost killed my Color Magic because I had the saucer under the pot,and after I realized I had left it on the pot,I turned the pot on its side and pulled the tray off,then in a weeks time my bush was fine and growing great again.I also have 2 miniture climbers in 24inch pots thats doing great.Just have to water every day in summertime.

Jean

I learned a long time ago never to put a saucer under anything that wasn't a bog plant. It didn't work for me but if you buy a good meter you might be able to test the soil often enough to have success. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the soil/water/fertilizer ratio is the difficult part to maintain. Once you have a 'feel' for that it isn't hard to grow anything in a pot (if you enjoy watering everyday).

I'm getting rid of my potted roses because frankly, I'm tired of taking care of them. They require daily care and monitoring and I'm just way too busy to keep up with that.

I garden in clay soil and it is the very best soil for growing roses. Unless I had some kind of unfixable drainage issue, I would reconsider growing them in the ground. JMHO

I'd never put a saucer under a pot. I've never had to water every day, even in the middle of summer. I always check the soil before watering. If it needs it it gets water, if not, it doesn't. I love my potted roses!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Barbara

I grow 90% of my roses in pots. Large roses(ht's, climberts, florabundas, shrubs, OGR's and mini-floras) in 25 gal. nursery pots. Minis in 10 gal. pots. I use Wal Marts Expert Soil and and put a light layer of pine bark mulch in the bottom of eash pot before planting any new roses. Fill the pot half full of soil and wet it down REAL good. Finish filling and plant my rose and water in good again. Put a layer of mulch on top, sit back and enjoy my roses. I grow about 100 roses this way. Works real good for me. I also exhibit my roses in my spare time, so they have to look pretty good. I have found everything is much easier to take care of with my roses in pots. I have vertually no problem with invading roots, grass or weeds. And the way I have done my garden doesn't look tacky. My wife posted some pictures of our house and part of the garden on Zillow.com. She went fishing to see if she could get any nibbles. Address; 644 SW Violet Ave. Port St. Lucie, FL 34983. Any way, pots work for me VERY well and I can walk around in my garden in my bare feet.

Plugging at the drainage holes is the cause of dead plants, and it happens with or w/o a catching dish. Have any of you observed that all potting plants grown indoors  in office buildings, your homes, sunrooms, etc. that need a saucer underneath mainly to prevent the water making a mess on the floor? For outdoor pots, itÂs certainly not necessary, esp. for very large pot in the size of half whisky barrel, but you get other benefits of a saucer if you use it. IÂve done it many years indoor and outdoor without any problem.

What is the consensus on pot size? My ortho book says 15-25 gallons so that is the size I bought. Basically the biggest Walmart carries for about $25.

I would think anything smaller would be a temporary pot causing you to have to purchase another and another as it grows.

Great thread btw....

Just a suggestion for anyone who wants to plant anything in a container: there is a perfectly wonderful forum on this very website called "Container Gardening." Anything you want to know will be there, whether for roses or any other plant.