Yes, you may brag. (LOL) You have done a great job with those roses!
I like the added touch of the stones on top!
Does this serve a purpose or is it just for looks?

JIM

Congratulations, particentral. You done well! And you get the "rosemanitarian" award for 2009.

We all get absurdly proud when our little roses begin growing and performing, don't we! LOL

Love the way you alternated those pots.

Kate

Thanks guys! The rocks are river rock and I used it instead of mulch to help keep the soil from drying out so much and to make watering less messy. I could have used mulch, but thought rocks looked better. It's easy enough to amend the soil with the rocks there as well, so they serve a purpose and look good in the process.

As for the alternated pots, I have a bit of OCD. LOL When they were just out along the walkway it drove me crazy. I spent a few hours trying to figure out which ones could go together and then making sure the pots were right as well....those pots are HEAVY btw! Especially since I had watered them the day before I decided I couldn't take it any more!

I realized the other day I spent WAY more on pots than I did on roses......I have 32 roses in pots currently....and that concerns me slightly. I rent that property, so I wanted to keep the HT's in a manner I could take them ith me easily if I have to relocate. Some of them we had put in the ground had to be potted to keep them alive because they were not happy in the soil. In pots they went crazy. We put a table and chairs set in the middle of that area to eat lunch at. We sit there and eat and enjoy the flowers. Couldn't do that at home cause I am never there!

I'm in the same boat. I planted 7 austins in 20" containers and the pots all costs me more than the roses. Other than that, I like how I can move the roses around and control the soil conditions. I also am renting and will probably be relocating back and forth, so these roses may be in these pots for quite some time unless I take cuttings from them and just go from there. I am putting 5 more austins in containers next spring haha. I see what you mean about your roses being sick as well. My Abe Darby and and Bishop's Castle looked putrid and were covered in blackspot when I purchased them, but they bounced back instantaneously in my yard and have come back vibrantly just like your beauties have.

particentral

Great job with your roses, they look great. Do not worry about keeping roses in containers. I have about 40 roses in pots from minis to medium size shrub roses in pots because of tree roots in the back yard and and condo regulations in the front yard. And don't worry about the price of the pots, you will get real good at finding large pots at a good price (check out Big Lots in early spring).

GREAT looking roses and you've done excellent job in getting your rose off to a great start. I too grow alot of roses in pots and I kind of like doing it that way. You see when I set on the front porch I can always have roses that are in bloom in front of me.
Harold

rosesnpots, the pots DID come from Big Lots! LOL They are literally a block down the road from my shop.

I like that I can control the soil and water in the pots better than the ground. Thanks again!

I like the way you alternated the pots, and I like the look of the river rock on top. I LOVE your roses! They look happy. :) Isn't it a fabulous feeling to nurture something back to health?

Great job, Particentral. Hope you get tons more bragging to do. I lost Mommachelle's likewise wonderful rescue photos (forgot to send her my compliments), so hope she will see this reply.

What she did was a before and after progress photos. Those are so fun to see.

For us organics people though, rose recovery can be swift, but blackspot is a slower process to get rid of. Nevertheless, I get sooooo happy when I start seeing brand new leaves come out clean and BS free. For us it is waiting for the bad leaves to fall off (or get removed) and the plenitude of fresh fat new leaves to emerge. I always rely on that magical Gardenville mix to do its job at having tons of new growth to make up for any loss of leaves. It just goes to show that you can still have a very vital rose in spite of temporary struggles.

Here is the same Sexy Rexy today....it is really growing something fierce. I had to apologize to my hubby for telling him he was wasting his money.....LOL I know it the same rose becaue een though I have two SR's this is the only one in a blue pot. In fact its the only blue pot I have.....

VERY rewarding!
{{gwi:336371}}

particentral

That is funny. It goes to show, we can always find a good bargin. So it will be interesting to see what type of pots they (Big Lots) offer in the spring.

Way to go girl, they look great. I've always wanted Sexy Rexy, pretty rose, great name. A word of warning, once bitten by the rose bug it grabs you hard, especially when you go on this forum. For further addiction be sure to visit the rose gallery forum. I love Big Lots, great stuff cheap.
Nancy

congrats! it must be validating to have success so soon! Good luck!