Without mentioning a brand name, there's a good plastic-adhesion type of spray paint available now in tons of colors. I like the bright blues, greens, and pinks myself and have used it to jazz up plastic stuff that I'd otherwise have thrown away.

A more expensive route are the spray paints that mimic stone. I've redone 5 pots and 2 industrial sized barrels with it. I buff the barrels up with a random orbital sander, cut them in half, drill holes in the bottom (with a hole saw) for drainage, and paint them. I used stencils from a local craft store to paint fleur-de-lis and grape vines on them.

I also use odds & ends of glass mosaic tile and glue them onto stuff with construction adhesive. I'm thinking the RO sander would be too heavy duty for your pots, but a little rubbing by hand with sandpaper would be sufficient to get paint to adhere permanently.

Peachymomo, are your pots grouped together in an area which might permit you to plant annuals, perennials or a short, inexpensive hedge (box wood, myrtis communis compacta) or something in front of them to disguise the pots? You could easily space them along a fence or group them in one area, then put some lower growing plants, including miniature roses, in front of them so the pots aren't as obvious from your views from the house or patio.

Your idea of putting the fencing around them will probably work, but it's also likely to be a big pain to do and maintain when you move the pots around. I'd be concerned with the paint coming off, oxidizing, etc. and looking shabby with time.

I understand your desire to mask the look of the cans, but how much are you likely to spend on this project? Being the cheapskate I am, I'd prefer to not spend anything I don't really need to, putting it toward maintenance of the roses or the landscaping project, instead, but that's just my take. Kim

Can you put the pots into the ground temporarily? This will keep the root systems cooler, in addition to hiding the pots.

Might be better to put up a temporary short fence and put the pots inside that, rather than decorating each pot separately.

Spray painting the pots might be a good idea as flaurabunda suggested. You can use large leaves as a kind of natural stencil and spray paint a leaf pattern on the pots.

A trick that is used for houseplants is to put the black plastic pot inside of a fancy looking pot.

Masking plain flower pots with prettier ones works, except in hotter climates where long periods of direct, hot sun are to be expected and you'd be using ceramic or clay pots. They heat up fast and very hot and bake the plastic pot inside. With the SoCal and desert South West sun values, that can severely damage or outright kill a rose in an afternoon on a severe day. Plus, it means buying many pots which have to be dealt with once the landscaping is finally completed. Kim

1. You could purchase an extra large pot, and just put the black pot inside it just to hide the colour.

2. Or you could just buy some long woods and make a planter out of it and place those pots inside it.

3. Some people even use bricks and make a hedge out of it.

Since your situation is temporary, I'll just leave those pots alone because pots are pretty expensive. I had to throw a couple of pots away when I had to move to a different house.

You've gotten some good suggestions.

My friend wrote an article (below) about an attractive way to disguise them which also protects the plant roots from the blistering summer sun in her climate:

Here is a link that might be useful: A way to hide those ugly black plastic pots

Paint, contact paper and I think I've seen Martha Stewart wrap them with sheets of bamboo or wicker mats. Get creative! The pot in pot thing also has the problem that if the outer pot doesn't have adequate drainage the rose will be sitting in too much water and could die. So if you go that route make sure the decorative pot your using has good drainage holes in it.

A whole lot of years ago when I first began propagating cuttings heavily, I would grow them on in one gallon cans. To prevent them from drying out or frying, I would group them together under one of the trees in the front yard, surround them with large rocks and fill inbetween them with horse manure, even inside the cans so I could easily water them, keep them fed, cool and moist. I never lost one, they all developed beautifully and none of the cans reared their ugly sides. I know you can't do that with five gallon and larger ones, but similar methods can be used if you don't want added expense and products you're going to either have to give or throw away after you're finished with them. The mulch idea should work well as it would keep down the weeds, improve your soil and keep the cans from overheating and prematurely drying out. Kim

I dig a hole and slide them in. Probably not in your clay soil, though!
Renee

I paint them with a dark greyish green latex paint and antique them lightly with very pale green color by mixing the green paint with white paint to resemble very old aged copper. Once the plants are in the pots and a few ornamental plants are around them they seem to disappear. I copied the color of a bought pot and was lucky enough to find a gallon of returned paint for a few dollars that was the right color after mixing a little black paint with it.

Also I make large holes in the bottom with a door knob drill bit attachment so some of the roots can go into the soil and yet they can be moved with no problems if need be.

Maybe I can take a picture to show the color if this method interests you. Roses in these pots made it through our triple digit temps last summer.

Good luck with whatever method you choose :-)

An idea ...

Here is a link that might be useful: Burlap covered pots ...

Thank you very much everyone, so many different solutions!

I have one spot that would be good for long planter boxes filled with mulch, and for the rest I like the idea of little mini planters built around them. Now I have a project to work on all winter long, :oP

Thanks again!