found the edit button

This post was edited by silverrowan on Tue, Mar 4, 14 at 14:13

If I were you, I would have gardenia :-)

This post was edited by jujujojo on Tue, Mar 4, 14 at 15:24

Does that smell like a rose? There's some nostalgia reasons for wanting roses.

What makes you recommend the gardenia?

Thank you

Posted by silverrowan Toronto%3A 5US/6aCan (My Page) on Wed, Mar 5, 14 at 12:11

The fragrance is wafting and much stronger than any rose. The profile of the scent is also extremely good.

hello silverrowen, yes there are a number of roses that are fragrant,here is a few that come to mind.
winter magic
pacesetter
sweet arlene
overnight scentsation
peach delight
grace seward
sweet chariot
This is just a few, but there are many more. what i would do is learn how to take care of roses first. the roses section in this forum is a fantastic place to start. ask questions and search topics related to rose care.you can ask me anything also i will do my best to help.
roses are fanastic plants that will reward you 10 fold if there needs are met.and i agree, while the gardenia is a wonderful plant in its self it is not a rose. good luck

Thanks for chiming in! I haven't found many beginner or container culture threads in the rose forum--is there something specific I should be searching for to help me find novice info?

Hello silverrowen, Well the questions you need to ask are. . .

What is needed to take care of roses and plants in general.
They need light, water, food and soil.
1) light: roses need lots of sunlight at least 6 hours of full sunlight
2) water: roses in the ground need about an inch of water a week, container roses are a bit trickier. First take the saucer off of the bottom of the pot, because the roots don't like to sit in water. During the heat of the summer they need to be watered probably once a day, when it is really hot above 90 degrees maybe twice a day. Never let the pot dry out. The cooler the weather is you can go 2 or 3 days between watering. What I do is give the plant a good deep watering and don't water until the top of the soil feels dry to the touch, but the leaves are not drooping, if the leaves droop the plant is to dry.
3) food: this is easy just buy an all purpose plant food and follow the directions on the package. I usually halve the portions with pot culture. Do not feed the plant unless it is actively growing. Food is not medicine for a plant, it wont help if the plant is sick or dying. It will do the opposite, it will further sicken the plant. So only use food when the plant is healthy and happily growing.
4) soil: this is easy, just buy whatever is on sale in the store, just be aware that many bagged soils already contain fertilizer so don't feed the plant for a few months. usually it is 3 months, but check the bag that you purchased.
And lastly, roses grow there flowers in cycles, so to encourage growth after each cycle of flowers the plant may need a little pruning. this is healthy for a rose.
At the base of every leave there is a bud eye, that is were new stems start. If you are worried about pruning just let the plant tell you were to prune. This is what you do, after the flower has died watch that stem and look for new growth at the base of a leave. That is were a stem is starting to grow, and that is were you would prune. many cases new stems are growing even while the plant still has a flower at the end of the stem. you can leave the stem alone and let all these stems grow. for every stem there is a flower or flowers on the end. just take off the flowers as they die
I hope I didn't confuse you too much, but this is the basics.
if you have any questions let me know.

Bob

Not at all--and most of that is pretty similar to other containerized plants. Good to know the pruning is supposed to be fairly continuous, and that drooping is too dry for roses. Re: soils, do Roses not generally do as well in the 511 mixes popular in the container forum?
Thankfully, one of the selling points of my place was the southeast facing balcony, even if it is tiny, so I have light!

Thank you

I grow a lot of roses in pots, both large and miniature, and they do quite well. In your zone you will need to consider how you will winterize them though. And roses HATE to be indoors! If you have a garage you can let them go dormant and put them in there for the winter. Otherwise you will have to find some way to winterize them on the balcony. If you bring them inside chances are they will not live to the next spring. Where ever you decide to winterize them you have to remember to give them some water each month through the winter. Drying out is the biggest cause for roses to die in the winter. You don't have to give them a lot, they're dormant, but they will need a little water once a month until spring.

Bob's advice is good but I want to caution you that when buying soil for containers be sure it is potting soil and not garden or top soil which is too heavy/dense and will not drain properly. Roses like about an inch of water per week but they do not like to have their roots sitting in water so the soil needs to drain freely. That's also why you want to take any saucers off the bottoms of the pots. I like to put mine up on pot trolleys so they will drain well. It also helps protect the surface of your deck and if they're wheeled makes them easier to move around.