26 bare roots! :-) It's cheaper just dig 26 holes, save your $$ on potting soil and garden pots. Keep digging Nik......

Ditto.

Nah, can't do that. The soil needs amendment, digging is a major undertaking in my stony soil, some structures will need erection, older plants uprooting (which is the toughest job) and Nik's mind needs to be made up about what goes where. I'm the sort of person who buys now and plans later... The only excuse I have for that is that living over here I have no chance to see most of the roses in real before I buy them so giving them some time in a pot helps me study them. On top of that, many roses will face stiff competition where they are intented to go so giving them a year in a pot helps. Nursery pots are quite cheap, potting soil takes some of the space of where soil amendment would go anyhow..

John, right now I'm planting roses acquired in 2012 and 2013... Luckily I don't need to drag the pots in the garage, but I have to water them regularly for 10 months out of 12.... Do you also grow fig trees in pots? One doesn't have to grow them over here, they grow themselves pretty nicely into huge trees..

PS To get an idea of what I'm expecting look in this older thread ....

I'm getting all these plus a Banksia Lutea and a couple of old european once bloomers from a local nursery.

Lol...what gave you an idea I grow figs, Nik? ;) Yes, I grow lots and lots and lots of figs in pots. I have over 50+, of 35 or so varieties. And yes, they alllllllllllll have to go in the garage and my shop building, November through March-April.

I grow or have grown several of the plants on your lists, including Lady Banks. Alas, my winters are too cold for many that you're getting. By the way, I automatically hate anyone who can grow Belle Portugaise, lol. It's my all-time favorite rose, and I know better than to even try it here. If you've never grown it, you'll love Général Schablikine. And may I suggest....oops, you don't need any more suggestions.

John

John, remind me to post a pic of some of the fig trees in my plot. I promise you'll be jealeous. No way one could grow these ones in a pot..lol. You need two people to hug the whole trunk. On second thought, I won't. Because I like you..lol Honestly the idea of someone growing fig trees in pots is beyond my comprehension. But then, the same can be said for anyone growing plants in pots in climates not suitable for them. Many grow citrus in pots which I find funny also, but I admire their dedication. OK.. I too grow some plants in pots which wouldn't survive our mild winters if planted in the ground. Or the alkalinity. I think I should admire you for the perseverence. Fig trees in pots.. what will I hear of next.. Maybe that's not as difficult as growing citrus in pots since at least fig trees naturally go into winter dormancy so storing them away in the garage does not set them back too much. It just sounds funny because I've never seen a fig tree in a pot and I would never guess that one could grow them this way. Ok, I will post a pic or two from some of the fig orchards near where I live.

John, How big are your 50+ fig trees? Are they small as rose trees? I hope they aren't huge, your boss/wife is a saint to let you grow so many! :-) I grow 25 rose trees, 2 Ylang Ylang trees, 3 jasmine trees in pots, but they aren't big.........

Pleasant to meet so many fellow travelers here! We're waiting for rain so that we can dig holes in softer ground and not have to water quite so much once the plants are in place. I have several plants that I know where to put, though by no means all, of course. Am picking up bulbs at the plant show this weekend. Studying my shrub order. Planning on submitting an order for herbaceous peonies large enough to satisfy my lust for peonies for the rest of my life. We have a formidable number of holes to dig; on the other hand, we've already dug a good many holes, particularly for the massive rose order I haven't yet gotten around to making. So it's a normal fall rush.

I'm not a careful enough gardener to grow many plants in pots, beyond the necessary fiddling around with cuttings and plants to grow on before they go in the ground. However I do like Sansevierias. Mine came in yesterday. They lead rather miserable lives with me, neglected indoors for eight or nine months of the year, with only the summer outside where they get enough light, warmth, and nourishment to grow. I don't grow them well at all, but the ones that have so far survived my stepmotherly care do get a bit bigger as time passes, and give me a quiet enjoyment. I have other succulents that I enjoy as well. If I were serious about my pots, I would grow gingers and other lush subtropical types, but I'm not that diligent.

Yeah, I have trouble with pots, too: once the potting soil starts losing it's original "oomph" I can't keep up with fertilizing, etc. I also share Nik's problem of the dreadful soil that needs SO much work before it's good for roses,and the vice of ordering too many roses . I guess in part I'm always a bit worried that some given rose will wind up being unavailable in the future,or something...

Melissa & Bart, I wish I could send some rain over to Italy, so you can start digging. It has been raining for 2 days here by the Great Lakes in NY. Yes, there are a lot of work to take care of pots in my zone. I water mine almost everyday if it's not raining. The potted rose trees have to be stored in a garage during the winter months. A fewer year ago I had 45+ rose trees, I left them in a garden shed for winter, they were all dead in the spring. Starting over again 2 years ago with 23 KO rose trees for their bright colors, just added 2 more last month. The jasmine trees I picked up from a nursery 3-4 years ago, they have great fragrance. I move them indoors in Nov along with other jasmine plants. I don't have good luck with fig trees, killed 3 of them, they were indoor plants(rose tree size). I also have some tender roses in pots, they should be in a warmer zone......but they're so pretty and fragrant, people were talking about them on this forum, I just want to give them a try..... :-)

I have 4 Italian bikes (scooters), by any chance do you guys ride? :-)

Oh, Nik! I think you need an intervention! You need to slow down on ordering so you can catch up on digging holes, lol!

Seil, Nik needs to speed up on digging. :-) May be he is retired, in no hurry........

summersrhythm, you do have your work cut out for you! You make me realize how fortunate I am, in spite of droughty weather and (like Nik and Bart) soil that needs a great deal of work to be made friendly to roses, at least, the warm climate ones. The weather forecast has been changeable recently, and not trending positively, either, but today the prediction is for several drippy days, and perhaps enough water will come to make digging a reasonable proposition. We certainly need to get going. DH is planning on hiring a guy with a small digger to make holes, and if he comes the task will be filling and amending them, which I promise you is no small job.

We're strictly car and foot traffic here: it's too steep for bicycling if you're not an athlete, and I never learned to use a scooter or moped.

Oh dear, oh dear! I just got a call from the couriers to let me know they will be delivering the first of my orders tomorrow afternoon. This is from Trevor White. I missed the email they sent 5 days ago about my order having been dispatched so this catches me off guard. I haven't got the pots yet. I will have to go buy the pots first thing in the morning and I can see myself potting up bare roots into the night...

These are the roses I'm getting with this order

La Mortola, The Garland, Lamarque, Blush Noisette, cl. Paul Lede, Ballerina, Dortmund, Sanguinea, Nastarana, Souv. de Mme Leonie Viennot, SdLM...

And to think that since the weather cooled down, I have managed to plant into the ground just 5 of the roses I put into 'temporary' pots 1 or 2 years ago...

Panick mode on!

Courage, Nik! :-) What a nice lot of roses you will have, in the end.

..an exciting list of roses.... but potting them up shouldn't take too long and then the pressure is off for a while....that's how I look at it...

...then you can order another lot...

I'm expecting more any day now... About 30 in total..

Lol, those are pretty roses! Now you might need to start looking for a DH, or date someone for a day or two, to help you dig more holes. :-)

Talking of growing fig trees in pots . . .
It's not exactly that, but this in an old Sierra Foothills cemetery just struck my funny bone . . .

Did someone plant that fig tree over there? It will destroy the graves...

I love your plant selections. Your property is going to be even more gorgeous, if that is possible. I'll be in this boat in January so I better start to rest up. Too bad we can't be more help.

so, Nik, did your roses arrive on time and are they alright? busy potting up?...

I must say, Trevor White is very quick off the mark in sending them out... I've just got an email that mine have been despatched, and I only ordered a few weeks ago... just 3 in this batch... 'Mrs John Laing'...'Mme. Ernest Calvat' and 'Gloire de Ducher'....

...nothing as exotic as yours I'm afraid...fortunately I already have the holes prepared....as it's gone rather wet and mucky right now...

Yes, my Trevor White order arrived yesterday, which caught me on the hop rather, I can't plant mine till the weekend.

Finished potting them up today. I must say I have to create a place where I can pot up while standing up... my back hurts.. All plants looked well grown, some had traces of growth from some budeyes already (a week in the post when the weather is not cold will do this) and for a few I had to do a bit of root trimming to properly fit in the 5 gallon pots. Maybe I should have bought larger ones. Everytime I do this I keep promising to myself that the roses will be in the ground before they need up-potting but somehow I never manage.. Btw, Sanguinea had a little branch with hips on it, I thought that was cute.

PS. One funny thing I noticed was Trevor White's delivery document. The
list of roses consists of two columns one with the names and the other
with the year of introduction, with the headings 'Product' and
'Model'... Hello, do you carry 'La Mortola'? Yes sir, indeed we do, but
I'm afraid we only have the 1954 model available..

Glad you potted them all, a lot of pots and potting soil...... not a cheap job. Biker girl power! :-) You might see them in bloom once before the winter since it's much warmer over there. Go ride your motorcycle for 100 miles, it would help your back. :-)

Summers, unless we have an unusually cold winter the bareroots will start growing immediately and continue to grow into spring. I don't expect to see much blooming on some of them for more than a year though due to their particular nature. I believe the Garland blooms on old wood so it's very uncertain I see any blooms on it until the spring of 2017.. I believe the others are not 'old wooders' but many of them are climbers. I'm fairly sure I will soon see blooms on Sanguinea if all goes well. It cost me about 5 dollars per plant to pot them up.. I'm not at all sure riding the bike helps...