Just how deep is it? Maybe it would be okay for a mixture of miniature roses and annuals.

If I could offer a suggestion......

Pick a rose that will do OK living in something like a 5gal container -- a small Polyantha, or a Miniature. Plop it into the wheelbarrow just as you have the pot in the pic, keeping it in the pot. Maybe poke a few more drainage holes along the sides of the pot, close to the bottom. Fill the wheelbarrow with potting soil, and plant annuals around the potted rose. If you live where Winters are too severe to leave potted roses outside, do what you must -- keep it in the garage, bury it in the ground, whatever. And plant a new annual scheme in it every Spring, letting your creative side go wild.

:-)

~Christopher

What a cute idea. Here's someone who left the flowers in their pots. But I also imagine soil in the wheelbarrow and other plants as Christopher suggested. Maybe some dichondra silver falls spilling over the edge. It's nice that your wheelbarrow already has the drainage holes.

I absolutely love your wheelbarrow, and I love your idea, I just worry that the wheelbarrow isn't deep enough for roses of any kind to thrive in. I would also worry about how hot it would get in the sun, the roots of a large shrub might have a hard time with that. If this was my wheelbarrow I would probably fill it with more shallow rooted perennials, maybe a fun mixture of plants like those really well done planters you see with trailing vines coming out the sides, you know "thriller, filler, spiller" & all that. Sweet potato vine is a gorgeous neon green vine that would be amazing up against that blue, it is an annual in my zone & almost every spring I have it trailing out of a container somewhere!

Jessica.

Any pot sitting in the wheel barrow is going to have a high center of gravity. Thus even a slight wind could topple the whole thing over. Sooooooo, my suggestion is to cut a hole (you did say the wheel barrow is old, right?) such that you can lower the pot down to the level you want the rose to be. Paint everything up neat and pretty. Then fill the wheel barrow with dirt up to the top of the pot. Anyone seeing the pot sticking down below the wheel barrow is going to understand it’s being used as a decoration. If they don’t then you may want to limit their visits….

To cut the hole just mark a big X centered where you want the pot to be. Using a saw cut the two lines, then bend the 4 pieces downward.

Toolbelt68, you crack me up!!!!

Thank you all for the suggestions and input. After much debate, I knew deep down inside a rose wouldn't survive in there and although it's what I want rather have gorgeous plants.

So here's what I did. Alyssum, dalhberg daisies, and black supertunia black mamba

Oh Carol those are beautiful!!!!!!!! Lobelias, I'll have to remember that!
Elce

That is adorable and will make a nice colorful foil for your roses. You could also experiment with seeds next year. Allysum is super easy to grow and self-seeds!

I love them all and wish I had a spare old wheelbarrow. Great ideas. Diane

Thanks emrogers - it took me a few years before I found what looked really nice. Snapdragons was one thing I tried - blech.

Carol