Benjamin Britten. A three years old in the pot. Showing good growth.

LEH, three years old. A very weak bush that is still surviving. It blooms well though.

Summer Song, just sprouted a few leaves.

Spirit of Freedom.... 2 years old in the pot and doing great

In her second year, Augusta Luise.

My Black Prince is over 10 years old, in the pot. It has a thick stem.

Condesa de Sastago, 2 years old and doing great.

Chippendale, 2 years old, in the pot

Just sprouting. 2 years old Double Delight.

2nd year in the pot. Graham Thomas doing well.

In 2nd year, Jubilee Celebration

St. Swithun, 2nd Year in pot

Just Joey, 2nd year in pot

Liv Tyler, 2nd year in pot

Sheila's Perfume

Westerland, own root, in 2nd year

There are many many more but may be I am getting a bit lazy in taking pics.

This is a great post Anna. I am so delighted to see your roses in pots and what a good selection of roses you have. Would love to see them blooming. Please keep posting these wonderful pics.

I see that you are using wood chips as mulch. What wood they are? I used to mulch my roses with wood chip few years back but in my area, it encouraged termite in roses that were planted in ground. But I didn't try the same in pots. How has been your experience of using an upper layer of wood chips in Zone 10?

Secondly, how has been your experience with plastic pots in such a hot climate? In my area, roses do better in terracotta pots as compared to plastic pots though plastic pots are more convenient to handle. During monsoon when it rains a lot in my area, roses in plastic pots are in trouble and unless one ensures very good drainage, many of them die in plastic pots during monsoon and many develop various fungal diseases.

best regards

This is a fantastic thread that I'll be following, thank you!

Khalid I have been using wood chips since last year. I have never noticed termites I only had a problem with thrips last year-August- October ( but it is very commen in my area plus my pots are on top of the concrete patio floor) . The bark I use is Scotts Earthgro Color Advantage Brown Mulch is a natural forest product. The wood used can include pine, fir, cedar, cypress, etc.

The wood chips are definitely helping with keeping the moisture level longer and protecting the top feeder roots from drying from the high temperatures.

I chose the plastic pots since they are convenient to move and I fell they are holding the moisture longer. We had lots of rain for the last 2 months. I haven't noticed overly damp soil or rooting. Maybe because I use super light soil - EB stone Rose Grow soil for pots . My all pots have 1" drainage holes on the sides and bottom ( total around 20) and they all are elevated.

I will definitely keep posting the progress :)

P. S. Straw where are you? I hope all is good.

Anna, do you think that the cedar is keeping away the termites? I've got pine over all of mine and as a newbie, didn't even think about potential termites!

Anna, lavenderlace; In past few years I experienced that if termite is common in the area than anything woody will attract termite. I used pine bark as mulch and it did attract lot of termite. My wife had put a couple of old tree stumps as part of her decorative setting and they attracted termite big time. Now I am very careful not to leave any dead wood in the area. But this was in ground. I haven't seen any case of termite in the pots so far and therefore, wood chips may be used. There is no doubt they help in retaining moisture in top soil.

Another problem that I faced last to last year when I used lot of pine bark on the top in my pots was fungus attacks. Pine bark is acidic but I am not sure about the other trees that you have mentioned.

best regards

Lavenderla- I am a newbie too. I have no idea. I have never experienced termites on the plants.

Me neither, hope it stays that way!

Khalid, I am using a mixture of pots this year so can report back. I'm expecting the stone to do better but if I don't see any difference, the plastic is much cheaper and they have some that look bronze that I like. I couldn't survive without dollies as they are all way too heavy though!

Anna, lavenderlace: Absolutely agree with you that plastic pots are most convenient to handle. Terracotta pots are heavy and delicate, however, in my extreme hot weather where temps touch 115*F and stay in the range of 105 to 110 for quite some time, I observed that plastic pots get too hot. Terracotta pots have sort of air conditioning effect due to the air circulation that they are capable of doing. More importantly, in Islamabad we have a monsoon season in July and August when it rains a lot. Unless extraordinary measures are taken to ensure good drainage, plastic pots don't do well in monsoon in my area.

So last year, slowly I converted from plastic to terracotta pots. But I must admit that I have to do my homework well while placing the terracotta pots. It's a nightmare to move terracotta pots and in Islamabad one can't place a pot at a place and then forget about it. They have to be moved in extreme weather conditions and it is too tough to do that. But on comparative basis, growth is much better in terracotta pots in my area.

In the meanwhile, few photos of my roses growing in terracotta pots.....overall growth of my roses after pruning is quite satisfactory.

Spirit of Freedom didn't blooms well for me last year though the bush grew outstandingly. Growth is nice this year too and I am hoping for a good flush.

Summer Song is still small but the growth is healthy.

I pruned most of my roses in pot quite heavily, almost bring them down to nothing. Graham Thomas has grown well. It was 7 foot tall bush in the same pot last year. GT is very vigorous in Islamabad and if you feed it well, it will grow huge even in a pot. GT has been a blooming machine in the pot, last year. After a wonderful display in the spring in 2016, my GJ didn't produce a single bloom whole year. I am hoping a better performance this year. Keeping it on a consistent K diet.

Nice growth on Charlotte. Hope it does well this year. Last year, it rarely bloomed after the spring (mid March to start May). Geoff Hamilton is developing into a fantastic bush this year too. Last year it didn't bloom well in the pot though the bush looked healthy. (I hope you can see the bush in the ficus creeper background. Whole wall of my house in this area is covered with a Ficus creeper that the previous owner had planted. It looks nice but is not good for my roses as I can't plant anything in ground close to the climber).

Expecting a better performance from Heritage too. Didn't bloom that well last year though the bush remained healthy. Sorry for a confusing background again. Can't help it.

Jude seems to be this year too. I love the fragrance of Jude the Obscure. Bloomed well in the same pot last year. PAOK has been doing fairly well in the pot since past two years though in two years I expected this bush to be much stronger and bigger. Blooming has been good. This is an own root William Morris. The cutting was planted in August 2015 and now it is 1.5 years old. It had become huge but I pruned it to 12 inches approx this January. In less than 2 months, it has again grown to around 3 ft size and I know by the end of 2017, it will again be huge. William Morris has been one of the best DA performers in hot weather of Islamabad, specially on own roots. The mother bush that was purchased from DA UK in end 2014 died in Oct 2016 after growing well for two year. Surprisingly, many of my roses on multiflora / canina root stocks (imported from UK and Germany) have died in past two years. They grow well initially but ultimately, many of them just die. I haven't understood the reason though. The William Morris bush also grew very well for 2 years in a pot and then, slowly died. But I am happy I had taken the cuttings before that and one of them has survived and become a sizable bush in 1.5 years. I love this rose from DA.

best regards

St. Swithun performed well for me in the pot last year. Growth this year is good. This bush was purchased from DA UK in April 2015 but despite all my efforts, I haven't been able to grow it well. I have around 100 different rose cultivars in pots and LEH is one of those few that haven't been able to grow well. There are few others that haven't bloomed well in the pot but hardly any that remained a weaker bush despite all care.Pat Austin did great last year in the pot and despite a hard pruning this year, is growing well again. The Dark Lady performed excellently last year. Was pruned hard (I just want to keep my roses small due to less space available to me). BB forms an outstanding bush in the pot, however, it only bloomed during spring last year. Didn't give me a single bloom after spring. Foliage is brilliant though This tiny bush of Glamis Castle has been one of the top performers in my garden. It stays small but is a perpetual bloomer. It is one of the very few roses in Islamabad climate that bloom when it crosses 110*F and even retain a strong fragrance during that hot weather. It's an amazing rose for the hot weather and excellent performer in a pot due to its small size. I pruned it very hard and it has again grown back.

Nahema is quite sensitive and in hot climate, doesnt' perform well in full sun. It's doing well in dappled shade so far..... hope it blooms well. I love the fragrance of Nahema.

Just Joey produced first couple of blooms of year 2017. Huge size, nice shade and a strong fragrance that is a mix of old rose and fruits. Just Joey performed well in a pot last year too. Does grow huge and produces lots of large sized scented blooms if you feed it well.

best regards

Liv Tyler produced the second bloom of the season. There are many more roses that have buds and I am expecting many more blooms during this weak. Beautiful bloom but I am not sure if I like the fragrance....

This bush is over 15 years old and has a very thick tree like trunk that is not clearly visible in the photo. It has always been a top performer and I usually prune it to the ground. Looks set for a good splash with lots of buds visible.

Another survivor. The mother Westerland bush imported from Germany in 2014 mysteriously died but I planted the cuttings, hoping against the hope and one of them survived. It's growing well now and as you can see, the fresh leaves are much bigger and healthier Sheila's Perfume produced few stunning blooms last year but hasn't been a prolific bloomer for me. Growing well this year.

Condesa de Sastago has been performing excellently in the pot since last two years. Jubilee Celebration performed well last year.

Julia Child has been a top performer in the pot.

On multiflora root stock, Deep Secret has been an average performer. It's growing well this year thoughA top performer in the pot last year. Hoping for a good show this year too. Lush growth on an outstanding performer. I almost pruned it to nothing.

best regards

Nice ! I am still waiting for the first blooms

Great pictures, Khalid, thank you!

Are your pots outside or under a roof? Mine are in a covered porch where the hot sun slants in. I might be able to get away with plastic pots as they can have shade if I need them too. Mine have quite controlled watering conditions also so not really testing them too much on hardiness compared to the outside ones.

Update. After all the rain here in California some of my roses got black spots and lots of blind shoots. Roses have good amount of new shoots and leafs, however no buds which makes me sad.

Lavenderlace: Most of my pots are in the open nowadays where they get full sun and are exposed to full rain. As the temps go high in Islamabad (May onwards), I will shift the pots to a location that is part shade.

Anna: Though there have been rains here too but no BS so far. Some of my roses have a bit of powdery mildew.... nothing serious though

Huge size fragrant blooms. Fragrance is a mix of old rose and fruits

I can't express how eagerly I am waiting for Summer Song to bloom. The bush is still small though quite healthy and growing at good speed.

best regards

That's not the first time that Just Joey has caught my eye, so beautiful.

Khalid, can't wait to see how Memorial Day does for you. Hit or miss for me after winter with twenty now. I don't think it likes temperature extremes in either direction, though some did great (stayed evergreen) and some had every cane die to the ground. But also one of the few with no blooms or even buds yet.

Anna, so surprised to hear that yours aren't budding yet as I've had blooms for a couple of weeks but maybe yours are a later flowering variety? We've had so little rain and such erratic temperatures so it's interesting to see which kinds can deal with it all. And I'm becoming much fonder of the ones that have a longer growing season too!

Lavenderlace: Memorial Day is still a small bush. If it grows well I think it will be at its best by the end of this year. And I agree, roses do not respond well to sudden change in temp. Luckily, the weather has been great in Islamabad and my roses are doing quite so far. I am hoping (and praying) for a great flush this year. Let's see...

As for Just Joey, I like this rose. The bush stays small but it produces huge size blooms. Shades will change with weather. A old pics of my Just Joey last year. All photos are of the same bush..

Just Joey keeps changing shade with change in weather in my area.

best regards

Anna, is your Grande Dame grafted or own-root? Your plants look super! I need to add her to Khalid's own-root thread I think.

Khalid, your Jude's leaves look great! Mine look much, much better this spring. I think that the enormous amounts of water that I gave them last summer contributed to their lighter, unattractive leaves. But the trade-off was tons of blooms so we'll see how it goes this spring as we've had a very dry winter and I haven't started watering yet.

Lavendrlace: Most of my roses in the pots have outstanding foliage this year. This primarily is because of the doze that I gave them after monsoon. I had observed that after monsoon, roses in pots are almost depleted. Too much rain bleaches nitrogen and other minerals and therefore there is a need to replenish them. This specifically applies to roses in pots that are exposed to rains. So I use 1 table spoon each of Potash, Gypsum, a 36-0-12 nitrogen based fertilizer and a trace element supplement in a bucket of water (around 18 liters of water) immediately after monsoon and that had positive effect on all roses. Then, I gave them a topping of my homemade compost and chicken manure during winters. My roses are quite healthy this year.

best regards

Lavender: Grande Dame is on Fortuniana rootstock sold by Weeks Roses. Fortuniana is my best performance rootstock so far.

Thanks Anna. Sounds like Grande Dame is one of those who is good either way!

Yes and it gets big and bushy. I remember seeing 6 ft tall before pruning somewhere on the forum.

Lavender: here is my Grande Dame in 25 gal pot, with fresh growth and many blooms forming.

She looks great Anna! Love her shiny leaves! My buds are at about the same point yours are, just starting to open. But we had an unexpected freeze last night so I don't know how much damage is done yet.

Melodie Perfume- finallly I got first bloom of this year.

Gorgeous! I heard that she does well in the heat. Is yours grafted also?

Yes, it's grafted on Fortuniana.

Anna, your Melody Perfume looks beautiful. I had one but the bush was eaten up by termite last year (there is lot of termite in my soil). It has a very strong damask fragrance that I still cherish.

Lavenderlace: I grew Melody Perfume for around two years (two summers). It didn't perform that well in hot summers of Islamabad though it kept producing small sized, low petal count light lavender coloured blooms with low fragrance. In spring and in cooler months, fragrance used to be strong and the shade would stay in the range of deep magenta to violet.

Few old photos posted below...

This is how my MP would look like during cooler months....

This would be the shade in hot months (May to August).

best regards

In the meanwhile, few roses have started producing first blooms of the season...few latest photos..

Crimson Glory has an attack of mildew but the blooms are great and have a strong spicy damask mix fragrance. Lavenderlace, Vaprovac, Anna..... what organic remedy did you find most effective against powdery and downy mildew?

Strong old rose scent.

In the meanwhile, many other bushes are full of buds. Expecting a good show in 7-14 days time

best regards

Roses getting bigger and developing so many buds.....

Foliage is nice though some of the roses are suffering from mildew.

Large sized blooms with a fruity fragrance...

First bloom of the season.... Mirandy. Moderate spicy old rose mix fragrance. First bloom of the season.... Spirit of Freedom. Mild fragrance.

First blooms of the season.... Westerland. Moderate fragrance, suffering from rose proliferation.
Fragrance is strong and very sweet. Medium sized blooms

best regards

Wow, gorgeous blooms already and lots of healthy foliage! I love seeing the entire plant pictures too, thanks Khalid!

MP looks lovely but I can certainly understand you wanting more fragrance in the heat. Your Just Joeys are always a standout for me, and today is no exception!

So far, I've never seen mildew but we've been extremely dry and I've already had to run the soaker hoses. So might be a different story next year!

I didn't notice aphids last year and now they are driving me crazy. But the green lacewings are now down as of this weekend so hopefully they will hatch and be very hungry!

I have bouquets in all of my rooms now and have to say that the second year fragrance, while possibly stronger, is not really different to my nose like I was hoping on some of them. So I really need to stop buying in such large quantities before I have at least a couple to test out the scent!

Khalid, I've always read that powdery mildew is a problem for dry climates, so I'm not really affected too much by it. However, I did see some last year on a Red Drift I bought end-of-season. I read a few techniques which seemed to work. Spray with dilute skim milk, spray with water or dunk in really hot almost boiling water. Since this was a small plant I dunked it in hot water and it worked like a dream. I might try a hot water spray on your large plants. This technique was trialed in a scientific study I read last year. The problem is getting the water hot enough while still being able to handle the bottle and not melting it! Let us know what you do and how it works.

LL, I'm jealous you already have bouquets, but as I'm out of town for the near future, I'm happy I'm not missing them flower (although I'm missing them terribly).

I sprayed all of mine with diluted milk (not hot) last year as an experiment to see if it helped prevent blackspot. I never saw any except for a couple culprits, so forgot about doing it.

Wonder if it prevented mildew though? VV, didn't realize that it was a problem for dry climates, very interesting.

We're usually dry, except for when it's drippy humid like this weekend. Sticky but yet dust in the air because of no rain. Still having those horrible swings here, freezes and 92 degrees in the same week so my roses are quite confused!

Khalid, do you get hard freezes? Or anybody else in milder climates where the roses don't lose all of their leaves but there are lots of freeze damaged ones?

Is there any "official" preference to tearing off versus cutting still green damaged leaves?

Lavender: I don't get any freeze here, but I do get black spots and some mildew after the rain. Than I strip only those damaged leafs from my bushes- they would fall off on them own anyways. It works for me. After a week I can see a new strong growth. I think It incurrages my roses to push a new growth faster. I do it only in spring so there is no sun burn risk.

Vaporvac: Thanks for the tip regarding using milk. Heard about this from other sources also. Will try it tomorrow morning.

Lavenderlace: No, we hardly ever get freezes in Islamabad in March and April. So my roses are quite safe, that way.

I am going to try milk tomorrow morning on the effected bushes. Let hope it works

best regards

Anna, I do that too but that's a good point about sunburn damage. I tear because it's faster than cutting.

Good luck tomorrow Khalid!

Sprayed the effected bushes with diluted milk today. Lets see. How many times one should spray?

Few more pics taken today....

Is JoJo trying to smell Just Joey. I am not sure.... but she sure likes it

Maxus looks a bit indifferent though....

Fragrance is mild but I am hoping it will improve. The bush is quite healthy though

Lovely fragrance

So many buds on Casino.

There are around 20 buds on my Jude. Eagerly waiting for them to bloom.

Hardly any fragrance in Spirit of Freedom

Few roses taken early morning for rose tea.... Rose de Rescht, Mirandy, Black Prince and Spirit of Freedom.

I'm pretty sure that JoJo is swooning at Just Joey like the rest of us, LOL!

I have a Sharifa Asma bouquet right beside my computer screen and it looks just like your William Morris today! How is the fragrance?

Wonderful pictures, thank you!

Lavenderlade: Though HMF mentions William Morris as "Strong" fragrance, I have mostly found it of moderate intensity in Islamabad. The quality of fragrance is great and it smells like a mix of fruits, old rose and spices. Very nice fragrance.

Few more photos....

The bush was suffering from powdery mildew in the last week but seems to have recovered very well after milk spray. Lovely damask fragrance

One of my GC bushes that is in a pot. Lot of buds coming up

Just Joey is simply marvelous this year.

I bought this Lady Emma bush in April 2015 and it has hardly grown in two years. I have changed the soil this year. Let's see how she does!!

This own root Westerland seems to be doing great this year. It's a home grown cutting.

As before, William Morris is one of the performers in my house

Here are the first bloomers:

Angel Face

Below is Sheila's Perfume

Wonderful Anna! I just bought Angel Face after resolving not to because of all the BS reports. But yours look flawless!

Lavender: Last year I had lots of BS on her...After I fixed my water with sulfate of potash plus gypsum I have no more black spots issue.

Khalid: I love your Papa Meilland Rose. Is she a good bloomer In heat?

Yes Anna, Papa Meilland has performed well in Islamabad. Last year the temperature remained in the range of 105 to 110*F for quite a few days and on few odd days, reached up to 115*F too. Papa Meilland planted in full sun remained all right.

Angel Face performs reasonably well here in Islamabad. Shocking Blue is a very similar looking rose and shows much higher resistance to diseases. I have had both and Shocking Blue performed much better in my Zone 9 environment. Another two roses in the same shade (roughly) that did well were Blue for You and Rhapsody in Blue. Blue for You, specially, is an outstanding performer.

best regards

Anna, I don't know where you lived, but I saw Papa Meilland in Walmart last Summer. I was too much of a newbie to realize what a nice rose it is, but If I see it again, it's coming home with me.

VV, I nearly did the same thing recently at Home Depot!

I turned up my snooty nose at their selection, assuming that they were all knockouts. And then went running for a cart to load it up when I found so many that I had been thinking about buying anyway.

The downside being that they are grafted, but since so many people prefer that, it will probably be good to compare.

Khalid, your fantastic pictures just loaded for me. I hope you don't ever think that we are ever ignoring you, just that there's still some sort of delay and sometimes I miss them.

Your JJ are indeed marvelous this year! How does that bright peach shade compare to your spring Judes? Mine are a bit more orange at the moment than I would prefer but the fragrance makes up for anything.

Barbara Streisand: