Of course u can start small but then eventually , may be in 2-3 yrs ,u will have to size up depending upon the rose varieties..

Why are they going into pots? How long are they going to be in the pots?

What size pot are they in now?

My 2 footers are in 16" round pots, 3 footers are in 18" round pots, 4 footers are in 20" round pots. I just added a few mannerly climbers in 3x3x1.5' rectangular planters. Yes - they need a lot of soil, but it beats having to upgrade their homes every year when they outgrow them. I don't look forward to the day I will need to root prune or change the media in the pot, it's also doubtful I will be able to get the climbers out when they grow up, the planter with soil is >350lb right now.

I like these pots , they come from Home Depot and are around ten bucks. But I only keep my roses in for a season or two. I used them when we were renting and now I'm using them for the rainbow rose assortment I got while I decided if I was keeping them or not.

Great post. Lilyfinch, thank you for the heads-up on those planters. I like to use plain pots as liners in my more decorative one to help make them easier to move. Those look really nice. I think one of the most important things is using a medium that drains easily.

Va Joh, your garden is so lovely, I love all your pots, what is the lavender-coloured plant in the 2nd photo? I love your attention to detail esp the pot feet & your use of stone. Beautiful garden.

I love the pots pictured too. Mine are 2 gallon plants I think. My wish would be to have terracotta pots but I cannot afford those. The half barrels that I bought were $17.99 at Costco and cheaper than the smaller pots at the Home Depot etc.

I hope the roses will be ok!

The larger the pot, the better your soil needs to drain. In very large pots, think about using a proportion of added large sized perlite -- up to 50% added perlite. Yes, you will have to water more, but you won't get water-logged plants and the resulting chlorosis and stem die back. Don't underplant -- the soil needs to be filled with roots or you risk water logging.

Sunny

Add perlite? I wouldn't have thought of that, always thought the perlite helped the mix hold moisture.

I've used shredded pine bark to help with drainage, but the stuff is hard to find. I do a lot of repotting; roses received in a one-gallon go to a 2 gallon, then up from there. This year's no roses got off to a rough start, probably due to excessive rain and the fact that I had used moisture control potting mix. I won't use it again..

Love those pot feet! I know I need to elevate my pots, which sit on a stone patio. In this 8A climate esp. with our hot nights, that's not good...

Babarag, perlite does add drainage. Vermiculite expands and retains moiture. i used to confuse the two. May I ask where you find shreddedpine bark? Straw on the ORforum suggested adding orchid mix; would that work? Is there any danger of nitrogen depletion or does adding fertilizer take care of that? My experiment this spring with partially decomposed oak chips coupled with a lot of rain caused that, but I'm hoping adding Fertlizer with rectify it.

I've also used packing popcorn for drainage on really large houseplants, and even in my beds, but don't think it would be as good with roses. Crushed styrofoam packing also works, but perlite is way easier! : ) Home Depot sells really large bags of it.

I love all these beautiful terra cotta pots, but they're so expensive around here. Are they less so in CA and the SW?

Thanks smithsdale I believe you are referring to the american wisteria? It is called Amethyst Falls and repeats again near the end of summer. Let me know if that's the one you are referring to. My theme in my garden is purple/blue and coral with splashes of white, yellow, and red so I have quite a few purple plants.

Rosemi5a I have to add some more pearlite in my containers unfortunately because they do tend to get waterlogged a bit.

I saw the pot in the third picture down in Va Joh's post at Lowes for $18.58 or some strange amount of change. But they were lovely and seemed like an excellent price. I loved them.

I used very large (30 gallon) fabric pots. They are relatively inexpensive even though I purchased the sturdy fabric that looks like felt instead of the cheaply made thin plasticky kind. For the fabric potted Climbing Night Owls I had to wheelbarrow the pots from the back yard to the front and they are not as easy as plastic or ceramic pots to move. When I finally got them where I wanted them though, because both pots and plants were so large, I just used an old serrated knife to rip holes in the bottom of the pots so the roots could get to the ground. It is working well and the NOs are flourishing.

Va Joh, thanks for the plant ID, not sure that I've seen American wisteria before, I love how it's shaped. I too love purple plants, I have violas, delphiniums & columbines, need to get some purple roses too.

Laurie I bought these pots from Home Depot for $34.98. I was looking for heavy rimmed or rolled rim terra-cotta pots earlier in the season and they were extremely expensive everywhere else. I think Portland Nursery had them for 80 a piece! If they have them at lowes for that cheap I may need to go check it out because I have some roses coming in the fall that will need potted up.

Smithdale I bought that wisteria at a local nursery in Clackamas, Oregon as a standard a couple years back and it is a super slow grower. Thank goodness for that because wisteria can get crazy. Well, the japanese and Chinese varieties can anyway. I love purple too and have violas with some thalictrum, phlox, and astilbes. I never really planned to have a color scheme in my garden but I keep getting attracted to the same plant colors lol!