Are you getting them own root or grafted? Strawchicago says grafted on Dr, Huey don't do well in pots. My Ben Britten own root doesn't like too much sun in a pot, so that might work..one guy I knew planted Ben Britten on the north side of his house and it got huge. Jude is a bit wimpy own root, but I have him in a pot. Hope that helps some

There are two issues to pay attention to here.

• What is your intended spray program? If you don't intend to have one, then there are only a couple on that list that will do decently well. NYC is a *very* high place for blackspot pressure.
• You will need big pots. I don't know where you are getting your sizing information from, but the roses I'm familiar with get a lot bigger than you're saying, and I'm a few zones north. I've known people to use cut down garbage cans, to give you an idea of size.

@ann beck 8a ruralish WA,

Ann,

Thank you for sharing your experience!

Most are own-root, but some that I really want are grafted. I added this information in my original post.

If a grafted rose is planted deep into the soil, would it grow roots from the top canes and eventually become an own-root rose? And maybe own-root roses can be kept smaller?

Jude the Obscure has an excellent reputation for fragrance, so that's encouraging that you have it in a pot even if it's wimpy. :-)

I am a lot colder than you but I have been building my potted rose collection for the last couple of years. I have half-barrels and square tubs that are 31" by 31" by 31". Filling them with a mixture of potting soil and compost seems to have been very successful. I have heard of 'root pruning' to keep roses manageable if you want to keep them in pots long term. Some roses are more inclined to go own root from grafts than others are.

Some members of the pot collection....

@mad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY),

Thanks for some important heads up.

I am hoping to keep spraying to a minimum. Do you have a recommendation on which roses would have a better chance?

On pot sizes -- holy cow cutting down garbage cans was not what I had in mind. I was picturing somewhere around 16" diameter pot (10 gallon).

@joeywyomingzone4,

Your roses are so beautiful! Thank you for sharing your insights.

How do you protect your potted roses during the cold season? z4b feels like a very cold region.

We don't have a garage, so my plants either need to stay outdoors or come inside during the winter.

Thank you @New York 7a! It does get very cold here, often down in the -20s for days. Some of my pots go in the garage wrapped in quilts, and some stay out up against the house where the snow is the deepest so that they stay buried. We are close to several native fish habitat systems so spraying isn't an option, so I've been trying to learn as much as I can about microbial activity to keep my gardens as strong and disease resistant as possible.

@New York 7a I know some people winter protect their potted roses outdoors by putting them up against a warm protected wall of the house, surrounding them with many bags of autumn leaves, and then burlap or blankets on top of all that.

@Mischievous Magpie (CO 5b), that will be doable for me! Thank you. Will get burlap bags from Amazon and pack them with leaves in fall.

I like roses that can take care of themselves. So most of the roses I grow get big. Much too big for pots, unless they are extremely large.

The first rule of getting advice is to know where you are, and know where the people you are listening to are. If the difference is more than a hundred miles or so, take the advice with a very large grain of salt. More is not necessarily better. Often it is just more. The biggest problem with any sort of winter protection in the east is rot. It isn't cold damage, but moisture damage. So the great thing about a garage isn't necessarily that it is warm, but that it is dry. Where you are is warm enough that I wouldn't worry about moving pots for the winter. If you feel it is necessary, move them against the house foundation. More than that can easily become an issue.

🤷‍♀️ Well, it's true I live far from you in a different climate. I hope more people in your area are able to give you advice on how to overwinter your container roses.

@mad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY), that makes sense that distance matters. I will remember that. :-) And will watch out for rots. Indeed this area is very humid. Average winter days stays above 23F.

I am so new to roses, every comment has been eye-opening.

How new? I got my first rose last month -- Darlow's Enigma -- for a 3'x3' space believing that rambling is synonymous with climbing. This is probably an LOL moment for experienced rosarians. DE is now going to my mom's garden. After this incident, I sought advice here and landed on Madame Alfred Carriere and Ghislaine de Feligonde.

I am in Washington zone 8b and I prefer to grow my roses in the ground. However, my starter roses live in 1 gallon pots year-round, no protection needed. Less than 1 gallons, I keep in my unheated greenhouse.

@ValRose PNW Wa 8a, thank you for sharing your experience. I am jealous that you have ground space to plant roses. :-) We don't have an unheated structure to over-winter plants, so I will test out this winter by putting pots near the house, maybe under a covered patio to keep them dry. Hope my baby roses survive!

Neenah...I hope you found Strawchicago's threads in Organic Rose Forum...she has all sorts of wisdom about roses. I have found that if I am careful not to overwater or underwater and feed the rose, it does well.

Also, you are zone 7b, which means most roses will be hardy for you and won't need any winter protection.

@ann beck 8a ruralish WA, thank you for sharing your knowledge and resources.

This thread is a great read! I will look for more Strawchicago's forum.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6153596/experiments-mistakes-in-pots-and-ground-lessons-learned#n=141

Organic Rose Forum category

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/organic-rose-growing

And that will be great if no winter protection is needed. Most roses in my list are at least 2 zones hardy than 7. I will try to gather the pots to a sunnier side of the house, and not worry too much.

Thanks again Ann!