How big should a potted own-root floribunda-type rose be...

2 years ago

...before you decide to put it out in your garden?

August is more than half-way over, thank Heaven. Sad to say, in spite of my best efforts, my attempts with floribundas and their ilk are not seeming very successful. Things looked OK until the beginning of August, when suddenly, in spite of being shaded and watered once a week,canes started dying back right and left. For example, Ebb Tide is reduced to one short cane. I had high hopes for it as a bare-root from Barni, but it doesn't seem to have fulfilled them. The other two bare-root floribundas seem FOR NOW to be a bit better, but they are leafless. The potted Pacific Dream all of a sudden last week lost much of itself. The relatively established Pacific Dream remains very small and has lost canes as well. I literally can do no better with the watering than I have done this season,so I think that it's just too hot and dry here in summer for these smaller roses to establish any more.

However, I still have several in pots. I also have a lot of empty spots which need small plants like floribundas. I want to fill these because ,in order for my drip system to work properly,it's got to drip fairly evenly along the lines, otherwise the pressure is too much and the attatchments pop out. I guess I'm toying with the idea of just filling in these spots with the potted ones that I have (also plan to move the ones that are down with Ebb Tide. I think that spot is too tough for this type of rose; the empty spots which I mentioned above are less exposed to sun,and the floribundas, grandiflora, and Austins are doing better than the ones in the ET area). I don't want to keep up a pot garden; the garden out at my land is already more than enough work for me. So I just wanted to have a bit more info from others, to help me decide what to do. Thanks in advance.

Featured Answer

Moses, Pitt PA, cold W & hot-humid S, z6

2 years ago

last modified: 2 years ago

Go in ground with all your roses. Make life as simple as possible. Pot culture plants that need only watering, minimally, which means no roses. 🙁! However, you will enjoy your potted plants much more than you think now. 🙂!

Can you grow the Euphoria millii hybrids? Would winters kill them? They're very showy and bloom continuously, needing to dry out between waterings, perfect for your circumstances when grown in pots presents many challenges.

Moses

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Comments (7)

jerijen
2 years ago
Bart, I don't think there's a one-family answer.

I've had "Floribundas" that quickly grew taller than my 5-ft-minus and easily hit 6 ft. -- and others that simply prefer to stay below 3ft. You might do better to check each cultivar in Help-Me-Find, and even then, look for descriptions from folks in your own conditions.

OH, and don't forget the budded/own-root factor. Such a difference!
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Sheila z8a Rogue Valley OR
2 years ago
Bart, I would probably stick your potted roses in those spots you have in the irrigated section this Fall. Hopefully you could have a good winter rainy season and they can cope. At some point we have to keep it simple.
User thanked Sheila z8a Rogue Valley OR
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Kristine LeGault 8a pnw
2 years ago
I water my pots every day
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Original Author
2 years ago
Thank you all so much. Jeri, these are all roses that I originally bought budded from inexpensive nurseries in Northern Europe,years ago. Back then, summers were not NEARLY as hot , dry and prolonged as they are now. My previous experience had only been with OGRs climbers, and ramblers, and my way of watering was extremely unsophisticated,nor did I know as much as I do now of soil improvement. These floribunda-types "failed" (though not as drastically as they do now),so I dug them up and potted them , and they've gone own-root, I think. It's hard to judge by info on HMF as to how a rose will fare in my situation, because I think very few people garden far from their homes without running water.

Sheila and Moses, yes, I think you're right, I've got to keep it as simple as possible. I so enjoy the cool months, but the summers just ruin all my pleasure-it's just drudgery anymore. I have no desire to live my life like this. At the same time, I do NOT intend to just give up after more than 25 years of work; there are a lot of options left. Still, I have these floribundas and I want to aquit myself with honour towards these plants; I'm not as fine as you are Sheila, but they ARE living things and none have (yet?) proven themselves to be, to use roseseek's superb phrase, "suicidal cocaine-addicted French mistresses". Burgundy Ice, for example,was a wimpy, puny thing to begin with,and just sat around for years, hovering between life and death. Then, suddenly, this year it started to fill out and grow.

I don't have anyone to whom I could give them either,BTW. So, I think I'll plant out those that seem to be most promising and for which I have a place in which I'd like to see them. I'll still be left with a few, probably, but it should be less intimidating (hopefully). If they don't make it, they don't,but I've got to start turning things around.

Moses, at least for now, I have no desire to try other plants in pots -at least for now. Unlike Kristine, I can manage watering only every other day, but I want to clear the decks. It's time to turn over a new leaf.
Moses, Pitt PA, cold W & hot-humid S, z6
2 years ago
Good decision. I wish you much success, and many more years ahead enjoying your roses.

Moses
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jerijen
2 years ago
I have some like that . . . That just sit and sulk, and THEN, miraculously, suddenly grow. WHY simply defies logic.
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