Munstead Wood definitely will fit in an 18.5 inch pot, Gabriel Oak probably but I haven't grown it in person so can't speak to that one.

I have grown both in pots and by year 2 Gabriel Oak did not like it in a pot and performed poorly after that. I currently grow and have grown some large DA roses in pots and many do well but GO is not one of them. Munstead Wood did well in a pot. You could consider James L Austin instead of Gabriel Oak if looking for something somewhat in the color range of GO.

Thank you both! That is helpful. Funny, I had James L in a pot (terracotta 18” diameter exterior) and he was not happy after the first year! He is now in the ground. I’ve since realized that those terracotta pots were just not big enough for roses. These new pots hold quite a bit more soil. But, it sounds like Gabby Oak will still find it too small. I was curious about how the two colors would look together (MW and GO) but I guess I’ll rethink the whole idea.

I think the colours will work fine together. I would think that though, because I have lots of bright pink and purple roses mixed together. Some of them technically clash, but are planted with white and cool lavender colours to calm the mix, so you could always add a couple of pots of the same, lighter coloured perennial to link them if needed.

I had a Munstead in a pot for years and it did just fine. I havent grown Gabriel so cant speak to that, not seeing the actual color of Gabriel I cant say with any authority but the colors may be too similar for maximum impact. I have a Darcy Bussel in a pot and I seperated Darcy and Munsted by something pink

I just throw everything together and don't worry about color. I don't have a choice because of crowding, plus nature has a way of making everything look pretty good together. But I'm talking about planting permanently in the ground not in pots. Still, I wouldn't about color coordination much. Diane

This is my own root Munstead, the pot is 18” diameter x 16” high, it’s been in there 3 years so far and should be happy there for another two. I feed it well and renew the compost mulch at least once a year:

My experience after three years with Gabriel Oak was that it's a sprawling plant...it really behaved like a climber. Bloomed profusely as well. I'm not sure it would work in a pot because of this feature. There's not much criticism online about it, but there are several videos of the gangly Gabriel Oak (mine was sited in full sun). MW definitely works in a pot for me.

Wow, interesting roserobertpdx. I totally thought Gabriel Oak would be a compact rose. And we are both in pdx (at least I assume you are by your name) so it will probably perform similarly for me. Rats.

NollieSpain thank you for the photo. Your Munstead Wood looks really nice in a pot! So everyone is in agreement about MU being good for a pot, now I just need a different rose to go next to it.

Anyone have recs on another Austin that works well in a pot? Dave5bWY? I do have a recently purchased Poet's Wife but I don't fancy those two colors together. Or maybe a floribunda would work.

@petuniapotpie I even wrote to David Austin and they said they had "a variety of pruning techniques" to improve GO. I didn't bother--I am not a novice and that plant, while heavily fragrant, flopped all over the place.

Bolero would work really well in a pot--especially with Munstead Wood. Bolero performs beautifully here in Portland, too (I have four). I feel like its growth pattern is similar to MW.

The Poet's Wife is also very sprawly. Exactly like GO in my opinion.

Desdemona might work! But if I had to choose a white rose for a pot, I'd go with Bolero. I have three Desdemona that perform beautifully, but I think Bolero still out performs them.

@roserobertpdx I have Bolero! It's been in a pot for several years and doing just ok. I just moved it to a much larger pot to give it a go. But *not* the pot that I planned to go next to MU, lol. I could move it again I suppose.

Ugh about Poet's Wife and GO. I hate a sprawly rose. I bought both because I thought they would behave well. (Both purchased locally and both grafted I think.)

DA is having a sale today on some of their own root roses. Desdemona not one of them unforch. Maybe I could exchange GO for Desdemona, bought from Seven Dees. Hmmm.

Nollie, I love your roses and the fabulous setting. What bloomers, but I love my purples, so your Ebb Tide is my favorite. I have to mention that it looks like my Munstead Wood. Roses are such mysteries. Diane

@NollieSpainZ9 Oh wow! Those look gorgeous. I will have to google Marie Pavie, I am unfamiliar with that one. Ok, none of my roses in pots have ever looked so rounded, they always look a bit bare at the bottom. I must be doing something wrong. I love the color of Ebb Tide, and it is what I imagined Munstead Wood would look like. Your MU has more red to it, but it might just be the sun shining on it. I had Harlow Carr in the ground, and 86'd her due to lack of bloom, small bloom, and nasty thorns. Mine did NOT look like yours, lol. I never thought to try her in a pot. I've been curious about Susan Williams Ellis.

@Diane Brakefield, I have ogled your photos many a time while researching roses on this website. Your garden is grand and gorgeous! My garden is much smaller. Interesting that your MU looks like NollieSpain's Ebb Tide. My only rose in that color category is Falstaff. (One of my very oldest Austin roses.) Oh and one mystery rose (hybrid tea) that was here when I bought the house. Love the color but it balls up badly in the rain. It's on the chopping block.

Oh, btw, for reference I am just outside of Portland, OR. Zone 8b. Summers are quite hot here (and getting hotter unfortunately). Lots of rain otherwise.

Not sure I like deep pink next to red. It’s a mismatch, similar but not the same.

Ebb Tide 2024

Munstead has a much longer bloom season and blooms almost continuously. Here in late October 2024.

Here in May 2024.

@Diane Brakefield Beautiful! Ebb Tide is truly purple! MU is along the lines of what I was thinking, in the realm of deep crimson/purple. Looks a bit darker than Falstaff but a similar tone.

Oh I have a few potted roses with bare leg syndrome petuniapotpie, including Ebb tide which is why it’s hidden behind Marie Pavie!

Marie is a polyantha with a twiggy habit thats easy to prune into that ball of fluff effect but it will take a couple of years for her to build up her structure from and own root rose (mine are grafted, most of my roses are). My MW is the exception, being a cutting from my grafted rose and is markedly more burgundy red than the mother plant in the ground, different soil must have something to do with that.

All purples go red/fuchsia in my summer heat, I could never hope to match Diane’s divinely purple princesses!

Thanks, Nollie, but your roses are superb, and you have that wonderful stone backdrop. About my summers--they are very hot and totally dry. The soil is alkaline in this semi arid desert. I like to call it a Mediterranean climate with winters. We do have to regularly irrigate for months. The most stable dark purple I grow is Twilight Zone, which blooms more than Ebb Tide. I grow two TZs. It would probably do fine in a large pot, too. Ebb Tide and Wild Blue Yonder show some fun color instability during our hot season. They are the Clown Prince and the Clown Jester. So Nollie, no princesses around here. And TZ is a guy. All my roses have distinct personalities and are boys and girls. Bear with me. Diane

The Clown Jester, Ebb Tide in high heat. This is random, though. A regular color in many blooms still persists.

The Clown Prince, Wild Blue Yonder in high heat. Again, it's random and normal colored WBY occur at the same time. Twilight Zone does not do this.

Normal color of Wild Blue Yonder

@Diane Brakefield I actually kind of like the faded color you get in high heat. Kind of lavender mixed with purple. Isn't Twilight Zone a grandiflora? Don't they get huge?

Has anyone grown Celestial Night? I snagged it at Lowes for $15. It might be more magenta.

@NollieSpainZ9 Thanks for the pruning info on Marie Pavie. I love the way that looks.

Petunia, I've found that a lot of forum members like the Clowns. I do. I like variety. Yes, Twilight Zone is a grandiflora, so called, but it doesn't get huge, though quite a bit bigger than Ebb Tide. I think it has a nicer shape than Ebb Tide. I don't really recognize the so called grandifloras as a class, and neither does Europe, so I've read. Like hybrid teas nowadays, there is a lot of variation in size and shape. My Meilland hybrid tea Abbaye de Cluny is way bigger than Twilight Zone and so is HT Rouge Royale. Ascot started out being listed by in 2011 as a floribunda which was a joke. And Palatine said it would grow to 2.5 feet tall. A bigger joke. A few years later, Ascot was sold as a hybrid tea, and if any rose fits the grandiflora designation, it's Ascot. I just call them all rose bushes and be done with it. Sellers and HMF consistently give awful size estimates. Diane

PetuniaNia, I grow Celestial Night. I consider it magenta

@Kristine LeGault 8a pnw, Pretty! How tall is it?

@Diane Brakefield, you're right, it really is a crap shoot when it comes to size! I only have two grandifloras (Ch-ching and Strike It Rich) and they do both get fairly tall and wide.

petunia, CN is maybe 4 ft

Thanks Kristine. That is a nice size.