Growing roses in pots makes it easy to decorate your yard and home with gorgeous flowers.
Keep a careful watering schedule.
Watering is the number one concern, says Lowery.
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It’s not on your schedule.
It’s on the plants schedule.
That’s the hard part for all of us.
Quest-Ritson also ranks watering needs as the biggest challenge with growing roses in pots.
Bothunder-watering and over-wateringcan be tricky to avoid.
The symptoms for both look similar: youll notice any soft growth start to wilt.
If it’s overwatering, there’s often an unpleasant odor like rotten eggs.
Overwatering is the easier of the two to handle.
Self-watering pots may also keep conditions too moist for roses.
Let all of the excess water drain for several minutes before putting them back in place.
The same is true for outdoor roses grown in decorative pots without drainage.
In most cases, your biggest problem will be watering enough.
If theyre not, they suffer terribly.
Dont wait until your roses start to wiltto water them.
They may snap right back and look healthy, but you wont get as much or as frequent bloom.
Water deeply each time until water completely saturates the potting mix and flows from the drainage holes.
Try using a moisture meter if you aren’t sure how much to water.
Pick the right rose.
The roses you choose will determine performance and style.
Your choice will also determine how much work it will take togrow and maintainthem.
Lowery recommends dwarf polyantha roses.
He also recommends their equivalents among petitegroundcover rosesand miniatures.
However, pots make it possible for almost anyone, anywhere to growany rose they want.
In fact, for adventurous gardeners, the constraints of container culture can be a useful tool.
Or you’re able to corset a suckering rose that would normally spread aggressively through your garden.
Roses come either own-root or grafted onto rootstock.
That will also improve cold hardiness.
Use a rich, well-draining potting mix.
Quest-Ritson says a potting mix doesnt need to be anything special, but it must be richfull of nutrients.
Most experts now prefer a sterile soilless potting mix.
you might find it premixed at nursery centers or online.
Lowery especially recommends mixing in finely ground volcanic rock as 25 percent of the final mix.
Select a pot with enough space and good drainage.
The problem is that when rose roots get big enough they go straight through the hole.
And they get big enough that they can block the hole.
I’ve lost plant after plant after plant growing interra cotta potsthat way.
If your pot only has one holeor no holesuse a drill and a large bit to make more.
Cachepots and architectural containers like concrete urns are the exception.
In either case, you dont plant directly in them.
You plant your rose in a pot with drainage holes and then slide that pot inside the decorative container.
My biggest concern is that I may lose the media through the drainage holes, says Reiners.
In this way, I can maximize the volume of the media that holds both water and nutrients.
With the pot shards and pebbles, I lose that precious volume.
Maybe not a lot but to some degree.
Bottom line, I do not know the definitive answer.
Find the ideal spot(s) for your pot.
During the day its better offoutside in full sun.
Or if they continue to bloom the flowers may be a faded version of their spring and fall selves.
As with potting mixes, it seems like everyone has a differentphilosophy about feeding rosesin pots.
But rosarians almost universally agree that it needs to be done.
Lowery recommends that you do it organically by placing a heavy layer of mulch andcompost in your potseach year.
Its only when he neglects slow, organic processes that he reaches for the quick fix ofchemical fertilizers.
If you end up using a fertilizer, carefully follow the instructions on the package.
As with watering, there’s a delicate balance between not enough and too much.
Keep garden weeds and other plants out.
If you havent heard about putting companion plants in the same pots as your roses, you will.
Ive had roses die from that, says Lowery.
OneVeronicagroundcover overtook a four-year-old rose.
At the end of the season, because I had not dealt with it, the rose died.
The groundcover had taken up all of the root space.
Pull them as soon as you see them.
A heavylayer of mulchhelps prevent them.
That means clipping or twisting off the flower stem after a flower is done.
This should be done on an ongoing basis during the growing season.
Pruning the whole rose bushat least once annually is also a good idea.
More often if youre growing a larger rose in a pot.
Control pests and disease.
And theyll take longer to recover.
Prevent disease by growing healthy roses in full sun.
Avoid watering them overhead if possible.
Keep them from growing congested by pruning them.
You dont need chemical sprays, but if you do use them, be conservative with them.
Pay special attention to stem borers.
Their larvae burrow into stems, causing them to die back.
If you see littlegreen worm-like creatures on fresh growth, flick them off as soon as you see them.
If you see branches with hollow ends, cut them back until you get past stem borer cavities.
Repot and root prune.
After two or three years in a pot, most roses will start to decline.
Youll also need to prune the top so that the roots and the branches are in proportion.
The ideal time to root prune is when the rose is dormant in winter.
There are a few other challenges with pruning and repotting roses.
When you pick a rose, read the nursery tag to see what Zones its hardy to.
You might still want to keep it out of heavy winter winds.
There are a few semi-evergreen roses with shade tolerance that might do OK in your sunniest window during winter.
Frequently Asked Questions
Most roses are hungry and thirsty plants that put on rampant growth.
A container, no matter the size, eventually constrains and stresses them.
The added stress of being in a pot can make them more susceptible to diseases.
Eventually they exhaust their available space and become scraggly and unhealthy.
A rose can live indefinitely in a pot, if you maintain it well.
Youll need to do this every five years or so while its dormant in winter or early spring.
In some cases, it may be required as frequently as every two or three years.
