Growing Roses in Containers
There’s a few things you have to do though to ensure success.
The first is to have a large enough rose container.
There’s little sense trying to grow a whopping huge rose in a tiny pot.
The smallest pot I use for growing roses in containers is a sixteen-inch clay pot (I get them from a local discount shop so they really aren’t expensive.)
Any smaller and you’re going to have watering problems (reducing the blooms) and heat build-up problems (reducing the blooms). This does not include miniature roses that will live quite nicely in a 10-pot for the summer. (they will not live in the small 3 and 4 inch pots they come in).
The second tip for growing roses in containers is to fill the pot with artificial soil all the way to the bottom of the pot
You want as much soil as you can get for this plant so do not put a layer of something on the bottom to make it lighter.
Do not put a layer of drainage material on the bottom to improve the drainage (this is an old wives tale). You’ll never see commercial nurseries putting “stuff” on the bottom of pots to improve drainage and they grow millions of plants. Use a good artificial soil such as Pro-Mix or Fafard. I’ve used both of these in the past and got good results.
The summer of 05 saw me experiment with peat moss and compost mixed 3 peat to 1 compost and that grew excellent roses for a single season. It did present some watering difficulties – you never want to let it dry out – but the roses were very good in the container.
A third requirement for growing roses in containers is that you plant the rose a little more shallowly than you would in the garden.
I tend to put the bud union at the soil line or slightly above when I plant in containers. I know I’m not worried about trying to protect this bud union so I want the plant to grow as quickly as possible.
When you water, and you’ll wind up watering every day or every second day, it is important to water thoroughly. Water should roll out the bottom of the container at every watering If it doesn’t come out the bottom, you haven’t watered enough. Period. There’s no other way to grow roses in containers and water them if you want them to grow and flower heavily all summer long.
Touch the soil with your finger to determine if it requires watering. If your finger comes away damp – the pot is fine. If your finger comes away dry with no moisture on it – then water until the water pours out the bottom of the pot.
Feeding the roses is critical for successful blooming.
I feed my container roses with fish emulsion fertilizer at least once a week. I know gardeners who use houseplant food and this works well too. I prefer the fish because it has tons of micronutrients that roses thrive on and will use to produce huge blossoms. I note that if you live in an area where there are raccoons, this can be a bit of a problem as this critter will try to find the fish that he can smell in your pot.
Really important "small detail"
I’d be remiss if I didn’t suggest two things about growing roses in containers. Make sure that your chosen rose blooms on new wood (hybrid teas are fine this way).
I once put a rose in a hanging basket and was chagrined to discover it bloomed on old wood. Year two was spectacular but year one was a disaster.
Ensure the rose you’re going to grow is fragrant.
Why bother going to all this trouble to grow a rose if it doesn’t smell like one?
If you don’t feed these container roses you won’t get blooms.
I hope that’s clear enough because I still get folks writing asking if they have to feed their roses in pots. The answer is yes. At a minimum of once a week. When I had my nursery, I fed a little bit every time I watered to produce huge flower displays.
Now the rest is simple.
You prune your rose and take care of insects and disease just as you would if it were growing in your garden soil.
Growing roses in containers is a slick way to impress friends and neighbours and a super way to bring the fragrance of a rose as close to your easy chair as is possible.
Somebody is sure to ask me about overwintering these containers.
In my garden, I treat roses as annuals. But if you have a soil garden, then I’d suggest you take the rose out of the container when the leaves fall off in the fall (this indicates it is fully dormant).
Then plunge it into a section of your vegetable garden (bury the bud union six inches deep). Mulch it well after the ground has frozen up. Dig up again in the spring and repot.
If you don’t have a garden to plunge the rose, find a friend who does.
Or take the rose south with you so it doesn’t freeze solid.
Or, you can try leaning the rose against a heated wall or patio door so it gets heat from the inside of the house. Insulate the outside of the pot against cold weather. Borrow the heat of the house on one side and protect the pot from winter on the other side. Good luck. I also note the cost of a single rose plant in the spring is the cost of a few coffees at a fancy coffee house.
But growing roses in containers might have to come with a winter heartbreak.
Still have questions about which growing roses in containers?
