climbing roses in pots

I planted 3 climbers in very large terracotta pots late last August - bareroots. Never grown climbers in pots before but I wanted these to climb a pergola and there was only stone and gravel round the pergola - no soil at all.

Thought the roots might be too constricted to make any height but their canes have reached the top of the pergola already. It's quite a long pergola and I have been fanning the canes out hoping their foliage would give good coverage - which it has - healthy enough.

So far so good. Lamarque has been flowering off and on in flushes though I hardly expected it to flower at all so soon. One of the bourbons put on a show before Christmas with some reserve energy but has been concentrating on making growth since then. Zephy just keeps sending up more canes and is dressed all over in fragrant foliage - I can hardly wait for spring - can tell she is getting ready to show off. I have to stop myself taking a handful of foliage to sniff - if you haven't grown Zephy you won't know how fine her fragrance is or how it drifts into the house

Now all I have to do is keep them happy in their pots. I have no idea what I'm doing really - but watching them like a hawk and using my instinct to judge when to water and fertilize.

If you've ever tried something like this let me know how it went - appreciate some insights

roses are fine in pots but need to be repotted every few years and like a lot more fert. and water

Hi Thee

I've grown miniatures in pots before but never grown any other sort of rose until this past year - I found miniatures easy - loved them and plan to fill up some pots with them here. But climbers are a whole new ball game to me. Roses in big pots I'm thinking I will have to repot and how do you do that when the rose it growing up and over a pergola. And the cheapest big pot I could find was a terracotta at one of the discount stores- way cheaper than plastic unless the stuff that disintegrates at the slightest touch or bump- also from discount stores. I know because I bought some for vegies this year and won't be buying any more. They crack when you look at them - rubbish.

Sooooooo - for my precious roses I bought terracotta - must have been mad. But they are getting dosed with lots of organics and cross fingers they will last some distance - don't really fancy the job of root pruning LOL

Nah, wouldn't worry about root pruning, easy peasy, repot after the big prune

I've found a couple of old concrete laundry tubs. All I have to do is convince someone to get them here for me. I thought they might be good for roses. I want something that doesn't grow very big so I can put in a little obelisk for it.
Fran - how entangled is your rose in the pergola? It will need pruning soon. I would cut away all the side branches that are clinging to the structure, trying not to sever the longer ones. Ease it away from the support, then cut out the older growth at the base, and tidy the whole thing up before trying to repot it. You should be able to tie the longer growths back to the support then. Worth a try. That's why they tell us to not let the plant entwine itself in the structure - be it trellis or metal. It is sometimes necessary to pull it back if a paint job is required. I've had to cut jasmines, and hardenbergias back but they regrow quickly. It's best not to cut it your rose down to the ground, or it might take a long time to climb again.
Cheers, Jan

Yes - wake up to the problem of twining on the trellis thanks Jan - being very careful - thankfully they are not thorny and are easy to manage. The good thing about having them in pots is that the canes can be pruned more easily - you can get to them. These are very young so not in need of a prune yet - still making height. I'm hoping the pots will constrict growth so there's no problem anyway.

My main concern is how long they will last there - whether the roots will become stifled. Once a plant becomes root bound they won't bloom as well so I'll know. I will keep up the organics and see what happens - treat it as an experiment.

I grew 2 pierre deronsards in large terracotta pots with oblesks DH called them the twin towers as they were planted the same week.In that time the bloomed prolifically and grew up .i never repotted but topped up the pots with cow manure each March and mulched with lucerne each November.last year a beautiful archway came into my life and I decided to let the roses out of the pots.I found the roots had grown through the drainage holes and into the ground, they were a #$%&$ to get out of the pots .I am happy to say they are looking good now and I hope to have the huge bunches of roses again.

Had that happen to me with other plants in pots LOL. I leave and forget in a corner somewhere and next thing they're through the holes, roots going everywhere - especially if the ground is damp - doesn't take that long either.

I don't think I will have that problem with these because they are placed on very hard ground - I can't make a dint with a spade - hard as I shove.

Your PdRs sound perfectly lovely - love to see them - everyone loves that rose - be a real traffic stopper on an arch.

And thanks for the tips about feeding. I do use manure all the time but haven't been able to source lucerne for ages - must try again - it's great stuff isn't it.

I have been thinking about this because I have exactly the same issue... the solution I have come up with is to make my own pots (the alternative issue was a bit drastic and had my better half rolling her eyes I thought I could cut a hole in the deck and plant the roses in the ground and train them up through the hole and around the posts on the verandah... I might still do this yet ) If I make two large pots out of treated timbers with sides that I can collapse down and them paint them with one of those stone effect paints so it doesn't look like timber then I think it could work . I saw this idea on the internet when browsing for information on Feijoa and found that a tree farm somewhere o/s makes wooden boxes with removeable sides that are held together with iron straps so that when you need to plant them you just dig the hole and put them in and cut the iron strap so the sides fall away. If I can do this so it doesn't look awful then when I need to I can drop the front side off and remove the old soil... give the roots a clean up and put new soil in if I need to. I still like the idea of cutting a hole in the deck though

If you do post some pics Tas

Of what? The hole in the deck? The pot with removeable sides? Or Alicia rolling her eyes at me (and me ducking for cover) ?

This is where I got the idea: http://www.pardeetree.com/photos.php

Now there's an idea - Tas did you get round to making one? Those particular ones on the link might be for single use - do you think? - never seen them before. Come to think of it be great to have a pot with just one removable side - lean it back, inspect for grubs or whatever, remove contents for a root prune - or even just to renew potting mix.

Good idea

Couldn't believe it - picked up a pot this afternoon - rose cuttings in it - one had flowered weeks ago and then I went away - forgot about it. Well the roots have gone through and into the soil - I had to yank them out. Forgot to take a photo. Point is it's the same ground my terracotta pots are sitting on LOL

I now have 2 red pierre's on another arch and a new climbing pinkie in a pot,I have put it on the concrete slab from the cubby house (just to be safe) seems happy.

Don't know if roots escaping from the big pots is something for me to worry about or not. Has anyone else had experience with this? The cuttings aren't a worry - I just yanked them out - they were following the moisture trail.

How would you rate Red Pierre as a rose Belladonna - the photographs would melt any heart - must be a sight to behold on an arch

I have to growing on an arch I planted last year, they are going very well

Haven't had any flowers yet fran only new in May.Seem to be healthy plants and today I noticed buds so souldn't be long now.

I have a Red Peirre growing up one of my verandah posts with the idea of growing it along the eaves when it hits the top. It's growing between a normal PDR and a climbing peace on the other side (goes climbing peace, red pierre, PDR, Climbing Iceberg, and Nahema all in a row...). Red Pierre wasn't a great repeat bloomer for me last year but that could just be because it was new in the ground last year, rather late, from a potted specimen... could be different this year. I haven't made the pot with the removable front yet... so I've potted the climbers I have set aside for this spot (Wild Rover and Pegasus) into large black plastic pots until I can find some time to design it and build it. BUT!!! I also saw another great idea the other day too. It was about growing climbers against walls that had to be painted. They made a frame on which the climber grew and then attached the frame to the wall with hinges at the bottom so the climber could be laid down to paint behind it when needed.... so I started thinking laterally and figured, well, that's like a removable frame... what if you made a frame that you potted into the pot with the rose... that way when/if you need to repot it or renew the mix or root prune it etc you can just lift it all out of the pot at the same time without having to undo it all. If you did all this in winter when it has been thinned anyway the plant would be none-the-wiser LOL. You could use hooks or bolts on the post to hold it in place that could be undone when the operation was requried.

Here's some eye candy for you from last year



Fran, if the roses you have in terracotta pots are growing into the ground they could eventually crack the pots. I know the ones my Grandmother grew in large black plastic pots split the sides where they went into the ground as their roots thickened and got a good hold of the ground. I'd be slipping a bush-saw blade under the pots to cut any roots off before they got the opportunity to flex their muscles.

Don't know why I've put off buying that rose - has a wonderful form - bit hesitant in case it prefers a cooler climate. Beautiful photo - thanks Tas

Thanks for the warning about the roots coming through the pots - I check the drainage regularly anyway. They are vigorous roses so I'm interested to see how they go and what I'll have to do to keep them looking their best.

Nice pic TasV

that is one beautiful floofie rose. I just love roses like that but am also a bit hesitant about growing it as it is so warm climate here.
Marion