How to grow roses in planters and pots (2024)

FAQs

How to grow roses in planters and pots? ›

Roses are excellent plants for growing in pots. English Roses, with their shrubby, bushy habit are ideal for growing in large pots and containers. Unlike many other potted plants, English Roses will flower in fragrant flushes throughout the summer and into the fall.

Roses are excellent plants for growing in pots. English Roses, with their shrubby, bushy habit are ideal for growing in large pots and containers. Unlike many other potted plants, English Roses will flower in fragrant flushes throughout the summer and into the fall.

Most varieties of roses do best when they receive at least six hours of sun each day. Too much sun can overheat the pot and frazzle the roots, especially in hot climates. For the best blooms, place your pot in a location that receives a mix of sun and shade.

Using soil with granular fertilizer can cause problems also for container-grown roses. Water regularly so that soil is moist, but not wet. Feed often for more blooms. Feed first in spring, once new growth unfurls, and then after each flush of blooms – about every 2 to 3 weeks.

How Long Do Potted Roses Last? Container roses can last between two to three years, then will require repotting so they can keep growing with fresh soil. If your plant has outgrown its pot, be sure to buy a new one with drainage holes!

Choose the right container.

Wooden tubs work well; plastic pots hold moisture, while unglazed terra-cotta dries out quickly. A smaller miniature rose (from 6 to 18 inches tall) needs a pot at least 6 to 8 inches deep; a 2- to 3-foot standard rose requires a container at least 18 inches deep.

Roses in pots dry out more easily, deplete the nutrients in soil within a few years, and are more susceptible to extreme heat, cold, and drying winds. While most roses can live in a pot indefinitely, they may not reach their full potential size, as their roots only have so much room to grow.

Plant rose bushes when temperatures are between 40ºF and 60ºF and when all chances of freezing temperatures have passed—anywhere from February to early May, depending on your climate. This timing will allow the plant to form strong roots before the full heat of the summer hits.

Easy Elegance^® roses prefer loam soil. This soil type is made up of an even mixture of sand, silt, and clay, giving it a great well-balanced texture. Additionally, loam soil has good water retention and has excellent drainage, which provides a healthy environment for roses to thrive.

Simply leave your roses outdoors in their pots until they have dropped their leaves and gone dormant, which usually happens after the first real freeze. Then you remove any dead or dying leaves remaining on the bush and move them indoors to an unheated location that receives very little light.

Do roses like coffee grounds? ›

The correct answer lies somewhere in between: coffee grounds can be beneficial to roses if used correctly. Coffee grounds have antioxidant and antimicrobial properties, which gives nutrients to plants, and as coffee grounds break down in the soil, they suppress plant diseases such as Fusarium wilt.

Deadheading works.

The practice of deadheading is a common way gardeners get additional blooms from their plants. "Using a sharp pruner (I like to use a small needle-nose snips for this job), follow the spent bloom down the stem to a set of five leaves, and cut the flower stem back to just above it," advises Schanen.

Rose dieback is typically caused by a number of things, like improper nutrient levels and maintenance, fungus and insect damage, plant age, and improper placement, says Matt Arnett, a Georgia-based certified plant professional with Pike Nurseries.

Water whenever the top inch of soil feels dry to the touch, saturating the soil until water runs from the drainage holes and soil media no longer bubbles. Daily watering may be needed during the heat of the summer, even if the container is a large one.

Roses love sun, but they don't like temperatures over 85 degrees. High temperatures affect the major plant growth processes of photosynthesis, respiration, and transpiration.

We recommend using Carr's Organic Soil Improver as your mulch material. Alternatively, you can use a good quality garden compost, composted straw or bark, or well rotted manure from a local farm (manure must be at least 2 years old, as fresh manure can burn the roots of your roses).

Many experts recommend a pot no less than 15 inches in diameter. Roses send down deep roots, so the taller the container, the better. The soil in pots heats up faster than garden soil, so clay pots are generally better than plastic since clay is slower to transfer heat from the sun into the soil.

Just about any type of rose can be grown in a container, but those ideally suited for the job include miniature roses, polyanthas, minifloras, and small shrub roses.

Good candidates include small shrubs, compact floribundas (a cross between long-stem hybrid tea roses and shrubbier polyantha species), ground-cover roses, miniature roses, and 18-inch-tall standards, or tree roses.

Roses grown in pots and other containers should be prepared and protected before your first frost. Pruning the canes back to 18”-24” and removing any damaged or diseased foliage will prepare your plants to go dormant for the winter and make storing them easier.