Any tips on roses in containers?

I've posted some other questions on the rose forum, but wondered if anyone here is growing roses in containers and what soil mix you are using. Does the container mix in the 'sticky' work for roses? The roses are Rosa gallica officinalis (Apothecary Rose/Lancashire Rose) and Alba Suaveolens (sometimes known as the Yorkshire Rose). I don't DO roses, but these are a treat for DH. Any help would be appreciated.

Kathleen

What size containers are you using? I have a couple of roses in half-barrels that are doing just fine. We didn't use any special container mix, just filled them with a mix of our native soil and some sorta-kinda compost from the pile of cleanings from our goat's stalls. Don't know why the container mix wouldn't work, tho.

My (very few) roses are all in the ground, but I think Al's container mix recipe is good for any kind of plants so you should be fine with it, then make sure and use fertilizer for roses.

uh-oh. What fertilizer do you use, Liz? I have the Dynamite slow-release that I've been using on everything. I'll take a look at the rose forum.

Honestly I haven't fertilized my roses yet--I just know I've seen special fertilizers for roses, so I assume they must have some N/P/K ratio that works best for them and may be different than a general purpose fert. I have some old red shrub roses that came with the house and I really don't like them that much, but they apparently thrive on neglect since they're doing great with relatively infrequent water and no fertilizer. And they're going to keep getting no fertilizer since they're planted behind a bunch of my Australian natives which will die if they get too much phosphorus! And then I have some that I bought this year and I don't like to fertilize things until they're a bit better established so I haven't fertilized them yet. They're groundcover roses so I don't think they're nearly as fussy about fertilizer as the fancy hybrid teas are, but I will probably fertilize them eventually. I won't use synthetic fertilizers in my garden beds, so they will most likely get fish emulsion and things along those lines.

Thanks, Liz. These are antique roses, if that makes a difference. I think I will just give them some SuperThrive and the Dynamite mixed in when I plant. Not going to worry about fertilizing until they really get growing - they are small (1 quart). Arrived in beautiful shape - I chose a grower not too far away so they only took two days to get here.

Hi; I grow everything in containers. I have 7 roses right now,5 of them new ,2 are 3 yrs. old.They are all David Austin roses. They are growing very well. They are in very big pots.I use Miracle Grow potting soil which has fertilizer already in it. After 3 months I will fertilize. Miracle Grow has rose food. My new roses are only 6" high & have already blossomed once & are getting more buds. They aren't very tall,but are getting wide. Two of them are hanging over the pots & I've only had them 3 months. I was told to put them in the pot that they will stay in so there's no need to transplant. I know some people don't like Miracle Grow ,but I swear by it. It works wonders for me. Good luck!!

Thanks, Mommie! :-)

The little guys have already put out lots of new leaves since I unpacked them, so I'm pretty sure they will grow into a big pot quickly. My problem with regular potting soil is that I can't get the watering right. So far, the pine bark mix is working very well for me, and I think I'll stick with it. These only bloom once in the spring, so I guess I won't see them until next year.