English roses in pots

Growing English roses in pots

Everybody knows I don't like most English roses as a garden rose because of their floppy, flamboyant growth and blooms hanging in the mud. I do however love them in pots. They are ideal for this purpose. Their flamboyant growth and arching canes become an advantage here and the big fragrant blooms dangle graciously towards you. 

You can plant them as bare root roses or as a potted rose in a container. Of course container roses can be planted all year round and bare root roses only when the plants are dormant. 

Always choose a big enough pot, don't be a cheapskate here, invest in big pots and it will pay off with bigger plants and blooms. The minimum size is 50X50 cm but bigger is better. Also higher is better. The ideal pot for English roses is 70X50 cm and it will alow the roots to go deep. Take a good potting compost and best is special rose potting soil, it has some clay in it and it keeps the soil more moist. Mix some composted manure or leaf compost or ordinairy compost through the potting soil. 2 parts compost on 8 parts of potting soil is ideal.

Now cover the drainage hole with a shard from a broken terracotta pot or something similar. Put 1/3 of your potting mix in and take your rose with bare roots and spread out the roots in the center of the pot. Now hold it in place and fill up the pot with the rest of the potting mix. If the graft is buried too much you just pull the rose up until the graft is at the surface. Now put a last layer of compost on top as a mulch. Now you gently press down with your hands. Immediately after this you give water. How much? Until water leaks from the drainage hole. If you plant a container rose it's even easier: Put 1/3 of potting mix in, take the rose out of the container and place it in your new pot, fill up with potting mix. Put the layer of mulch on top and water and voilà.

In March you start with giving an organic granulated fertilizer. We do this on a monthly basis so from March till August. Just spread out a good handful. Also now is a good time to give a handful of volcanic rock dust or lava rock dust or lava meel in Dutch. Spread it onto the potting soil and work it in a little bit. It's important to water your pots from now on so you start watering in March. Your fertilizer needs moisture to dissolve and reach the roots. How much water? A good indicator is the finger method: When you put your index finger in the soil and it feels moist you don't have to water. If it feels dry you must water. You give water until it drains from the bottom. In warm weather it's essential to check daily if watering is needed. Remember that the rose is totally depending on you for watering it so don't let it dry out!

Also from the end of March we start with, on a weakly basis, giving a liquid organic fertilizer. An organic vegetable, tomato or seaweed fertilizer is ideal. Roses in pots need extra food so this extra liquid feed will ensure a good healthy growth.

In August you stop fertilizing so no more handful of organic fertilizer or liquid fertilizer. It will alow the new growth to get strong enough to survive frost. If we keep fertilizing the rose keeps growing and the new growth won't harden out and will die during periods of frost.

If you follow these guidelines your English roses will flower for months. Don't forget deadheading them! 

Good varieties for growing in pots are Golden Celebration, Grace, Lady Emma Hamilton, Olivia rose Austin, Englantyne, Elizabeth, The ancient Mariner, Charlotte, Jubilee Celebration, Desdemona, Dame Judi Dench etc...