Roses are red...

Our polyantha rose in full bloom.

..., violets are blue,... Well, our roses are pink but I guess they come in red too. Roses are one of the most popular flowering plants in the world. They comprise the Rosa genus in the Rosaceae family. Roses come in many shapes, sizes, and colors. Hundreds of books have been written about roses and hundreds more will probably be written in the future. (Unless the world really ends on Dec 21, 2012) We're by no means rose experts. Our intention here is to give you a brief introduction to roses and help you make an informed selection if you plan on growing one (or two, or three). If you need detailed information on roses by all means pick up a book at your local bookstore (reading is always recommended by Container Garden PR) or check out the American Rose Society webpage (http://www.ars.org/).

If you look at a catalog or browse an online store you may be overwhelmed by the large selection of roses. So which one should you choose for your container garden? In order to answer this question we need to talk a bit about rose classifications. We'll keep this as simple as possible (Boy scout promise. Editor's note: Joel was never a boy scout so take this promise with a grain of salt) because if you ask 10 people you can expect 10 different classifications for roses. I'll use the American Rose Society (ARS) classification because it's the most widely used in North America (and because I'm lazy and it was the first one I found online). The ARS classifies roses into old garden, species, and modern roses. Old garden roses refers to any pre-1867 variants, modern roses are any variant after 1867, while species roses are what we might call "wild" roses or any rose that occurs naturally in nature.

That's how the plant looked like when
I bought it for Jessica.

So back to the original question what rose should you choose for your container garden. In my opinion, old garden and species roses are unfit for containers. Others might disagree but I have my reasons. Species and old gardens are large specimens which, in my opinion, are better suited for people with yards or botanical gardens since they require a lot of space either above or below ground. For container gardeners space is usually a premium so who wants to have a 2 feet deep pot in their balcony or small yard? That leaves us with modern roses. Modern roses care broken down into several sub-categories but again I won't complicate matters. Without hesitation we can recommend miniature and patio roses. With some proper planning and careful selection floribunda and polyanthas can also be grown in containers. Miniature roses are just that, a plant that produces a miniature rose bloom. Patios are small shrubs that grow up to 2 feet tall. They bloom continuously which makes them great to give your garden some color all the way to winter. Polyanthas are small (just how we like 'em) shrubs that produce tiny flowers in large clusters at the end of the stems. Floribundas are related to polyanthas in that they bloom prolifically but come in a wider variety of colors. Of the four recommended varieties floribundas require the most consideration since most have a sprawling tendency.

Now which rose variety do we have? We have no idea (I told you rose classifications are confusing and complicated). I bought our rose from the nursery as a gift to Jessica for her birthday because a rose is forever as is as our love (awww...how romantic). Typical to their style the nursery didn't have any identification so we are left to guess from pictures found on the internet. We believe it's some type of polyantha (possibly pink pet) even though we originally believed it to be a miniature. Hey, we never claimed to be experts.

A new rose plant grown from a cutting.

Now that you know which varieties are adequate you need to know how to take care of your plant. First, choose the right container. Recommended sizes will vary depending on the variety but a container 12 inches deep is a good bet. A well draining soil is an absolute must since roses, in general, don't like standing water. Next, when selecting a plant from the nursery make sure you select a healthy looking plant with no signs of mildew or blackspot (a common fungus that affects roses). Place your new plant in an area where it will receive full sun (6 hours of sunlight). To establish the plant keep the soil evenly moist. After the plant is established water occasionally when the soil feels dry. Always water at the bottom of the container and avoid getting the leaves wet. This will minimize the probability of developing the fungi we described earlier. For fertilizing we recommend a balanced time-released fertilizer (You remember what a balanced fertilizer is right?, If not go here). Depending on the variety, a fertilizer with high phosphate can be used to maximize blooming. Finally, pruning is a very important process in maintaining a healthy rose. When blooms are spent cutting the dead flowers (called deadheading) will increase blooming. Also, roses need a good pruning at the end of the blooming season; winter in PR (Editor's note: Joel hates pruning. Jessica takes care of this). Cut back dead wood and prune healthy stalks to a desired shape. Don't worry if you think you cut back too much; it will grow back in spring. Another advantage to pruning is that healthy stalks that you cut can be used to reproduce your plant and #spreadthelove by gifting to a friend. We tried this ourselves with great success (see picture on the right) following the method explained in our previous post on propagation by cuttings.

So, that's it for today. I hope you enjoyed this introductory course on roses. If you grow roses in containers share your experiences with us in the comments section. Until next time, keep on gardening!