Miss Huff, I have always wanted window boxes. But the reason I don't do them is that you really have to water every day in the summer heat. I live WAY north of you, and I would have a hard time with mini roses in full sun like that. Perhaps other more experienced gardeners will have better advice. I hate being all doom & gloom.

PS you do have drainage in those boxes, right?

One of the first things I did was to plant roses in boxes, like window boxes.
Then, I watched them grow a bit and bloom.
Then, I watched them die.
No one told me that the average box like that is far too small for Miniature Roses!

Jeri

Pelargoniums (often called Geraniums) and hybrid Kalanchoes both available in brilliant red, and inexpensive to boot, can take searing, intense heat with little watering and still bloom and bloom and bloom. The Kalanchoes can be brough indoors for the winter and put out again the next summer, or because they are quite inexpensive, tossed at the end of the season.

The box is too small for the root systems????

I hope my roots aren't already crowded - they haven't even been in there 3 months!

Could be. Minis can grow fast. I have some minis that I repot in increasingly larger pots 2 - 3 times during the season. In any case, the box is too small, probably too dry and too hot. Not a rose enviornment at all. Make them happy, take them out.

Miss Huff

Yes even after just 3 months the box may be too small. Remember all roses are shubs that sent down a deep root system. Even for miniature roses a large pot is recommended. If the leaves are turning yellow it sounds like the roots are sitting in water. As mehearty aluted to, do your window boxes have enough drain holes to get rid of the excess water? You may want to think about swapping out the miniature roses for the micro-mini roses.

It depends on what the final size of the mini roses are supposed to be... What are the roses by the way? If they are supposed to get to 24" then stuffing them in a window box isn't good...

I ended up only being able to put micro minis in the window boxes because the big ones had root systems that were so vast in time there was no soil and all roots... (took a year or two for that to happen though...)

Yellow and falling off sounds like too much water... yellow, crispy edges and falling off sounds like not enough water too much sun/heat...

Also, the window boxes should be at least 8" deep...

Do they have drain holes? how high is the soil line? is the soil wet? tell all :)

If they have been there for about 3 months and appear to be dying, it might be a lack of water. They have to be watered more than once per day early on because the water drains out about as fast as you put it in.

Miss Huff:

I also wondered what kind of soil you used. That could be a factor. Do you have a picture of the boxes?

If you decide to take out the roses and put in something else you might consider Moss Roses (Portaluca) which is an annual but very heat tolerant. Another wonderful annual for a flower box would be Lantana. To give you an idea Lantana grows happily in Arizona so can take a very warm, dry environment.

If you think your roses are salveagable and decide to take them out by all means put them in your rose ICU:) Some good sized pots with appropriate potting soil might work wonders.

Hope this helps.

Kate