I don't know of anyone who has any on sale right now but I have bought some sturdy plastic pots from the Dollar General Store and I think for under $20. I don't know if you have one of those where you live but some where similar might have inexpensive pots.

I bought lots of large plastic colorfuls containers at Lowe's, originally $10 now on sale for $8. I bought green, blue, pink. The colors aren't for the faint of heart but I think they liven things up.

They're made of rigid plastic & seem very strong. I had to use an electric drill to punch out the indented holes at the bottom but it took about a minute to do.

Target has a lot of large plastic pots on sale now - I think they have beige and maybe black?

Hey Sara Ann,
I saw on one of Seil's posts a while back about getting pots at Big Lots, so I went there looking for some earlier in the season. I was surprised at the selection they had and at very reasonable prices. I never would have thought about Big Lots if I hadn't read her post, but very glad I did.

For some really inexpensive pots you might consider washing machine spin tubs. I bought 6 for $5.00 each from a washing machine repair shop where they kept old machines for parts. I had to call several places before finding one in an old part of town that had room for a junk yard type facility.

They are enamel coated steel and are usually white or grey. Here's what they look like:

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I just got those pots at Lowes for $7.98 that view mentioned Same colors too! They had a lime green one but that one was just a bit TOO bright even for me, lol. All their pots seemed to be on sale so I'd check them out. Other good places to get inexpensive pots are Big Lots or Walmarts sometimes. Since it's already late in the season most places are cutting the prices to move them out so they can get in winter stock.

This is the style pot I got. I think it said it was 18 inches. They had even bigger ones too though. I think those were 11.98 and were 22 inches. I got this turquoise, a pink and a blue. I don't need them for this year but I will by next spring!

I'm very happy (so far) with the 22 1/2" resin barrels I got from Home Depot for $20 each. As-is, there are no drainage holes, but there are circles marked on the bottom where they can easily be drilled or gouged. I used these for HTs and planted annuals around the bases. These pics were taken right after I put the annuals in -- they and the roses have since grown much more.

If you go to the Home Depot website, for some reason these barrels are listed twice. One pic was taken at an odd angle, giving the impression that it's much more tapered than in real life. Here are the two links for the same product.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-22-5-in-Resin-Whiskey-Barrel-HDR-505742/203580708

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Southern-Patio-22-1-2-in-Whiskey-Barrel-Resin-Planter-FGS-468573/202294014

:-)

~Christopher

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Many local nurseries will have stacks of used empty nursery pots out in the back by their property line, especially if they do plant installation. Often can be bought very cheaply.

Great leads here & find the washing machine tub very creative & inspirational!

Just wanted to add something. When you're looking for BIG pots to put a rose into stay away from the ones with completely smooth straight sides like the one below. There is no way to grip those edges securely enough to lift those pots up once they're filled with heavy wet soil and a full grown rose. I have some really beautiful ones I got from Costco and hated them because I could not find a way to pick them up. So I had my brother drill holes and put rope handles on them for me. Much better now. You need some kind of lip or edge at the rim so you can get a good grip on the heavy pot to lift it.

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I looked at these at Lowes too and decided against them because of the smooth rims.

Seil, that's an ingenious solution! Some jumbo pots here had to be tilted on a lower rim & rolled a short way before reversing - crabwalked - laboriously to clear & wash the walkway. Others require two people & a lot of mumbling & stumbling to move. Found a PotLifter a few years back that's made moving the pots (and many other things) relatively easy, even with the straight-sided, square & odd ones. A square of outdoor plywood beneath especially slick (like glass) or stuff with uneven bottoms, like shrubs being moved, makes those easy with this, too. With all your pots, might be worth a look. Link below for the reviews.

Here is a link that might be useful: PotLifter

Thanks so much everyone. There are some very good suggestions here, I appreciate all of you very much. The washing machine spin tubs is a unique idea. I own a Laundromat, so a few years ago when we replaced all our washers I could have had 26 of them! The suggestions here are great and this is going to be a big help!

Hey Sara Ann! Just wanted to add if you find something you like but not the color you can always spray paint it. I paint lots of things bc I don't like it's color. Good luck!!!

That's a great idea roselee! Does that happen to be the Colocasia 'Mojito' in the spin tub? I really like it.

Jay

Go to Greenhousemegastore.com. You can order 25 gal nursery pots for a little over $8.00 a shot. In Fl. I used a lot of them. There are other sites that also sell these 25 gal nursery pots. Check around.

Arb, yes -- that's 'Mojito' in the tub. By the way, I got the idea for using washing machine tubs when I visited Billie's garden in Rockport, Texas.

Also, wanted to say there are special spray paints now that stick well to plastic if you want to paint nursery pots. I've used big nursery pots, spayed painted them, and then 'antiqued' them with good results. I've also found a lot of neat pots at garage sales for next to nothing.

Here is a link that might be useful: Billie's Garden ....

Rosalee, I just love that washtub pot idea. So cute!

Just to let everyone know, Lowes has several fairly large sizes of pots on clearance right now. There are many styles listed on their website for under $20, I think you can have them sent to the store for free pick up. I don't think that home delivery is an option because of their size. I just went in to my local store a few days ago & bought 6 pots between 18-25", and paid less than $40. Some of them were less than $4!!!! The selection wasn't as good in store, but I found some nice ones still. I might order a few additional pots just in case I need to buy more roses..... you know... just in case.

If you know of some recycling places near you, some of them have nursery pots. I was at one recently and they had piles of them. I brought a whole bunch back to Lowe's once. The larger pots I keep. I'm not to proud to say that I took two 7 gallon black pots out of my neighbors recycle bin one trash day.

Lol, I've recycled a few pots from the trash too, Buford!

I just wanted to say that this is the best time of year to find those bargains. Most places are trying to get rid of all the summer stuff to make room for Christmas merchandise so they are slashing the prices to move it all. Spring is the worst time!