Hello friends,

I am new to the forum, as I just started my first rose bush this past Spring. I have found all of your conversations to be very informative, and, while I have searched for an answer to my question in the archived posts, I have not been able to find the information that is specific to my situation. I hope that you will forgive my newbie question, and hope that you will help.

My husband purchased a New Dawn for me for our anniversary in May. I had planned to train it around a tree in our tiny backyard, but we have had several problems with our waterline that precluded planting at all- things have been dug up in the area all summer. We live in a city neigborhood, so the houses are quite close together, and I only have one other spot that gets enough sun- in a side yard that is only 20 feet wide. It faces South (toward the neighbor's house), but the "head" (and our house) face westward toward an alley/side street.

Thinking that I would be able to plant the rose later in the summer, I planted the rose in a large painted terra cotta pot, and trained the canes up a large plastic arbor. They did really well in the pot, and the canes have really taken to the arbor- they are almost hanging on the other side already. Since we didn't have the money to complete the work on the backyard, I won't be able to plant it there at all until next summer at earliest. The problem with the pot is that the side yard is built over a flagstone patio (there is only about 8 inches of dirt), and there is no way that I can dig out a spot to plant it in the side yard. I am going to have to leave it in the pot for the winter, and I have no garage or basement.

So, in my research, I have found a bunch of ideas that I could use, and I have no idea which is the best idea.

Should I:

Dig it out and plant it somewhere else in the garden that does not get enough sun and transplant it in the Spring.

Take it out of the pot, lay it down in the alley on the other side of the house (about 4 feet wide but sheltered) and cover with straw or mulch.

Purchase a larger plastic or wood container and transplant now, burying the union bud deeply and using burlap or tomato cages/straw to wrap the canes.

Bury the pot in a storage container that is filled with soil and add a wick to ensure that the water does not pool at the bottom.

Build a temporary (or not so temporary) "raised" bed out of concrete blocks and bricks (I have some left over) and planting it in the ground now.

Wrap the pot with bubble wrap and burlap (leaving the drainages holes open) and hope for the best?

Also, what about the fact that it is entrenched in the arbor? Should I unwrap it, or, if I leave it in situ, wrap the whole thing in burlap?

New Dawn is supposed to be winter hardy to zone 4, so it should be ok outside (I am in Zone 6), but the container issue stymied me. Perhaps I am overthinking it, but it has a lot of sentimental value, and I have so little money left for gardening that I would hate to have to replace it.

Thanks very much for any advice that you can offer.