Thanks- all good things for us to know when buying an expensive item. It is now ;Cyber Monday'= and I don't see any prices that are different from the last several weeks...maybe Cyber Monday is just a gimmick? I had a horrid experience with buying from Best Buy- in person....first, the salesperson walked away while I was actually asking questions about the computers- I floowed him through several isles to drag him back. He then said 'I'll be back in 3 minutes'....10 minutes later I found him standing up front talking with coworkers. I again ragged him back to the computer area. I bought the HP Mini. I did complain to the mgr, who gave me a $40 off the computor. 4 days later, when I returned the computer because it didn't work, the mgr only refunded $359, not $399...I guess all the crap I went through/got a sales price renigged because the product didn't work, and it was then ok to have such bad salespeople. I won't ever be buying from Best Buy. Now....where are the Cyber Day Sales????? owbist- I think it was you that said I was already ahead $40 online.....where, please?

I've been growing roses solely in pots for about 3-4 years now. Being in Australia, I don't have much advice on cheap pots, but I would second Nik's advice that bigger is better. I mostly start mine off in the smaller sizes, then go as big as I can get, depending on the rose and how fast it grows- the biggest pots in use at the moment are about 45 cm (about 18 in, but they sell them by diameter not gallon size here), I'm long overdue for another upsize on quite a few of my roses. Haha and I already have a shed full of smaller sized pots... When ever I pot up, I'm rewarded by an extra flush of growth- they're a lot happier. Not sure of your weather patterns, but I've noticed that during our hot spells, the black pots (especially ones in direct sun) soak up the heat - they are sometimes almost uncomfortably hot to the touch - which cant be good for them. I'm trying to rotate out the black ones, inconvenient as it is, as they tend to be the most easily available and the cheapest. The smaller pots also dry out twice as fast as the large ones. The other issue is that potted roses are so much more dependent on you for all their care..that means more care with fertilizer, watering, decent soil..etc etc..and judging by the ones in my neighbours yards, they wont ever get quite as big, or floriferous, as they do in the ground. Good luck..its a learning experience.

you can start with orchidmall as a launch pad to many sites, Hawaii is a main location for many nurseries that do mail order https://www.orchidmall.com/plants.htm but for proven quality, fair price, variety and dependable customer service here are my top 2 Hawaii nurseries and I have visited both. First: http://www.hrnurseries.com/ I have been buying from them more than 20 years, never a bad plant or an issue they attend many shows in mainland and guarantee healthy plants (no virus) Second: http://www.mauiorchids.com/ more quality plants at very fair price, they do not travel last time I checked. more sites http://www.tropicalorchidfarm.com/ have bought from them a few times for species plants, they do not travel either and also no issues and good quality plants. http://www.carmelaorchids.net/ I have bought from Carmela's many times at shows, good place for community pots of cloned material, they attend many shows on mainland http://www.kawamotoorchids.com/ I have bought from them many times and only once had a bad plant (color break) and they replaced quickly, they also travel well to many shows on mainland Hope you can control your impulses.....

Update: since this post I conditioned my soil by putting straw bale on top of soil and it was a big improvemen. Previously the soil was dry and hard. After only a couple of months with straw as mulch, the soil was moist and pliable 6-8 inches below ground which makes digging a hole a much easier task. I bought 2 Asian Pears from Starks Bro., a Hosui and an Olympic Giant. One was shipped bare root and the other one in pot. I planted them in a couple of months ago and now just waiting for the spring to come. Thanks to all your help, particularly JXBrown, on soil prep. One thing to note since I don’t have compost or grass clipping, I bought a bag of alfalfa pellet from local feed store and just throw a handful into the hole and call it good. The alfalfa pellets provide nitrogen and a bunch of nutrient, and I think it lowers the Ph as well. This past summer I spread them alongside my Italian cypress and they definitely helped.