How cool, Aimeekitty! Up Whites Canyon from Soledad on the hill? Yes, Banksiae and Purezza are completely evergreen up there. And, yes, they both have been successfully grown in pots, much the same way you can bonsai a full sized tree in a pot. It requires excellent drainage, a pot of sufficient minimum size for the size plant you want, a pot of suitable material to prevent it from cooking in the sun/heat and religious watering. I've seen Banksiae grown in five gallon sizes for many, many years. Yes, they become root bound, but preventing the roots from getting to the soil, keeping it properly watered and fertilized occasionally, as well as keeping it sheared to maintain a proper balance between root and top growth sizes keep it alive. It will flower in those conditions, on any sufficiently mature wood and anywhere that wood receives enough sun. The potential for sunburn of the wood is much higher growing in pots because of the water stress from lack of spreading, foraging roots. I've seen it grown as a tiered "poodle" topiary, and as a standard where the trunk was incredibly thick with side buds removed as you would for a standard trunk. The top branches were permitted to grow and were continually kept sheared to maintain a rounded head. Those also flowered in spring, paving themselves over the surface with bloom. It CAN be done. It takes time and a LOT of effort and attention. I had a client in The Palisades who was a very long time gardener. He was widowed and did all manner of odd things for his own amusement. I teased him his garden was like visiting The Island of Dr. Moreau because of the unusual things he accomplished, but he spent every day in his garden. It was his life. You could also train a Banksiae like the braided trunk ficus you see everywhere, then either round the head or allow it to fountain out. They are amazingly versatile and enduring plants. They will suffer just about anything you can think to do TO them, as long as their basic requirements are met. Victorian and Edwardian florists raised many types of ramblers and other climbers in pots, training them into fantastic shapes and forcing them to flower for holiday decoration. Think bougainvillea or even what is done to potted florist azaleas in today's markets and you get the idea. Aimeekitty, you have plenty of room for the Banksiae as long as you aren't afraid to prune and shear it as you would a bougainvillea, pyracantha or other indeterminate shrub or climber. Don't be afraid to prune it. It honestly will thumb its nose at you and grow more vigorously, just in a different direction. If you train it along the top of your fence, you can shear it to form a dense topper which will then flower each spring. Banksiae will make free standing shrubs, totally capable of supporting themselves on the thick wood they will develop. You can see a few of them outside the gates of Scenic Hills along Rainbow Glen, just off Sierra Hwy. Kim

I have 2 Banksia roses - the white and the yellow. I don't do anything special. Just water from ground level once a week when needed and throw a bit of rose food on them a couple of times a year. They definitely do not get the same treatment as my other roses and they thrive. The only gripe I have with them is they only flower for a few weeks a year, but the arch is always green and they are very easy to keep looking tidy. Regards Julia

Thanks for the feedback. I have had a good look on the web and have ordered some chelated iron (which also contains magnesium) and will give them a foliar spray. It seems that the worse thing to do is to be too kind to them and fertilise them. However they can suffer from iron and it seems magnesium deficiencies. Our soil is sandy and light so it is well drained. Have bought and planted some banksias from an English nursery that specialises in them (The Old Walled Garden in Kent) and they are surviving well, although one of them is looking a little yellow (*gulp*) so I'll go down the iron/magnesium and no added fertiliser route. If this works then I'll have a go at some more seeds. The mix that I started them off in was a mixture of sand, potting compost and perlite, roughly thirds. Thanks for the help and encouragement.

good morning all and Happy Easter. Your input has convinced me I have Fortuniana. Despite my efforts this a.m. pics aren't better. Couldn't get close enough either to smell. I did observed that the thorns are in 2" increments and not as killer as Autumn Damask but almost as hurtful. Only the baby branches are thornless. I marked one with a string so I can tell later if it develops thorns. I had to limb it up so DH could mowe unscathed. Why isn't that the roses you don't care for are the ones that do best with neglect? Suspecting that this wasn't what I wanted, I never give it any attention but it lives on, and well, shall I say, ha. I really really wanted a b. lutea b/c yellow is DH fave color but I wont remove this one. Will just have to wait for other real estate to clear up, sigh. Thanks for your help. ETA I do have a Lady Banks on another section of garden, lovely and thornless. The two roses are different.