The masonry bit probably won't work, except on terra cotta. As glazing contractors we regularly drill all sizes of holes in glass/mirrors, granite (shower door installations) and other vitrified materials (the objects people bring to us to drill holes in). Most containers you'll encounter can best be drilled with a "spear-point" drill. I'll link you to a picture from one of our suppliers. The drill is also called a 3-point drill. Highly vitreous containers (glass, or glass-like - ceramic - clay fired at high temperatures) may even require a diamond impregnated "core drill", but it's very uncommon to find containers like this, especially at the dollar store. These inexpensive drills can be found at big box home improvement stores. They should be cooled with water or a 50/50 mix of water/antifreeze as you drill. An excellent strategy is to immerse the container upside down in a tub and add enough water to just cover the drilling surface as you drill. Rotating the drill clockwise at a slight angle while drilling will greatly increase ease of operation. Alternately (I use this method), fill a squeeze container (contact lens solution bottle is stellar) with water or 50/50 water/antifreeze & squirt it at the drill/material interface as you drill. If you can't find the drill you need, you can contact me off forum & I'll be glad to help you. Al Here is a link that might be useful: Here is a link that might be useful: See a spear-point drill here.

Seil - I looked up Annie Laurie McDowell and it's gorgeous. I will put that one on the list, thanks! athenainwi - I'm not sure we could make a raised bed in this area, but will see if that's a possibility. jacqueline3 - That does sound like a good idea. I had thought about a wine barrel, but not removing the bottom which seems to rot after a few years anyway. Thanks for your help

This is not the best picture of the rose in bloom but it is a good picture of the pot! That pot is 20 inches tall and 24 inches wide. And I have bigger ones now but I'm moving Blaze into a new bed we're making right now so I didn't bother to up pot her. Always, ALWAYS use good light potting soil, never dirt or garden soil, in pots. And make sure there are several good drainage holes. Drainage is key to growing roses in pots. However, that also means you need to water and feed them more frequently than roses in the ground because of that good drainage. Don't think that by keeping the water in more you'll avoid this. Roses hate to sit in water or soggy soil. You can mix in some of those water holding crystals but don't over due that either. Before you put any soil in the pot cover the drainage holes with coffee filters. They will eventually dissolve but in the mean time they will keep the fresh soil from running out the bottom. Then put about an inch or two layer of styrofoam (not the new biodegradable ones) packing peanuts in the bottom. In your zone I also recommend lining the side walls of the pot with bubble wrap for two reasons. First, it will help prevent the pot from cracking in winter freeze and thaw. Second, it will also help insulate the rose roots in winter. After all that then you can put in the potting soil and plant your rose. And yes, even in pots I plant deep! Bud union at least 2 inches below the soil level. I also keep all my potted roses on those pot trolleys. It allows the pot to drain better and it lets me move those heavy pots around more easily and without having to lift them. Believe me a pot that size full of wet dirt and a full grown rose weighs a TON! It also insulates it from the cement of my patio. Cement is like a sponge and will draw moisture out of the pot. And in the winter the frozen cement will suck any warmth out of the soil as well. That particular pot is enameled steel but what I prefer now are the hick walled foam ones. They're lighter, hold up longer and have better insulating properties. The thin walled plastic pots will due but they will crack after a few seasons from UV exposure. Stay far away from ceramic, glazed or otherwise! Even with the bubble wrap they will crack from winter freeze. Or the pretty glazed finish will all crack and fall off. And if you think a plastic pot with a rose in it is heavy, HA! You'll need a crane to move a ceramic one! And if you're planning on putting that climber in it get a good trellis that will fit inside the pot. I got that one at Big Lots and it was a tad too wide so the ends are bent in a bit to fit down into the pot. And the trellis is also staked down as well because when that rose is full of open blooms the weight will tip the trellis forward. For winterizing your best bet is an unheated garage or shed. I don't have a garage and there's no way I can get my 50 some potted roses in my shed. His Nibbs would have a fit anyway if his precious lawn tractor had to sit out all winter! The only potted rose that gets to go in the shed for winter is my tree rose because the graft is at the top and not buried in the pot. The rest of my pots winter outside, against the south wall of my house, buried in leaves and wrapped in burlap. In 6 winters now I've only lost a handful of roses to winter kill. In fact I've lost more of the roses planted in the ground than the ones in the pots! Yegads! This got long! Sorry, but I think that covers everything. If you have any questions you can email me and I'll send you the paper I wrote for my rose society about how I do all this stuff.

Hey Devi, Welcome to the forum! Always great to have new folk arrive! I'm not in E TN, but I hate to see queries go unanswered... I've grown annual sweet peas commercially, so my experience may or may not be helpful to you. I start them in a cold greenhouse, meaning it gets down to about 34 but doesn't freeze. As you may know, lathyrus loves cold, most soil. You just want to avoid lots of freeze-thaw cycles. Some folks soak seed before sowing, but I never have and haven't had any problems. I do, however, use inoculant, which, oddly, no one tells you to do with sweet peas. Like all other legumes, the rhizobia help the pea roots uptake nutrients. I sow into the final container if possible, as pea seedlings resent transplanting; if you're careful and bump them up before they get very big, transplanting is OK. I use ProMix BX and incorporate a charge of granular fertilizer, my favorite being Flower-Tone (97% organic and great for all herbaceous plants). Mice love to raid the pots for those big fat seeds, so if you have mice (and you may and not know it, particularly in a garage or basement) it's a good idea to put screen over the pot/flat until the peas are well up and growing. This is a hungry species. I topdress with Flower-tone when they're about 1 ft high, and again as they're setting buds. The peas should be blooming in May/June if you get them going now. They hate hot weather, so they basically fry by the end of June. England is their kind of climate, actually -- or the Pacific Northwest. In terms of varieties, I've never grown the knee-hi types ('Snoopea' et al) so can't speak to those. I select for flower color, size and scent and have found performance is generally OK over a wide variety of colors and series. Spencers are good, and Floribundas, and I've had particularly good luck with a series called the Winter Series. I buy seed commercially, and I'm not sure what's available to the homeowner. I have grown a few varieties offered by Thompson & Morgan over the years, and a pink one called 'Rosemary Vesey' (IIRC the name right) did quite well. T & M's sweet pea seeds seem to offer no germination issues, unlike most everything else they sell. Culturally, I give 'em full sun. Moving them into part shade about mid-May prolongs their life a bit. Early in life, though, they need high light or they get weak and stretchy. Bud set seems to be initiated by high light and increasing day length. Never started them in mixed containers. It may work, but I'd be inclined to start the seed in a container and carefully transplant int into the mixed pot at about 6" tall. But then, my aim is always to produce marketable containers, so everything has to work very predictably for me. Hope this helps. Marty