Gee wheez. Interesting read. I have like 60 roses coming this spring and will literally start mixing up my potting soil today. Great timing on posting this, I'll see how I can use that tip. I wonder what the cons are??

That would be a temporary measure, because the roses would drown before too long. I used to feed roses the water when I cleaned my goldfish tank though.

That would be a temporary measure, because the roses would drown before too long

Well the link above implies that they won't too soon, and I'm certain roses are being cultivated hydroponically (although in that case the watering solution may be oxygen enriched and most probably the roots drained between flushings).

She would need a greenhouse in the winter in Alaska, probably September to May. For the rest of us, the companion plants and yard/garden appeal would be limited.

If you read the article carefully you will note that the roots are not entirely submerged in the water. So that said I don't think drowning will occur.

I've kept bare roots soaking for weeks and they were ok. No goldfish though.

"One lady transferred hers to a fish pond with great results"....Sounds permanent and completely submerged to me. I would have to see it to believe it. I know roses aren't drought tolerant, but I didn't think they were swamp plants either.

Some are. I would say in general roses are more swamp plants than desert plants, and can handle a lot more water, for a much longer time, than many people seem to want to admit.

For what its worth I read about hydroponic greenhouse roses long ago. Lots of those in existence. I had not read of accomplishing this out doors.

Planting in the ground or a pot probably looks better. It's just interesting to me that they can apparently do ok in water longer than I thought. I'm wondering whether there's more oxygen in a bucket of water than in waterlogged heavy soil. One of the cons would be creatures falling in the water, unable to get out. I once had a bird drown in a tub of water in which the water was shallow. Also had a fish pond at one time and a huge bullfrog drowned in that or else was killed by a cat or something. So standing water can be a hazard. Maybe not a big hazard.

Years ago, had purchased a few bare root roses at a local nursery. I became ill before I could plant them up. I had them soaking in five gal buckets for a couple of months. When I finally got them planted, they were fine. They never missed a beat.

This is where I heard you can't store rose roots too long in water (3 days tops), because the rose "drowns": Paul Zimmerman, Planting a bareroot rose. But it's good to hear other experiences.

The 'drowning' is more when the rose is in soil that is wet and the roots are in very wet soil. That prevents oxygen from getting to the plant. Soaking in water is fine, but I do keep they out of the sun. I don't think they would do well permanently in water. And when I soak roses, they are mostly dormant roses or just coming out of dormancy.

I intended to shovel prune a rose from a new house I'd moved into but my husband asked me to put the three pitiful sticks with some very small roots attached into water to see if we could revive them. This was in winter in my 8b zone and they were left under a screened area that gets a lot of sun. I was thinking there's no way these things are gonna survive but I did it to appease him. A few months later I went to toss them and they had a tangle of new, white roots! I was shocked! I planted them last spring and they did pretty well tho they stayed small in small pots with a continous one or two bloom output throughout the summer season. This will be their second year, replanted into larger pots and they're looking good. So, I can vouch for at least a several month water-based environment for rose roots. I don't know what real application this suggests. I never changed the water ,but only added more now and them, just ignoring the plants and they did well.