I have a lot of damage in my rose field from last year's heat and drought. I THOUGHT I was doing a good job keeping the roses watered, until I realized in August that the hydrant that supplies my drip system had an underground leak. There wasn't enough pressure to push the water to the end of the system, and most of the roses in that garden went without water for most of the summer. Some of the own-root hybrid teas in my front bed also suffered from the double whammy of heat/drought followed by cold/windy winter. The ones that are struggling are the ones that probably don't do well on their own roots in the first place. I thought Los Angeles was a goner, but it had one bud near the soil line and is growing back a bit. Golden Ophelia looks pretty sad ... as does Chief Seattle. We had a minor late freeze here in April, and that did some weird things to some of my roses. Pink Peace, for example, was pruned in late March and it barely grew above the pruned canes but it opened 5" flowers on dinky stems weeks earlier than normal. It looks like the second flush should be a bit more normal. On the plus side, this is the perfect time to assess the superstars in the garden. Ellen Poulsen is beautiful ... so is Comtesse de Segur. I'm not sure the OGRs have ever looked better. My row of Hybrid Chinas is absolutely stunning. Connie

All my roses are in pots for the reason that I'm a renter and that I like to rearrange roses periodically. I'd echo many of the points already made. I agree growing roses is generally easier in the ground but can be successful in pots. I'm not personally familiar with Austins. The one I recall growing years ago, Graham Thomas, was a sprawling monster not suited to being in a rose bed with bedding roses, let alone in a pot. It also blackspotted horribly, but that's an issue only of concern is some regions and climates. Selecting compact varieties certainly helps. Drainage and good potting medium are key. As already mentioned, lots of tap roots are not helpful in pot culture. I'd just add that this is precisely why I try to avoid roses grafted on Dr. Huey. I don't know what Australia's roses tend to be offered on as far as rootstock. But Dr. Huey rootbounds for me after 2 years. Growing roses on their own roots is my preference for pot culture. They seem to adapt more easily to pot life. If I can only find a variety I'm looking for on Dr. Huey, I'll get it but watch it and plan on root pruning every couple years, or, when appropriate, rooting a cutting from the grafted plant to replace the original. Occasionally a rose doesn't grow well on its own roots. I either give up on it or get it grafted on multiflora or fortuniana. Both have plentiful feeder roots and few to no sprawling taproots. Sometimes I procrastinate about root pruning, but usually by at least 4 year intervals I will do it at winter pruning time and partially replace the soil at the same time. That seems to rejeuvenate the roses. If it doesn't, I replace the offending rose. There are always new varieties on my wish list eager to take the spot. Though potted roses are more trouble in general, one advantage is I can control and ensure good drainage much more easily. Another is that I never struggle with invasive tree roots, which often happens in the ground. Mike

I will take the advice and add eyebolts to strategic places on the uprights for tying the canes instead of doing much weaving. If canes get as big as broomsticks, they won't bend much to create horizontals for flowering. Will they form secondary horizontal canes that will flower? Will long canes be limber enough to bend over the top of the arbor without kinking? Thanks again for the advice and compliments on the arbor. It took a fair amount of thought and design but I enjoyed it.

My plants are not doing too well either. I'm looking at pictures of last year garden and those were way ahead of the garden sitting out there sulking right now. Our April and May have been horrible. last night it dipped down to 38 degrees. I had to cover my tomatoes. Tomato is the only warm weather crop that i set out. I bought eggplants, tomatoes, peppers from the green house on 4/30. that's when i normally buy them. But this year i couldn't set them out since it's been too cold. I had to set the tomatoes out since they were getting too big in the pots. Peppers and eggplants are in and out of the house as the weather allows. Everything else seem to be growing slowly too. I'm hoping the warm weather (if it ever makes it here) will get things going. So don't loose hope. Things will start to grow once the conditions improve.