You can incorporate that into a potting mix, I guess. I've never used it so I can't say for sure. My goal was to make something that would allow for air space, hold moisture, and have a good organic nutrient base. I've read about compaction issues with keeping roses long-term in pots, thus the need for a looser, more free-draining mix than most potting mixes sold and intended for annuals. So I decided to use the shredded mulch for that, picking the cheapest I could find at Home Depot. But, at the same time, I did want to have some fine fluffy moisture-holding stuff, thus the peat moss (which is a base for most potting mixes, anyway). And finally, I wanted to push as much growth as possible from my bands, so they'd be more than just little twigs in the ground when I planted them. Thus the heavy infusion of cow manure and the organic fertilizers. My thought was that the initial excess nutrients leaching out of the manure would get "sponged up" by the mulch, then re-released slowly back into the mix. If I was to pot roses for longer-term (which I'll be doing when I get large planters for my red HTs), I'd probably put a layer of coarse gravel about 2" thick on the bottom of the pot over the drain holes, then 2" or so of straight mulch, then the potting mix. Each Spring, I'd top-dress with some fresh organic stuff (compost, fertilizer, manure, alfalfa meal, etc.), lightly scratching it into the top couple of inches. Again, as nutrients leach, they go down, replenishing the lower layers. After a few years, the rose would need to be removed, root-pruned, and at that point I'd refresh the potting mix again. :-) ~Christopher

It's SOOOO..... hard to wait, but I feel if you do, you will be glad you did. Hot, miserable weather is just around the corner, and roses with small root sytems struggle with the summer stress, even if irrigated every day. Sometimes they never get over it. I've tried all sorts of things, and the roses I left in pots until they filled out at least a 2 gallon pot (3 gallon is better) have become fabulous bushes. If you can be patient, it would be wise to get the bed prepped now, and top it all with a nice layer of mulch, unless you are going to plant some "temporary" flowers first. What you can then do is either sink the pots in the ground a little bit, or put bricks down for your pots to sit on. I bought cheap pavers from Home Depot to set my pots on. The air circulates better. That way the roses can grow a good root system, and you can move the pots around in the area you want to plant them to get a feel for what arrangement pleases you. Sandy

Hi, Debbie - where are you in Norcal? If you're anywhere near Sacramento, come see us and our roses in the Sacramento cemetery! We generally pot up the roses to at least one gallon and wait to plant them out until they have developed visible roots. Fall is the best time for planting but we've had good luck in spring, too (no later than April so that they get some chance to get established before the heat sets in). Once they're in a one-gallon pot, I nudge them gently with dilute liquid fertilizer twice a month. Be sure the plant is well-watered, and then add the fertilizer, about half-strength. I'll stop fertilizing about mid-October, but may then toss some slow release (Osmocote type) fertilizer into the pot. You don't have to worry about freezing temps in Zone 9. We've had baby roses that we are growing for the sale at the cemetery's Open Garden out in the elements when it's been in the 20s. You need to be sure that your pots don't dry out, that's a bigger worry than cold temps. We put some plastic fencing around roses that we plant out in the cemetery, to remind ourselves where they are and to keep people from stepping on them. If you have gophers, you may need to protect the roots, and certainly you need to protect the leaves and canes if you have deer. We do try to pinch off flower buds the first year but some roses are so eager to grow and bloom that you can't stay ahead of them. No need to stake a climber until it climbs. Good luck, and welcome to this forum! Anita

Lynn....... I think you are making the overwintering of these roses too hard. I know you are a planner, but sometimes you just have to wing it. I started my rose life in San Diego and was given the same advice as above. San Diego is also considered to be Rose Heaven. Note the ARS giving that advice in San Diego gave that timing so that the first flush of perfect roses would be ready for the rose shows in early April. It takes about six to seven weeks for a rose once it has set bud to bloom, so if your timing is early April you work back from there. You do not have to follow that timing if you are not worried about having roses ready for a show, but are just growing roses for your garden and don't need perfect roses, but need healthy roses. Cooperative Extensions and Master Gardeners have been parroting the advice given by the local rose societies for more than 60 years. That's because they do not specialize in roses and figure the ARS must know what should be done for their care. In San Diego, we stopped dead heading our roses in October and then began our pruning in December to be completed by Valentine's Day, so that they would be ready to show. My experience and personal opinion is that you stop deadheading in October, allow the rose to set seed and then the rose will go as dormant as nature will allow that rose to go dormant. When we dead head, we are interrupting the plant's natural cycle of getting pollenated and then setting seed, which stimulates the rose to re-bloom. If you don't dead head, the plant will complete it's natural cycle and rest. There is no need for dormant sprays unless you have a serious disease problem or unless you want perfect foliage for a rose show. I believe in leaving the leaves because the rose will abandon them when they no longer perform the function needed for the rose. Studies show that the photosynthesis process stops when temps reach around the 70 degree level. So you can take them off or not. I think they provide a larger mass for the top growth and leaving them on helps protect the canes from the colder temps. Cluster your pots on your patio and surround them with bags of leaves or mulch and stuff the same material in the gaps between the pots to make a bigger mass and to protect the outside pots from the colder temps and to keep the temps within the mass as constant as possible. If you feel you need to protect the top growth from freezing temps, you can cover them just as farmers do with their crops. These are small roses, they don't need to be pruned for the first year except to clean out the rose and shape it. (Note: I don't even shape the rose until it's been in the ground for at least two seasons, but I live where temps get colder.) You want it to grow out of those gallon cans, so you might as well just let it grow. Cutting them back/pruning them when they are small just slows down that process because the roses are storing nutrients in their canes. I now live in a climate with temps lower than you have reported. I over-wintered roses outside for six years in containers before I got them all planted. None of them died. I should have replaced the soil in those pots, but I was too busy digging rose holes in rock. I had to over winter the pots in a totally unprotected yard and I did not go out in the rain or snow to cover them. I also had to maintain those roses in direct sunlight in high temps that lasted for months. The key to my success was the larger mass. Not taking off leaves, spraying or taking off leaves. It kept the temperatures and moisture more consistent. In my best year, I could only get about twenty out of over one hundred roses planted. The only thing you need to do differently than I have done, is to make sure the pots don't dry out while they are resting on the patio. I've been told watering once a month is sufficient, but it doesn't hurt to check and see if you need to do it more often in your climate. Once I got them in the ground, they my roses took off even better than I expected because they finally had a chance to spread their roots. So your choice is to go by the book or wing it. Smiles, Lyn PS ... this rose, 'Kim Rupert', looked horrid in the pot, this is how it looked the first year I got it in the ground.