I would say 3 gallon as the smallest size container for own-root roses. Below are my 18 own-roots ... some are in 2.5 gallons, some are in 3 gallon pot. 2.5 gallons is way too small, I have to plant them into the ground after 4 months purchased as tiny-own-roots. Here's my pot ghetto July 9, less than 2 months of purchase as tiny-bands (most from LongAgoRoses). I bought GIANT own-root roses from Regan Nursery for $30 versus cheap $17 band-size roses and I see NO DIFFERENCE in performance as 2nd year if the band-size are grown in pots first to at least 2 gallon-root-ball. That's my experience out of 145 own-root roses for the past decade.

I would say 5 gal. I know it would depend on the type of rose going in. I bought 5 gal gopher wire baskets and now I wish they were 10 gal or 7.5 gal if they come that size. Of course that is going in the ground. I envision gophers eating all the roots outside the basket.

I am not sure exactly how many gallons my 20" inch diameter pots are but they sure do look like they hold way more than 5 gallons, considering a gallon is what goes into a large milk container.

Even the 20" ones look very large to me.

Again, I am talking about a forever home, not a transition place for bands or ladies-in-waiting-to-get-in-the ground. :)

(Uh... since when do ladies live in ghettos?:))

@Sheila z8a Rogue Valley OR,

I am curious...what is the diameter of your 5 gallon pot?

Novice, my 5 gal pots are about 11 inches diameter and deep. Pretty much like Mad says. In Georgia you might benefit from larger like Mad says.

What about getting some help with your bag of potting soil so you don't have to go up and down stairs so many times hauling pots of soil? Couldn't someone put the bag on a tarp up where you need it? I can lift a big bag of potting soil as long as it's pretty dry.

I think your 20" pots are pretty big. I have had some roses in smaller pots than that for quite awhile. Since some rooted through the hole I don't change out the potting soil like I'm supposed to. Most are ok with that. If you use a smaller pot, it'll need more frequent watering. But I think many roses just adapt to what size root space they have.

There is a container gardening forum here and some people there have given a lot of thought to potting soil. The thing that stands out to me most is the addition of some kind of grit. Helps keep the soil mix from compacting. Sounds like it would extend how long the potting soil would still be good.

@mad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY), @erasmus_gw and @Sheila z8a Rogue Valley OR,

Great information - thank you all so much!

I will save the chart, very useful!

Yes, next time I will have my husband help. I wanted to do it during the day and he was working at the time, so it was all me. It's good to know the size pot and repotting frequency are not as rigid as I thought they were.

I am pretty comfortable with a 20" pot, they seem to be doing fine in those in terms of water replenishing. If there are any issues, they are due to other things - like probably not enough sun in the second part of the season and me not spraying.

I realized the deck they are on receives a gradually smaller amount of sun as the warm season advances and all the leaves on the surrounding trees grow in.

I followed the sun and there was a period when my deck was drowning in sun in the afternoon. Now, I don't see it anymore - but I do see the shadow from the canopies.

Our house was built in the 80's in a woody area - when they were still leaving quite a few trees around the property...so our yard is more like a clearing.

I located the spots that get the most sun throughout the day but even those get quite a bit of dappled sun and some shade during certain parts of the day.

Something I'll have to leave with as it can't be changed. I will have to content myself with the Spring show which is closer to what I have in mind.

By the end of the season, they only put out a bloom here and there, if at that.

It dawned on my that I don't like a plant in what I call a "teaser state."

Let me tease you with one bloom - here it is. It's almost irritating when I see it, like there needs to be more. I'd rather have the bush all green. You either bloom abundantly or just be green until you' re ready to have kids along the lines of "be fruitful and multiply." To me, there's something wrong with roses with an only child. MY East Does, favorite rose, is doing this to me right now: one beautiful sunsetty bloom. I love that bloom so much..with. cooler temperature it is big again...but only one? Urgh!

Are you open to the idea of a once bloomer that will give you that fantastic spring show you want during the time of year where you've got enough sun for blooms?

@Mischievous Magpie (CO 5b),

if I knew this is all I am going to get from all of my roses post-Spring show - then most probably yes. But the ones I have are starting to perform in Spring too.

I grow >200 roses in 15 gallon pots permanently, due to having oak root rot fungus in my soil. I think that 20" or 24" pots are way too big to deal with them on an ongoing basis. I have those ultra-large pots that I used to grow vegetables in. That size is great for the roses, but not user-friendly for the gardener when they need to pull them up to root shave and/or replenish the soil every 4-5 years. Mad Gallica's chart is wonderful, and very accurate. I always plant my new bare roots in a 5 gallon pot, which go up to the 15 gallon when they're ready. Own root gallons go up to a 2-3 gallon pot, and then I decide if they're ready for a 15 gallon; sometimes they need awhile in a 5 gallon to put on size. There is even a difference between the 15 gallon talls and squats.

I used to grow in pots exclusively (thin desert soil full of mature pine roots), but I'm transitioning into raised beds. Yet I will always have pot roses!

For container growing, my current perspective is that grow bags are unparalled. (I put the bags in actual pots for aesthetic reasons). I buy the brown "Root Pouch" but there are other manufacturers. I've had a Julia Child rose in a 10 gallon root pouch for 5 years now without changing out the soil yet (Fox Farm Ocean Forest, and I give concoctions like fish emulsion, commercial fertilizer, alfalfa tea, etc). It bloomed all season, it's fifth, prolifically. I put a twin JC (4 seasons in the container) in a raised bed this spring, and when I took it out of the Root Pouch to plant it, it had a very robust, compact, dense root system, absolutely no circling, just a big fuzzy ball of fine feeder roots that needed no trimming or untangling. A 10 gallon is 16" wide by 12" deep.

Yesterday I planted a gallon size Mr Lincoln in a 15 gallon bag, which is 17" x 15". This is the intended permanant home on the patio (I put the bag in an actual pot.) I feel it might be optimal to use a smaller bag and size up eventually, but I just wanted to "one and done" it.

I'm now also using the bags to "hold the rose space" for raised beds I'm adding but not yet ready for. I recently cut out the bottom of a 15 gallon Root Pouch and put the Flamenco Rosita rose where I want it. It can start digging down with the roots before I create the permanent sided bed in my sweet time. I did the same this spring with a gallon size Queen of Elegance and a 7 gallon bag. I wanted to add Q0fE to a rustic cactus/succulent garden I'm creating, making a raised bed for it with logs but didn't have enough. I just looked today and the QofE has two open flowers and 5 big buds, and it's almost October. Thriving in place before the bed is even created. Nice!

As as aside, I really didn't like the QofE bloom color at first, the color seemed strange somehow and I almost gave it away. Now I'm liking it much more, it's an "aged" pink, like antique silk taffeta. It has a browned or smokey influence without being at all brown or smoky, ha!

I truly love rose pot gardens the very best. I only started adding them to the ground because I want more more more more more. :)

A suggestion I have if you love container gardening is to use a dolly/hand truck to move the pots around. My property is very terraced with a lot of stairs and I find the dolly invaluable when it comes to heavy containers.

So glad I found this thread.

My first ever bare root roses are arriving in about 10 days and I am so excited!

I am going to go buy pots and potting soil etc this weekend to prepare for their arrival.

I saw @susan9santabarbara 's comment above, saying she plants bare root roses in 5 gallon pots.

Is that standard? Could I get away with less?

Would 3 or 4 gallon be too small?

I am hoping I could start them in 3 gallon and then move them to bigger pots in the spring, is that a bad idea?

Edit to add: as I understand, most of these will be grafted on laxa rootstock, if that makes any difference.

Grafted roses vary in size when you receive them. That can affect your pot choice.

Most of the grafted bare roots I get have good-sized roots, so I probably wouldn't go smaller than 5 gallons. And even with 5 gallons, I usually have to prune the roots more to fit. However, I don't know about laxa's roots. All of my bare roots are on Dr. Huey or Multiflora. I got a bare root from Home Depot last year that had such small roots, I put it in a 3 gallon pot!

Thank you both for your wise words.

I will buy a few different sizes so I have some options and see what works based on the size of the roots when they arrive. At worst if it turns out I got inadequate pots, I will go back and exchange them for a different size while those babies will be soaking.

@cactusandroses - I have many large containers on my deck, and do move them with a dolly down 4 stairs. I ended up with a pot I can't move with the dolly (I put the container on the deck this summer while empty, then planted, and it's so heavy I can't move it!) Do you have a brand of dolly you can recommend for very heavy containers? My dolly is inexpensive and the 'base' the container sits on is not deep (wide) enough for large containers. Thank you!