Spring Gardening...

[Mara]

The last two weekends I have been doing some heavy work out in the patio garden..I just spent the last few hours out there kind of finishing things up for now...last week I did the pruning of the roses (late for my area, I should have done it in early Jan!), did some repotting of the roses (man that sucks, bloody scratches and heated swearing abounds) so hopefully I will see some great results from moving a few very rootbound items to larger, roomier pots...planting of some new bulbs and cleaning out/weeding of the pots.

Also, I got a few new roses this year...not too many since it is after all just a patio garden! But I'm really excited about those too since it's been a few years since I bought any new roses...my new roses this year are Golden Celebration (a David Austin English); Star of the Nile (a fragrant darkish pink shrub rose) and an impulse purchase which was Special Occasion (a supposedly fragrant beautiful looking apricot HT). I also have Louise Clements on order from Heirloom Roses but it won't be ready to ship til April. I had GC previously and while it wasn't the best performer, the blooms look and smell just divine. I also wanted to get some additional fragrant roses this year so that it could perfume the patio more on the hotter, less windy days, nothing like a rose perfume wafting over to you as you sit at the table and read.

Special Occasion and SOTN are own-root roses so we'll see how they mature this year, I put them in slightly smaller 16" pots even though I know I probably should put them into 20 inchers of their own but they look so tiny and forlorn right now I had to put them in something a little less lonely. I may be paying for it come summer if they grow quickly.

Anyway....I think we have some rose lovers here if I recall correctly from previous posts, but I'm sure no one is as much of a rose nut as I used to be, at one point I had 90 roses! Yep 90. Since then I have had to pare down numerous times, so I always just kept my favorites moving from place to place. Now I have about 13-15 total including 4 Austins and 2 very mature miniatures (one of them, 'Snow Bride', was my very first miniature I bought and it is a super performer!), and 2 newly bought grocery store miniatures that are taking off (I plant the whole lot of the small plants and eventually I get about 2-3 large mature rosebushes!). The rest of the roses are HT's.

Hoping to have some roses starting in the next month or so (I have one or two sneaky ones that are about to bloom so I left them on the bush while pruning, but they are anomalies!), but I guess we'll see..the weather has been up and down so I'd need way more sun to accomplish that. It was beautiful today though, about 70ish with sun, I think I got a little tan going on!

So what's happening in your gardens? I know many of you are still buried under snow, but my daffodils already bloomed 2 weeks ago and are dying back...my tulips are coming up, I still have a few more daffodils which haven't bloomed yet..my muscari is out in full force and my freesia are coming up. I also planted some tuberose today for the first time in years, so we'll see how that fares. I haven't had the best of luck with tuberose in the past, don't know why. But I love the fragrance.

Okay now I better go shower, I have dirt clumps stuck to my pants!

 

[sunkist]

Well my garden ( if I can even call it that) is very small and sadly doesn''t consist of any flowers!!! Pretty pathetic, I know. I love plants and I''ve been working on my green thumb for a few years now. I''m living in an apartment on campus so I don''t have a lot of space to keep plants at the time. My front porch is covered with potted ferns, succulents, and ivies, but I only have northern sun exposure so nothing grows tremendously. I''ve been fighting off little chickadees the past week - they are destroying my succulents! They pick them apart and just throw the leaves on the ground

I''ve noticed that my Boston ferns and grape ivy are looking a little sad, I think they need to be repotted, but I picked up some fertilizer last night to see if that will cheer them up for now!

I wish I had roses and tulips! I keep looking forward to when I finally get married and we have our own place. Then I''ll have enough space to create a real and better garden

Mara, can you share pics of your roses? I''d love to see them!

 

[Mara]

Sunkist, I used to have a friend who loved succulents, he had something like 20 of them! I'm not really a non-flowering plant kinda gal... I feel like all this hard work needs to produce something colorful I guess...hehee! But I do know about having to deal with whatever your environment deals you...it will be so much fun when you have more room or a garden of your own in the future with flowers. It's so easy to get hooked on certain plants too. I'm a bulb and rose whore with companion plantings for under the roses...I don't like to see an inch of bare soil! It can be messy.

Here's a link to the fall garden thread which has some pictures of my roses from September of last year (2005)....
https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/fall-garden-beauty.33539/

Also, here are a few pictures from last spring in 2005 of the rosebushes leafing out with my fave thing to see, lots of buds and flowers!!

 

[Kaleigh]

Well my garden is frozen. We don''t do anything here until April. But I am excited for spring to arrive and get to work. My roses will need some TLC.

 

[sunkist]

Fabulous pics Mara!! I''m looking at your roses and just wishing I could smell them

Lovely. Great job! Thanks for sharing

 

[Mara]

Here are catalog images of three of the new roses I got this year....they may look a little different in my own garden.

Top is Louise Clements; then Star of the Nile; then Special Occasion.

Golden Celebration looks basically like LC in shape, but is a really buttery bright golden yellow...it''s just got great color and exceptional scent.

All of these are very or exceptionally fragrant. Can''t wait!

 

[mrssalvo]

we''re getting ready to sell our house and move, so that means starting all over again. I love perennials because I don''t have the patience to re-plant several times a year. I finally have my hydrangea''s the size I''ve been wanting them to get for over 2 1/2 years and now I must leave them behind

. It will be fun starting with a blank slate and designing our landscape like we want it though

 

[monarch64]

All I have to say is: "MUST BE NICE!" Living in those warm climates, I mean! I am here in the midwest, just beginning to see the starts of crocai, daylilies, etc. Not to mention the buds on certain trees who look like they are just BURSTING at the seams, ready to pop out their leaves any moment while the sun is shining (if it actually is any given day!) Here we really have to wait until about the 15th of May to plant anything.

As far as perennials, it seems I am always a little too late in planting. I''ve purchased tulip bulbs, and looked at a lot of gardening sites online to see if there''s any hope for planting/raising a perennial garden in our yard or around our house, but every area is brutalized by FULL SUN 99% of the summer months, so I hesitate to plant anything.

I''ve had the most luck with petunias and marigolds in containers that I''ve babied all summer long. I get home from work at 4:30, and the first thing I do upon coming home is water and feed them! They looked luscious all summer last year, but I would love to plant some perennials around the house to bring up the value of our home when we go to sell it within the next year.
Roses are just out of the question, I think. I see a lot of "primroses" in and around our neighborhood...is there a difference? Soil, sun, watering-wise??? Please advise, because I would love to plant some out front, where we at least have partial shade.

 

[Mara]

Monarch, why are roses out of the question?? You know that roses are sun plants and prefer hours of sunlight per day? There are also alot of perennials that love full sun as well as annuals...you can do a mix and match.

Our patio gets hot beating sun most of the day (from about 12 to 7pm in the summer months!) and I can grow roses, perennials and annuals in containers with no issues, I just have to keep up the watering...sometimes I water twice a day. But you can put in a drip system, it's not expensive (just tubing and little watering valves basically!) and you can drip water your plants for something like 4 hours very slowly and it's a more consistent watering than doing a mass watering 2ce a day...I had one in my old old place and the roses loved it.

Anyway the bottom line is that many sun-loving plants (like roses!) will do just fine in beating hot sun as long as they have a strong root system and plenty of water to drink.

Part of why it would be hard for me to leave a warm climate like where we are and move to the EC or something is the horribly short growing season, how depressing to start planting stuff in April or May!?!?!!

and then put it all to bed in what? October? I think I would die of depression!

Oh and I wanted to add, one of my favorite sites online for perennials is www.bluestoneperennials.com ... I have used them for many years and they offer many unusual things you can't find elsewhere (aka they don't just sell stuff you can get at Home Depot!) ... and they may even have something like a full sun perennial garden collection you can buy to see how it goes! But I would definitely suggest doing something like a mix of annuals and perennials for the most bloom, perennials are great because they come back year after year but annuals give you the massive constant bloom explosion and then basically bloom themselves to death.

Edited to add yet again, they have a starter garden with full sun to mostly sunny and it comes with the 'layout' if you want to use it and make it a no-brainer planting kind of thing:

http://www.bluestoneperennials.com/b/bp/STARTER.html

and here is the types of plants you get as well as the # of them:
The layout includes:
1 Achillea Coronation Gold
3 Arabis Alpina Snowcap
3 Armeria Laucheana
3 Aster Alma Potschke
3 Campanula Glomerata Superba
3 Shasta Daisy Alaska
3 Coreopsis Early Sunrise
3 Dianthus Agatha
1 Filipendula Hex. florepleno
3 Nepeta Walker's Low
3 Echinacea Magnus
3 Heuchera Bressingham
3 Lamium White Nancy
1 Liatris Kobold
3 Veronica Sunny Border Blue
1 Achillea Angel's Breath
3 Rudbeckia Goldsturm
3 Salvia East Friesland
1 Veronica Goodness Grows
1 Sedum Autumn Joy
3 Veronica Crater Lake Blue

 

[monarch64]

Thank you, Mara, for the website! Hopefully I will be able to utilize the site more than our local Ace Hardware store or Home Depot. As for growing roses, when we moved into our house two years ago, I had to dig up some dead ones out front that were only getting partial sun... our front yard (which is QUITE small,) had two rosebushes flanking the front concrete steps which had died by the time we moved in... I dug them up and said goodbye, sadly.

So you think that my midwestern, full-sun yard (with a doggie running around, if not two doggies should we decide to get another this year ) will be capable of handling roses??? I''m leary...I love roses, just don''t know if I could ever grow them in actuality.

I come from farmtown, U.S.A., Mara! I''m used to growing such perennials as iris, (and as you had mentioned,) aster, shastas, coreopsis, dianthus, rudbeckia, etc. Also, we have two plots of daylilies planted by the previous owners on our property (Chicago lot, meaning our lot is approx. 120X30!)

OK, so my final question: can you grow roses in container gardens? In full sun, on our back deck and entrance to our home, I have had success with petunias and marigolds (prize winner looking, last year, lol!) So do you think roses would stand a chance in such shallow soil????

 

[Mara]

Girl... roses are actually quite HARDY...sure maybe not so much in the cold midwest winters but there are ways to help them out during that time too...

I mentioned that I bought some roses that were own-root, they actually have the best chance of thriving in the cold midwest and east coast winters because their roots their own, rather than than them being budded onto rootstock that then grows in the ground BUT if the top of the rose dies back in winter, then all you have left are the rootstock roots under the ground, icky stuff rootstock, kind of like a very non-ideal diamond!! But with own root roses, you have the act root of the rose you want to grow (not roostock) under the earth so even if the top dies back, you may still be okay with the roots.

It''s funny because I think people tend to think roses are delicate or need alot of care. Surely some of them do, but others can pretty much grow on their own! I mentioned previously that there are some very old roses that have been found in cemetaries that are hundreds of years old with NO MAINTENANCE or anything and these roses have grown and thrived there year after year with no one to take care of them. Just because you had two sickly ones a few years ago doesn''t mean that you can''t grow good roses now.

I grow my roses in containers, but when you say shallow, what size are you speaking of? I''d prefer to grow them in large containers, alot of people like those 1/2 whiskey barrels they sell at your local hardware store? Great size for a full grown rose. I actually use those fiberglass containers that are etched to look like old fashioned vintage containers...if that makes any sense, they are like $30 at Orchard and they fit a full size rose just fine for up to about 5 years probably.

I think personally that nothing is lovelier than a perennial and annual garden growing up and around and in between some beautiful fragrant roses. I love doing companions for my own roses even in pots (die-hard rose growers say that''s a no no as the other plants STEAL the nutrients and space that the rose roots would love to inhabit...but somehow I manage to make it work...compromise!)...nothing like a beautiful soft pink rose with blue forget-me-nots growing up through the blooms! My faves are apricots and pinks for the roses and then pinks, purples (tons of purples!!) and whites for the companion plants...I even throw some bulbs in there sometimes to get some additional bursts of color when I least expect it (I typically forget I planted bulbs a few months ago..hee hee).

Anyway, I could ramble on for days about this! But you know what, really you don''t know til you try it. But I bet you could grow more than you''d expect with the right soil (you may have to mix in some fertilizers, manure, and compost into your own soil), enough water and enough light/sun etc. You can even use taller plants to ''shade'' smaller plants that maybe are not AS sun hardy. There''s lots of tricks.

I also have a bunch of gardening books, some on perennials if you want any recommendations I can dig them out and see what I can find. But I love Bluestone, you can always go to your local hardware store and then supplement with some additional plants from online. Oh and Bluestone sells plants in groups of 3...before you get excited the plants are tiny...like when you get pansies at the hardware store, those 6 packs? These are like that but in a 3 pack basically. The first time I ordered here I was thinking I was getting some big 3 plants and they were tiny...but they do grow very fast!!

 

[movie zombie]

this is an iris that bloomed december 25, 2005......i took the picture december 26.

i am currently lusting after more....see: http://community.webshots.com/user/rickt103

this is the supplier i''ve been buying from for the last several years. its a 3-4 hour drive for me to visit their iris ''farm'' but i enjoy it.

movie zombie

 

[bar01]

Still cold here north of Chicago, but looking forward to spring. I try to stick with hardy perennials that require little maintainance.

Last fall we planted over 150 tulips and 150 Daffodils. In those 150 tulips was a special bunch of “Rembrandt tulips” in honor of his 400 birthday this spring. Also a few Madonna lilies.

Waiting to see how my crazy daisies, black-eyed Susan's, and endless summer hydrangea will do in their second year.

Have several plants on order to be delivered this spring for planting - including tall Phlox, sunflowers, daylilies (more), Jacobs ladder, Begonias and more.

Then there is the vegie garden to plan soon....



Oh.. I love Bluestone perennials - and johnscheepers.com for bulbs.

 

[lost on 5th]

i sooo miss gardens. great to see the pictures tho.

here is a question for all of you green thumbs out there.. this spring i hope to have a window box @ my apartment. what would you suggest for a 6"x24" window box w/ northern exposure and just a splash of direct sunlight in the very early morning and late evening....and occasional high wind gusts?

** last summer my neighbor lost their "garden" during high winds, so hopefully i will have a little better luck securing mine!

 

[monarch64]

OK, Mara, I''m trying roses this year! You have convinced me!

 

[Mara]

MZ that is just a stunning iris!! I have never been a huge bearded iris fan but I know that people get addicted to them just like I am addicted to my roses...gardening can be as much of a sickness as diamond loving!

Monarch, yay!! I would try something that is very disease resistant and tolerant of cold winters. There are so many different styles and shapes...

I bought my own-root roses this year from www.heirloomroses.com and they are guaranteed virus free which means that they will be stronger, healthier plants regardless. It''s easy to get seduced by pictures but for a beginner I would just say pay attention to zone hardiness to find out how the plant will do in your area, and also disease resistance...you do not want to be dealing with blackspot and mildew your first year!

If you plant in a container, it actually is quite easy to get going, you need a large ~20" container, the rose, and good potting soil (aka make sure it''s one with fertilizers already mixed in...aka manure, compost materials etc). Sometimes people put other things in the container/hole as well but most of the time I just start pure with good soil and then see what the rose needs as it grows. Just put it all together and water very well and keep out of direct sunlight for a few days. If you get a budded rose (not own root), make sure to plant the bud (the big knobby joint thing where the rootstock joins the cultivar you bought) UNDER the soil. This will help with overwintering, but also the perk of a container rose is that you can bring it into your garage on the super cold nights so that it doesn''t freeze...roses in the soil outside need to be covered and overwintered (mulched and then covered).

Anyway, I can''t wait to hear about your progress...keep us posted...though I just realized that you won''t be able to do any of this til when, MAY??! Wah! I will say that if you buy from Heirloom or any of the online places, they know when to ship for your area OR you can specify when you want them to ship, so you can order now and then your order arrives ready to plant when the time comes. I love that part.

 

[Lorelei]

I just wanted to chime in, I love growing roses and really enjoy a good hard pruning session! I planted a new bush 2 years ago called '' Silver Anniversary" and it is such a beautiful rose, a silvery platinum in colour and huge, tight blooms, it really is superb! It is only slightly fragrant which is a shame. I am lucky is as much that I have a plentiful supply of well rotted horse manure to use too. I tend to prefer unusual roses and have had much success with my " Blue Moon" rosebush, a lovely bluish lilac rose.

I want to enlarge my collection this year and will be looking at some old fashioned varieties which are heavily scented.

Regarding my garden at the moment, it is just starting to wake up and the first bulbs are beginning to shoot. It is in desperate need of a tidy up but it is so cold still and windy, with luck I will be able to get out there soon.

 

[movie zombie]

for those with landscaping requirements limited to pots, balconies/decks, or just wanting a smaller rose, check out: www.noreast-miniroses.com

i can vouch for their plants and their customer service....only once have i rec'd a plant that i thought was less than ideal and they replaced it.

ta: Mara, i have the iris disease......i dug up almost everything two years ago and made sure everything was labeled when we moved two years ago. and i'm still buying more...approaching 200 different types including heirlooms that go back to the 1500'. i actually refer to them as 'my jewels'!

movie zombie

 

[valeria101]

Date: 2/25/2006 9:49:27 PM
Author: Mara


Here are catalog images of three of the new roses I got this year....

Mara, you need a sapphire to match! Wonderful pickings

 

[sunkist]

Date: 2/26/2006 12:27:28 PM
Author: lost on 5th
i sooo miss gardens. great to see the pictures tho.


here is a question for all of you green thumbs out there.. this spring i hope to have a window box @ my apartment. what would you suggest for a 6''x24'' window box w/ northern exposure and just a splash of direct sunlight in the very early morning and late evening....and occasional high wind gusts?


** last summer my neighbor lost their ''garden'' during high winds, so hopefully i will have a little better luck securing mine!

Hey Lost,

My "garden" faces north too. I did some research a while back about what plants grew well in low/north facing light. Ivy does well in that spot and other viny plants. If you search online I''m sure you''ll find more info. Most of the flowering plants that I love need medium to direct light so I''ve never tried flowering plants on my porch

Let me know if you find any other plants that work!

 

[Mara]

MZ, I love NorEast, I have gotten many a miniature from them in the past and they were at the SF Flower and Garden show last year so I picked up two more. Right now I am addicted to supermarket minis because they have 4 plants in a pot and the varieties usually turn out very wonderful large flowers in abundance, which I like. I am not a huge fan of the tight small miniature flowers...I like the ones that are almost the size of a floribunda but on a more compact plant!

Lorelei, I think I had Blue Moon previously, those lavenders typically have a really wonderful scent but around here most of the bluish varieties get horrible mildew on them, so I don''t have any right now. I only have one plant super prone to mildew now, Her Royal Highness, but her blooms are such a wonderful pale pink color and she is a true workhorse performer, I got more flushes off her last year than anyone else on the patio, so I forgive her the horrible mildewy leaves in exchange for the wonderful blooms.

Thing about the patio garden is you gotta be really picky due to lack of space!! So I tried to choose the new varieties wisely this year, did a bunch of research and wanted unusual ones (The only ''cliche'' named rose I have on my patio is the old Tiffany HT because it smells divine and my Mom used to have one when I was little so it''s sentimental, but I don''t own any of the other classic American basics like Peace or Iceberg or any of the other typical JP roses) that were super scented and would grow into a nice bush form.

Val...I get my sapphires in the form of the companion plantings, aka bright bluish purple lobelia is a great foil for the roses pastel charm come late summer!!

 

[Mara]

Oh and I wanted to say for those who wanted advice re: any type of gardening...my fave forum for asking questions etc is GardenWeb (www.gardenweb.com) as they have a forum for almost any type of gardening you can think of!!! I pop into the Rose forum from time to time and ask a question or two. Now those are some serious rose growers!

The one thing I do think about is if we ever move to a cooler climate, I would have much more room to do planting...but then you chop the growing season in half. Hmmm acre of winding perennial and rose gardens for 5 months out of the year or a smaller more intense square yard for 9 months of the year? hehee.

 

[movie zombie]

Mara, i''m not fond of the smaller ''mim''s either....except for Teddy Bear which has the most amazing color. i tend to get the ''mini''s that are 24 to 36 inches tall....with scent and larger flowers.

movie zombie

 

[valeria101]

Noooooooo..... I meant this sort of ''widget'', no blue background needed.

Your roses make fantastic pictures, Mara! Congratulations for the green thumb and budding collection

 

[Caribou]

Awe I''m jealous. It''s too cold for us to do any gardening but I can not wait until Spring. I usually plant my mom''s beds for her, I love doing it, it''s so relaxing for me. I can''t wait until FI and I are married so I can do my own house. I may do his house this year since he''ll be putting it up for sale but I can''t do too much because it''s him and his other male roommate. I''m sure they''d have a problem with too many flowers.

But I''m may plant some leafy plants and bushes.

His aunt has a beautiful garden......OMG I was in heaven when I went there last summer, I''ll have to get some pictures this year. His mom also have some really lovely plants, but they are more into the veggie gardens.

Anywho, it''s like 33 degrees here...too cold but soon it will be spring, counting down the days 22 until the first day! In the mean time I''ll live vigariously through you ladies.

 

[eks6426]

Well, I'm with Monarch...we don't do anything here until May 15 except dream. A couple of years ago I bought a large wrought iron gazebo. It's big enough to put a table and chairs for 6 inside and still have room for buffet tables. My goal this year is to put in the a floor and then get vines to grow up the 6 sides. I've been plotting which Clematis & rose combinations I want to try. I should be ordering any day now.

I second bluestoneperennials.com. My front yard is almost all entirely flowers from them. I'm down to one 3 feet X 15 feet section of grass left in my front yard. Bluestone's plants are really tiny when you get them but they grow.

I also like Brent and Becky's bulbs for lily bulbs. I planted 50 oriental lilies 2 years ago. I staggered the bloom time so I get about 5-6 weeks of lily blooms in July/August. The scent stops traffic--it's just divine. On year 2 almost all of the lilies increased so now I have even more.

Monarch--roses will grow just fine in Chicago land...you just need to watch which ones you get. We can't grow as many of them as Mara can in California. You can't keep them in pots in our area. I've tried all sorts of pots and they always die in the winter for me. Maybe if you had a protected area that is partially heated.

 

[eks6426]

Lost of 5th--I have a whole bunch of window boxes that face north--north east. My favorite combination so far is the following:

Impatians
2 types of annual salvia--I like Victoria Blue which is actually lavendar and then a darker purplish one that I don''t have a name for
3 vinca vines
sometimes I throw in a wave petunia or 2 but they don''t do really well in the shade

This year I am going to add a couple of wax begonias to the mix and see what happens.

Here''s how I arrange them:

vines-1 in the center and 1 one on each edge
salvias--in back...darker one in the middle with lighter ones on each side
fill in everywhere else with impatians--I think I use 12-15 per window box. I stuff them in there.

Before I fill the window box I put in the water crystals that absorb water and then slowly let it out...this reduces my watering needs a great deal. You can also you clean baby diapers insides---no plastic covers.

 

[monarch64]

Island Dreams, you have crushed my hopes of rose gardening

! LOL! I went to heirloomroses.com right after Mara suggested it, and I was all excited, thinking I''d do 2 or 3 plants to start with and keep them in containers. However, we don''t have any enclosure on the property that is partially heated in the winter besides our house, which is fully heated, obviously. Can you keep them inside in pots?

I see a few people in the neighborhood have theirs covered with plastic wastebaskets over the winter, but OMG I would not be able to stand the way it would look if I actually planted them in the ground! We''re on a corner lot and our street is well-trafficked, and I take great pride in having an "uncluttered" presentation of plants/landscaping. (We have a two-story red brick Georgian, more "stately" than "cottage-y," IMO.)

Also, we are looking at moving before next winter. We bought our house as a starter, and when we talked to our realtor this week, we only have one more project left to do until we''ve basically made all the money we''re going to make on this house. So I really hate to plant anything I won''t get to stick around to see grow and fluorish here in the ground. Perennials I can handle, because I think they can be a good selling point, if done well. I did check out bluestoneperennials.com, and figured out my zone and everything. Their prices are great! Now I just have to figure out exactly what plants I want to fill in two plots on the south-facing side of the house, where the previous owners had gardenias that I finally pulled up this fall...they were unevenly spaced, and I hated staking them, I just don''t like the look of the stakes (they were growing so tall they kept falling over).

So these two raised beds, or plots, are about 2.5 feet wide and 6-8 feet long. They are separated by a forsythia bush that blooms a beautiful yellow in early to mid-May. They''re also in full sun all day. I really like rudbeckia, but I guess I don''t know how to figure out what will look best with it. I''d like to plant things that bloom at different times, taller in back, medium in the middle, and some sort of phlox or assylium (sp?), as flowering "groundcover" toward the front. Oh, and if the plants drew butterflies (especially MONARCHS in the fall when they are migrating back south, hee hee) that would be a huge bonus!

Sorry for the super long post! I''m going to visit bluestone again tomorrow and see if I can figure out some sort of plan, but if you ladies have any suggestions I''d be glad to hear them!

 

[Mara]

Monarch, I''m thinking you can grow a rose in a container and overwinter it in your garage, covered of course...I have read of people doing this! You may want to check into it ...GardenWeb.com most likely will have someone who can answer your questions in the Rose forum. I don''t know the details but I believe it can be done...I would definitely check into it before giving up though.

Hehe unfortunately overwintering in the ground means covering them up and covering them up GOOD!!! They may have cuter covers out there than wastebaskets, but I am totally unfamiliar with it...ehhee.

As ID noted, be sure to get a rose that''s appropriate to your zone...here in CA we can grow pretty much any rose but you should get something that is hardy to your zone and it may make overwintering easier!

Don''t give up!! I wanna see a rose in your yard!!

 

[Mara]

I found this article on growing roses in Minnesota with some information and suggestions:

http://www.extension.umn.edu/projects/yardandgarden/YGLNews/YGLN-Sept1502.html

Greg says Minnesota is probably a little colder so maybe this will help?!

Oh reading this I forgot, a popular way to overwinter a rose in a container is to dig a hole and bury it in the ground just like a real rose would be...then you can overwinter it by mulching it and doing the other things that it talks about. So I would recommend that, maybe start with 2 roses so you only have 2 containers to deal with!! Then you can take them with you when you move. I always hate leaving my favorite plants behind, I typically take them with me.