Grow your roses in containers if all you can afford for gardening is a terrace! Yes, you can! And you can also grow them in containers even if you have a full blown garden, and this is especially useful if you live in cold areas. Roses and pots don’t instinctively spring to mind, but trust me, they will grow perfectly well and bloom profusely as long as you know what to do…
You cannot grow any rose in containers: some are too big, but dwarf varieties as well as many English shrub, hybrid tea, floribunda and even small climbers will be quite happy in pots. Size is the main factor, and any plant that grows more than 10 feet (3 meters) is better in full soil. Thus, choosing a suitable plant is your first step to success.
There’s a good range of fairly small hybrids and cultivars that will adapt to container gardening, and we have selected the very best rose varieties to grow in the clay, terracotta or clay or even plastic “homes” you choose for them.
The Top 14 Container Rose Varieties for You!
Just to give you a little idea of what we have in store for you… Here are the names of the top 14 container roses!
They sound intriguing, don’t they? Which one, or ones, will you choose for your garden or terrace? Hold on for a while… just a quick word about caring for roses in containers and we’ll get straight to it.
Growing Container Roses
Growing roses is beautiful but demanding; growing them in containers has some extra challenges, including feeding, watering, sheltering them and then, of course you can’t let them grow as they wish… You will need to prune your shrubs and climbers… And that alone is a whole gardening specialization!
But you are in luck! We have a whole, simple and detailed step by step guide to growing roses in containers for you! Check it out, because it can turn you from an amateur to an expert!
1: Using the Right Container for Your Roses
Roses don’t like being repotted every two or three years; and with all those thorns, they are not easy to either. Climbers especially will pose lots of practical problems. So, the best chance you have is to choose the final container as soon as you bring your rose home.
Terracotta and clay containers are better for roses; this is because they insulate them better from cold and heat. They also allow perspiration and aeration. But you can also use metal, ceramic or or other materials as long as you protect them in cold weather.
The size of the container depends on the size of the adult rose plant. For a dwarf rose, up to 18 inches (45 cm) tall, a small pot, 6 to 8 inches deep (15 to 20 cm) will suffice. For a 3 foot tall adult rose, the container should be at least 18 inches deep (45 cm). For larger roses, use large ones, 8 to 15 gallons in volume (30 to 56 liters).
2: Use the Right Potting Mix for Your Container Roses
Roses in containers require very rich soil, so make sure you use:
Do make sure you mix them well. And don’t forget to mulch the soil abundantly (2 to 3 inches, or 5 to 7.5 centimeters).
Finally, remember to fertilize your container roses regularly. Once when they exit dormancy (in spring), and a bit before each bloom. Suspend feeding them 8 weeks before they go back into dormancy.
3: Find a Safe Spot for Your Container Roses
Put the container or pot in a position where the rose has the right conditions. It needs to be well lit; some roses can grow in partial shade, no rose grows in full shade.
But there is more; the place needs to be well ventilated but sheltered from strong winds. Most roses like south and east facing positions, and only a few climbers tolerate north facing places.
4: Shelter Your Container Roses in Winter
When you read the USDA hardiness of roses, that’s for full soil; in containers, they are a at least one hardiness zone softer. So if you read “zones 5 to 9” it means 6 to 9 in containers.
This means that in many areas, you need to “wrap up” the container for the cold months. Do remember that the cold gets through the walls of the pot, and straight to the roots, unlike in full soil. So…
Alternatively, you can overwinter your rose indoors. The place should be cool (not cold, not hot), ventilated and dry. Moreover, it should not be fully dark; even in winter roses need some light.
But now you are on the lookout for that perfect rose of your dreams, let’s see which varieties we have in store for for you!
1: Rose ‘Lady of Shallot’ (Rosa ‘Lady of Shallott’)
The poetically named and container suitable ‘Lady of Shallot’ is a small to medium sized English shrub rose with chalice shaped flowers.The petals are salmon pink to coral with golden undersides and fully double.
These are about 4 inches across (10 cm), so large and very showy. It has a medium fresh tea fragrance and beautiful arching stems with emerald green leaves, though bronze when they are new.
‘Lady of Shallot’ was introduced by David Austin in 2009, and it is ideal for a warm and romantic, melancholy glow on your terrace, which comes back over and over again as it’s a repeat bloomer.
2: Rose ‘Shafira Asma’ (Rosa ‘Shafira Asma’)
A classical looking English rose for containers is the fairly small ‘Shafira Asma’. The beautifully cupped blooms can have up to 90 petals each, and they are between 3 and 4 inches across (7.5 to 10 cm).
The color is pastel pink but they fade to cream on the outside. The fragrance is rich, it has old rose and myrrh as a base but some fruity notes as well in the background. This is a repeat bloomer too, and the leaves set off the flowers nicely with their delicately glossy leaves.
This is yet another variety bred by David Austin and you can have a corner of “old English country garden” even on a small terrace thanks to its size.
3: Rose ‘Beverly’ (Rosa ‘Beverly’)
‘Beverly’ is a hybrid tea rose that’s small enough to fit in a beautiful container on your terrace or patio. Make sure you choose an elegant one though, to match this beauty!
With lovely unfurling petals, the teacup shaped double blooms offer rich pink petals that can range from light pastel to taffy. This is an exceptionally fragrant rose.
Bred by Korpauvio, this is an excellent choice if you want an elegant small shrub to grow in a pot, even for a fairly formal setting.
4: Rose ‘Love and Peace’ (Rosa ‘Love and Peace’)
‘Love and Peace’ is a showy hybrid tea rose with a manageable sized “body” for your container planting! The blooms are teacup shaped, unfurling and with a striking color combination!
The central part is rich saffron saffron yellow, crowned by rich pink to magenta edges. The flowers are massive too: they can reach 7 inches across (21 cm!) and they have a mild fragrance too.
This show stopper was bred by Lim and Towney in 2002, and it’s a modern variety, not just in age: it has a contemporary look too, if that fits your terrace or garden design.
5: Rose ‘Fun in the Sun’ (Rosa ‘Fun in the Sun’)
For a large container and an old time looking rose shrub in your garden or on your terrace, grandiflora variety ‘Fun in the Sun’ is perfect.
The large blooms start off cupped, with about 60 light apricot yellow petals that turn cream and the white at the edges, while the bloom itself flattens into bright rosette.
And each can be 5 inches across (12.5 cm). These are very fragrant and they are set off perfectly by the dark green foliage.
You can grow ‘Fun in the Sun’ as a great choice for a fresh and bright looking terrace, a patio or traditional looking garden, and you only have to thank Christian Bedard, its breeder for it.
6: Rose ‘Ruby Red’ (Rosa ‘Ruby Red’)
‘Ruby Red’ is a hybrid tea rose that really looks fantastic in a container. You guessed that the double flowers are in fact ruby red in color, but they also have a very “wavy” personality, as the petals look like they are moving and dancing in the Sun and wind!
There are inly about 18 to 20 of them and they look striking against glossy and dark, very unusually colored foliage.
It’s a wonderful plant bred by Meiland for a dash of passion and a striking flaming effect to catch your visitors’ eyes, whether on a terrace or in your back garden.
7: Rose ‘Desdemona’ (Rosa ‘Desdemona’)
You can even grow a super classical looking English rose like ‘Desdemona’ in a container on your terrace! This super fragrant, candid white with a purple glow and beautifully cupped flowers are stunning, and this shrub variety has the advantage if being fairly small.
The rich green leaves set them off nicely, and the very round shape of the shrub and traditional looking blooms have a nice terracotta pot as their perfect setting.
Yet another David Austen hybrid which will bring freshness, light, an old world look and even fragrance to your garden or terrace…
8: Rose ‘Emma Hamilton’ (Rose ‘Emma Hamilton’)
Bring the iridescence and delicate colors of English rose ‘Emma Hamilton’ to your terrace by growing this beauty in a container.
The double and cupped flowers have a range of colors from yellow to tangerine and even pink, perfectly mixed and balanced within the blooms. And it will never grow too large, but it will keep blossoming all through the warm season.
This is yet another David Austin variety, and in fact he has given us many small roses that well adapt to containers and pots.
But this has an edge on the others: it has won the super prestigious Award of Garden Merit by the Royal Horticultural Society!
9: Rose ‘Summer Fashion’ (Rosa ‘Summer Fashion’)
Your containers can even have an impressive floribunda variety with ‘Summer Fashion’! You can’t but admire the double blooms with delicate pink edges and a bright yellow center, only divided by a small hint of light cream.
This is one of the most spectacular roses ever and it’s small enough to grow in a pot! It also has a sweet scent and it will bloom repeatedly throughout the year!
Bred by J.A. Cale ‘Summer Fashion’ is an explosion pf color, and it can work well in both formal and informal settings.
10: Rose ‘Sexy Sexy’ (Rosa ‘Sexy Sexy’)
If you want a camellia looking rose in your containers, ‘Sexy Sexy’ is just prefect. The unusual flowers of this floribunda variety in fact have perfectly shaped, flat and open rosettes that you may well mistake for camellias!
The regular harmony of the petals is very unusual for a rose, and its color is perfect pure pink and quite stable too! It is a lightly fragrant and very good repeat blooming cultivar too!
M.A. Crazy bred ‘Sexy Sexy’ in 1984 and it has become a world favorite, thanks to its decided and romantic color, its reliability and its small size too!
11: Rose ‘Eye Paint’ (Rose ‘Eye Paint’)
If you want a container rose with a natural, even wild looking appearance and a small size have a look at the single floribunda ‘Eye Paint’. This popular variety has flaming red flowers with a white center which crowns the golden pistils! It’s a very generous shrub with rich green foliage and which attracts lots of bees and butterflies – keep this in mind!
It is a classical variety, bred by McGredy in 1975, matched by its looks. It is just perfect for an old English garden or natural looking terrace!
12: Rose ‘Harlow Carr’ (Rosa ‘Harlow Carr’)
For a fairly small pot but a massive show, you could try out English shrub rose ‘Harlow Carr’… This variety has bright magenta pink blooms with full and flat rosette shaped heads.
They also have a very strong old rose scent, the one we get in perfumes and essential oils! It is a generous and repeat bloomer, but it stays small in size!
Yet again, David Austin is the “father” of this beautiful English rose; grow it in a beautiful pot where you need a vibrant spot of energy but little room to spare.
13: Rose ‘Knock Out’ (Rosa ‘Knock Out’)
A single and very strong rose for your container gardening is ‘Knock Out’. This exceptional rose has the brightest pink petals with a white center, but there are also magenta and even purple varieties. And if the single flower look is not your thing, there are also semi double and double varieties for you!
All have one thing in common though: they are naturally disease resistant! No wonder they have become very popular…
‘Knock Out’ is one of those historical roses all gardeners know. It was bred by William Radler in 1989 and it soon became famous for its strong health and massive blooms. In fact, it wan the All Americans Rose Selection in 2000.
14: Rose ‘William and Catherine’ (Rosa ‘William and Catherine’)
For a candid effect in containers, no rose can beat the snow white shade of English shrub cultivar ‘William and Catherine’! The fully double bloom are about 3 inches across (7.5 cm) and of the purest color you will ever see!
They are gently cupped and then they flatten as they open. And the medium myrrh fragrance of this recent addition to our rose collection will stay with you all through the year!
‘William and Catherine’ is a 2011 cultivar by David Austin and it can bring pure light to both terraces and gardens; choose the color of your container carefully…
Roses and Containers: a Match Made in Heaven!
How many beautiful roses for your pots and containers! I am sure you won’t think of roses as “just a garden flower” anymore… In fact, there are these, and even more varieties you can choose from.
Yet, now you know how to grow them, where and how to shelter them in winter, how to feed them, and you have seen some of the very, very best container roses from all over the world, look again at that empty spot… Yes, you can have a small blooming shrub there too!
Written By
Amber Noyes
Amber Noyes was born and raised in a suburban California town, San Mateo. She holds a master’s degree in horticulture from the University of California as well as a BS in Biology from the University of San Francisco. With experience working on an organic farm, water conservation research, farmers’ markets, and plant nursery, she understands what makes plants thrive and how we can better understand the connection between microclimate and plant health. When she’s not on the land, Amber loves informing people of new ideas/things related to gardening, especially organic gardening, houseplants, and growing plants in a small space.