Re: perennials in containers - experiences ?

I have a small gift miniature rose bush in a large barrel outside.  I'm
wondering if I can leave it there during the winter.  The barrel is about 2
and a half feet across and quite deep.  I believe the rose was supposed to
be hardy, but I've lost the label.  If it is hardy, will it survive in a
barrel like that.  It's done wonderfully there this summer.  Judy Warner
----- Original Message -----
From: Marge Talt <mtalt@hort.net>
To: <perennials@hort.net>; <perennials@mallorn.com>
Sent: Sunday, September 08, 2002 4:37 AM
Subject: Re: perennials in containers - experiences ?


> Well, Beth, I grow a lot of hardy perennials in pots, but not for
> decorative purposes:-)  Mainly because I haven't found homes in the
> ground for them.  Most perennials will do well in pots.  I do have
> one Heuchera that is in a big clay pot with  a couple of non hardy
> items; winters in the greenhouse and does very well.
>
> I have big half whisky barrels that contain lilies, small bulbs,
> Digitalis and Aquilegia - self sown - that winter over fine with no
> protection at all in z. 7....been in there for many years. I do let
> fallen leaves stay in the top of the barrels over winter as  a mulch.
>
> You can plunge even large pots in mulch or wood chips for winter;
> surround pots with straw bales and put mulch around the pots; make a
> temporary plunge bed of concrete blocks and do the same.  You can
> cover any temporary plunge beds with black plastic once the weather
> gets really bitter; throw on a few old rugs and leave them until
> spring.
>
> Surround a group of pots with bags of leaves.  Wrap individual and
> groups of pots in several layers of bubble wrap, group together in a
> sheltered spot.  I know someone in NYC who lives on the 30th floor
> and winters over her balcony plants that way, up against the
> building.
>
> Basically, if you can protect the roots from freezing, you can leave
> most anything that is hardy in your area in a pot for winter outside.
>
> The only time I had losses of perennials in pots in plunge beds was
> one year when we had an ice storm then a sudden thaw that thawed the
> ice in the top of the pots but the pots were frozen in the beds so I
> couldn't get the resulting ice water out of them...several plants
> objected to having ice water sitting around their crowns and rotted.
>
> Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
> mtalt@hort.net
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> ----------
> > From: Beth <BethPublic@hotmail.com>
> >
> >    I only grow annuals and tender perennials outdoors in containers
> (and a
> > couple of dwarf Alberta spruce). I was wondering what experiences
> people had
> > with hardy perennials in containers - both shade and sun... what
> works (and
> > what you've tried that doesn't)... what makes for good combos in
> pots... how
> > large a container do you use ... anything special you do for
> winter...  I've
> > seen pictures of mixed hostas in containers... Thanks !
> > Beth (zone 5 MI near Traverse City)
>
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