Rose advice: Not grow too high

Just beware that a rose described as “repeat flowering” generally means that after the first flush of flowers in early summer it will flower again in late summer. Some roses like patio roses do flower continuously but most of those described as English Roses do not.

If you want a colourful display throughout the growing season, choose either long flowering perennials like Nepeta, Erigeron or shrubby Salvias like Hot Lips, or any of the annuals sold as container or hanging basket plants at most garden centres like Pelargoniums, Cosmos, Petunias, Lobelia, Nasturtiums and Bacopa, or include some of these with patio roses.

 

Peter Beales Classic Roses sell patio roses, which are smaller than bush roses and good for growing in pots. Patio Roses

If you grow roses in pots they will need regular feeding and watering and the compost should have some earth in it, not just potting compost. You could mix in some John Innes No 3 with potting compost.

 

You must have sent on the roses especially if you take some into the house. Besides a garden is not a garden without the scent of roses.

 

Patio and Dwarf Floribunda Roses :: C & K Jones - International Rose Grower
These may all be suitable and are cheaper than David Austin roses. In the long run they would probably work out cheaper than annuals too. There are plenty of other rose growers around too.
Here are some more Buy Roses Online — Parkside Nursery Rose Growers.
I see that @Busy-Lizzie has also posted a link. I think the hardest thing will be choosing!

 

Floribunda roses are hardy and if dead headed will flower right through to the first frost.

I have never bought a rose from David Austin. You're paying for the name, they are expensive, and often don't have the quality that's expected. I always used Cant's of Colchester but they closed two years ago unfortunately. Have a look at the RHS site, they tend to list decent suppliers for all plants.

 

I can recommend to you a pink rose called 'Surrey', it grows wider than tall and is available from various outlets. It is, in my opinion, the best short growing rose I know of, and you would only need one. If it's too tall at around 2 to 2.5 feet, then I do recommend, for your purposes, to seek out small potted roses in the supermarket florist section, like this red one below that came from Asda. They are cuttings grown in pots and perfectly hardy to grow outdoors, and as you can see very short in height and prolific flowering. Red, pink or yellow colours usually available, and white! There's no need to spend a lot of money on named varieties from well known vendors.

I would also suggest you consider other types of plants. Dwarf Lavender 'Hidcote' or 'Munstead' would be my choice - long flowering and low maintenance.

..small potted rose from supermarket - grown on.

 

I adore my David Austin roses but that's also a valid opinion. Ultimately it's down to personal preference.

A lot of DA roses almost resemble peonies, and I love that. I detest "classic" looking roses personally i.e. the style of hybrid tea that you would normally get in a standard bouquet. But that's personal taste. Some of them have excellent fragrance as well. I have ordered from DA directly several times, and most times the roses have been of excellent quality. Considering how long roses live, for me the cost is justified.

Is David Austin the only company producing such roses? No, and you can find fantastic roses from other breeders, but you really need to look for them among the junk (pardon the strong expression). And it's not alway easy to tell from the other websites (in my opinion Peter Beales for instance, while I suspect that they have some lovely varieties, really need to invest in better photography and a better designed website).

Is there some marketing magic involved as well for David Austin roses? Absolutely. And sometimes I wonder how amazing specific varieties from other breeders could look (e.g. Bouquet Parfait), if they had the DA team promoting them and taking photos.

I have also not been impressed with the last two DA releases. I found Emma Bridgewater underwhelming and I hate The King's Rose. Both of those roses were ridiculously overhyped prior to release, especially The King's Rose. On the other hand, the beauty of some of the other David Austins takes my breath away and whenever I look at them in my garden I think "how could I be mad at the company that created such beauty?".

But yes, ultimately they are a company, with pros and cons. And it's down to each person to decide whether they like them enough to invest their hard earned money on them or look elsewhere.

P. S. The above is for shrubs and climbers, for patio roses even I wouldn't focus on DA

 

Lots of great advice above so I'll only add that we grow a common rose called the fairy and it's habit is low and wide. It might be a good option because it would partially hang over the planter.
We use it as a carpet style rose for the edge of a border and it flowers for a long time with small delicate flowers. We have a white and a pink cultivar.

Rosa 'The Fairy' (Poly) | rose 'The Fairy' Shrubs/RHS

 

@collinsc, check out a beautiful little florabunda rose called Joie De Vivre, pale pink, I have had it approx two years and still only 40cms high. I believe it gets no higher than 60cms? good luck.

 

I am the opposite and think if you like Peonies then why bother with a look alike rose. I like classic roses and only buy floribundas. Hybrid teas look artificial to me.

 

I think it's interesting to see different tastes!
But to answer your question, because peonies flower for a very short period of time, whereas roses keep flowering for months and months.

Also, just to clarify something. When I said that I personally don't like classic roses, I meant hybrid tea roses that have this shape, which to me is "classic" in the sense that it's what we are used to seeing in bouquets, in films etc. (This is just the first photo I found online).



Again, that's just a matter of personal taste - something not being one's cup of tea isn't the same as it being objectively bad obviously.