Jack, I am not Kim, but have worked with him for years, so I am going to jump in here and see if I can help. I have also grown both miniature and large roses in containers both in southern and northern California for well over ten years and may be able find a way to help you take care of your roses that doesn't require so much work and stress.

I am not a true organic gardener, so many of the additives you mention are something I have not used. I use a good potting soil that will hold water, but is not so heavy that the roses are sitting in mud after I water them. Roses need good drainage, so I do not put a saucer under the pot because that can lead to root rot if the rose is left in standing water. I also lift the pot up a bit from the hardscape to make sure I get good drainage.

You didn't say whether your roses were new roses in their maiden year or older roses you have had for some time, so I can't address the differences in care too much in this post.

Some rosarians will "pot up" a new rose....putting them in a smaller pot and then when the rose out grows that one, move the plant to a larger pot. I don't follow this practice at all because I don't like to disturb the roots of a rose, if I can avoid it. I just plop the rose into it's final container. I try to use at least a 7 gal pot for miniatures and 15 to 20 for larger roses.

When I plant the rose about 2/3 down in the pot, I put a tablespoon of bone meal and some 10-10-10 time released plant food. I'll put more near the top 6 inches of soil before I am finished because the feeder roots of the roses are near the surface of the soil.

Once I have planted the rose, I mulch the pot and water daily until I see new top growth. At that point, I know the root system is beginning to work properly. Then I do a drench feed with Miracle Grow. Organics are not readily available to the plant because it takes time for bacteria to break them down into nutrients the rose can use. MG works just fine. I feed about every two weeks and make sure the roses do not dry out in their pots.

I never add any kind of salts to a container grown rose because there is always a salt build-up in the pots from other kinds of fertilizers.

You have already figured out that the roses need sun. Other things to remember is that you can't count on rain to water your plants for you when they are in containers. The rain bounces off of the leaves and may never reach the soil in your container. Containers placed too close to a structure are subject to reflected heat from the structure and the hardscape, so you do have to be careful where you place the plants. I'll often move a rose around to a different location if I think that might make the plant perform better.

Note: When I first started working with Kim, one of the things he had me do was read every rose book I could get my hands on, both picture books and those which were pure text. You can't really learn how to grow roses from books, but it does inform what you do in the garden. You learn to grow roses by growing roses and making mistakes and having successes.

If you would like to contact me privately, as Kim's plate is very full right now, you can reach me here at HelpMeFind by using my name and the @ symbol. We do not post email addy's, even mine, on this forum to protect users from spam.

Good luck with your roses.

Smiles,

Lyn
helpmefind.com