ashes

[wendylottie]

my mum died and i have her ashes i want to buy a rose bush and put it in a pot in the gaden with mums ashes, whats the best rose bush to get ,how big a pot should i get and when is the best time to plant it.
sorry not a good gardener but want to get this right . thankyou.

[coccinelle]

Quite honestly i wouldn't put a rosebush in a pot and secondly ashes are high in potassium (I think that's it) so too much of it would kill off a rosebush. I'd plant the bush in the garden and then scatter the ashes around that area.

[pizza]

Sorry about your loss wendy x
I would be tempted to see if there was a rose with your Mums name.

[ttfn]

My condolences to you, wendylottie.

I, too, think it would be best to plant a rose directly in the garden and scatter the ashes around it.

So many roses from which to choose. My Big Sis planted Remember Me when our mother died. For me it has to be Peace, such an evocative history and a magnificent rose -

http://www.bexrose.or.../RoseArticlePeace.htm

[coccinelle]

You might want to choose a heavily scented one and maybe of your Mum's favourite colour.
I send my condoleances too xx

[pizza]

Lovely link ttfn.

[pusskin]

So sorry your loss wendylottie.
I would be hesitant to scatter ashes just in case I feel the need to move in the coming future! Not sure what I would do really, its just a thought. x

[wendylottie]

thankyou everyone for your answers

[coccinelle]

That's true pusskin. I buried my husband's ashes (not the urn) in a park so no matter where I move to I can still 'visit' as it were.

[Ann]

You can actually plant a rose in a pot, I have had one climbing up the wall on our patio for the past 5 years and its lovely. You will need to feed it Spring and Autumn with Toprose. We have Zepherine Drouhin - a lovely pink very fragrant rose with the added advantage that it's thornless. x

[Ann]

https://www.google.co...oCABQ&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ

From David Austin
http://www.davidausti...howrose.asp?showr=619

[Essell]

I've grown lovely roses in pots - the bush roses are best because they don't need the tender care of the hybrid tea. Wonderful flowers.
You need a large pot - my neighbour grows roses up her pillars but the pots are very small and the roses not good, even though she waters them every day.
The only drawback is that you have to take out some topsoil or compost every year and replace with fresh stuff - about the top three/four inches. (I used to forget, but the roses still flourished ). Also you have to place the pots where the pot at least will be shaded so that the roots do not get too hot - mine were by a low wall surrounded by other pots.

[Essell]

PS. You need to get a good John Innes compost because the common supermarket stuff is not heavy enough for roses - the wind would rock the plant. A nurseryman would advise.

[woofgang]

You can have lovely roses in pots if they are cared for but I agree with coccinelle about too much potash from the ashes. Could you put a token amount in the pot and scatter the rest somewhere that your Mum loved?

[coccinelle]

Ah, woofgang potash is the word!

[Clanad]

I don't know, of course, if you've ever seen "ashes" left from a human cremation, but they are quite coarse, being only the leavings from the bones, unlike the fine ashes left in the fireplace from wood fires. Therefore, a consideration would be that they don't incorporate into the soil very well and would still be quite visible months, if not years after the "scattering". This may not be unsettling to you, but a friend (here in the U.S.) that tried the "rosebush" solution was less than satisfied.
Actually, the ashes wouldn't provide much in the way of fertilization either, since, again, they don't have the concentrated ph of wood ashes...

[Brinjal]

The size and texture of the ashes depends on the cremulator and may vary and can be quite coarse or fine. For a female there is usually about 6lbs of remains. Quite a lot to put in one place in a garden.

[carlton23]

Just a small amount in the base of the pot will sufflice according to the size.