Charles de Mills

My brother-in-law grows a number of roses successfully in large plastic containers but he has a "Charles de Mills" shrub rose which, over the several years he has owned it, has never bloomed beyond a few poorly developed flowers which have only appeared in ones or twos at a time.
Could it be that this variety is not suited to container-growing or might there be some other explanation for its poor performance?

 

As long as the container is large enough it should be OK. David Austin recommends 25litres or half barrel size. Other thing to check are:

Drainage- has the pot got some crocks in the bottom, and is it standing on something to raise it up a little from the ground?

Feeding- is it receiving enough food for growth, plants in containers are reliant on plant food.

Soil or compost- sometimes this can become compacted and water is not getting to the roots. This would result in poor growth generally.

As you say he has other roses growing successfully I expect he does all these things, but it's always worth checking.

 

Charles de Mills is a gallica rose which only flowers once a year in early summer. If your brother's plant is looking green and healthy and growing strongly - but not flowering, then it could be that he needs to change the food to a potash rich food.

Most roses grow well in containers, as long as they are big enough - though some of the big shrub roses like rose de l'hay won't do as well as they do in the ground. As a note mine was grown from a cutting and took a few years to mature enough to flower - it is now 8foot by 6 foot, and wonderful.

 

Thankyou both for your advice. I will pass on your suggestions to my brother-in-law.