Martin Frobisher tree in a pot?

[Karen]

I picked up a regular Martin Frobisher in a clearance sale. The main cane was straight and tall around 4'. I trimmed off branches. It looked like a rose tree. I call it poor man's rose tree.

I put it in a 7 gallon plastic pot. It looked nice. I'm thinking about getting more of them.

Question 1: Can Martin Frobisher be trained as a tree?

Question 2: Is Martin Frobisher grow well in a container? (I know it's not optimal condition for rose in a container. I just want to survive and bloom some)

I'm in zone 5.

[Sunflower]

Roses in pots are subject to a lot more cold than roses in the ground. The general rule is to select roses at least 1 or 2 zones hardier than your climate zone for pot roses. Martin Frobisher is pretty hardy, even for a rugosa, down to zone 3 I think, so it might do OK in a BIG pot up close to the house and protected with burlap and some insulating leaves. 7 gallons is way too tiny for a rose though. You'll need a minimum of 15 gallons, just for him to thrive the first year, and he'll want bigger than that after he gets on down the road.

Training it as a standard isn't going to work. It will just send up new suckers from the base next spring as that is how it reproduces. Rose standards are produced by disbudding the growth eyes from a long long

*thornless* cane and then rooting it at the bottom. The desirable variety is then grafted onto the cane near the top. Rugosas are way too thorny to be treated like this. Some people have, with a LOT of effort, trained roses as standards by cutting off all the new growth from the base, but it's least likley to work with a rugosa, which sucker profusely--and did I mention the thorns? Martin would really prefer a spot in your garden where it can stretch out to it's 6x6 size. It has lovely red canes in the winter, so plant it someplace that will be a focal point in the winter garden.