was wondering should go on ahead and plant them in the ground or leave them in pots. they have been in the poit since feb or so this year. thy have bloomed but the stems have gotten taller at least 3 feet but they are not thick stems though. some of the leaves turn red but no buds whatso ever. they get plenty of sun. i do give them miracle grow once a month.should i cut them down now or wait. i live in north florida. i read that when your rose bush is tall and if the stems are really thin you should cut down to where the stem is thicker. i was wondering if that was true or not. well if it is better to grow them i the ground now how much sun is preferred for the roses. i only have small portions with sun but i have lots of rose bushes.

Hi I live in central florida and yes go ahead and plant them in the ground now . and do prune them back and make sure when you plant them that you use rose food . Make sure they get enough water too . the spot where you plant them must have 6-8 hours of sun . My best advice is just plant them and leave them alone . good luck .

Actually, now is a great time to plant the rosebushes in the ground. If you get them in before the first frost, their roots will have been insulated from the frost, as opposed to being above the ground in the pot, where it is actually colder for the plant.
Just be sure when you plant to cut back all the dead twigs, water and fertilize well, and plan a good mulch around the roots. Straw is a good mulch for this time of year - when it breaks down over the winter it adds nitrogen to the soil whil protecting the stem from frost bite as well.
Good luck on getting roses in the spring.

Fall planting is great! The soil is still warm and the plants get a head start for spring.

Roses should be pruned in January/February. Check with a local nursery to be sure for your area. There are lots of ideas out there on how to prune. You basically want 3 good canes to start with. You can search online for great tips and details on pruning. You also have to prune climbers and bushes differently....

Roses like sun so give them as much as you can. Having said that, my friend only has shade and her roses are all growing under oak trees. You won't get as many blooms but they can and do grow in shade.

Roses can be grown in containers. I don't know the size of yours but my mom has tons of them in various sized pots and they all bloom regularly. You still need to prune as if they are in the ground. I would also use a fertilizer just for roses. They are heavy feeders and we use something just for roses....

Hope this helps.

Now is a great time to plant them, but remember that they have been in those containers all season and will be seriously root bound which is probably why your roses are so frail looking. You will need to untangle all roots and prune off the ones that have turned brown or black. The roots should be creamy white to white.

Roses need at least 6 hours of direct sun to do well.

Here are some instructions on planting and pruning roses.

Transplanting a rose
1) wait until evening when temps are cooler.
2) cut the rose back to about 2 or 3 feet.
3) prepare the new home by digging a hole 2ftx2ft and water the hole. Fill the hole with water and let it drain at least twice.
4) save the top 2/3 of soil that you just dug up and set aside. Discard the bottom 1/3.
5) amend the soil you saved with peat, bone meal, and garden compost.
6) in the bottom of the hole add a layer of manure 2-3 inches thick and then layers some of the amended soil on top of the manure. Do NOT set the roots directly on the manure.
(Skip 7 & 8 since you are transplanting from a container)
7) use a shovel to cut around the rose bush about 18inches from the trunk all the way around.
8) Moving around the rose bush again, reinsert the shovel and pull down on the handle. Doing this all the way around will loosen the soil and begin to separate any long roots. Keep doing this until the rose can be easily removed (Don't worry too much if you break a root because roses are tougher than they look)
9) Remove the rose. Shake the soil away and trim any damaged or dying roots.
10)build a mound in the bottom of the hole and set the rose in hole making sure you spread the roots around the outside of the mound.
11) fill in the hole half way with the ammended soil and water. Once the water has run through then finish filling in the hole with the soil and water throughly.

Now that you have transplanted your rose then make sure you give it water everyday for the next 2 weeks. Be sure you water it at the base and early in the morning because roses don't like to get wet. After the two weeks then you can cut back the watering to once a week.


Pruning:
There are two types of pruning and both are necessary to beautiful roses. Here are detailed instructions for pruning:

General Pruning: You do this to remove any dead or dying canes or spent flowers.
You need to pick a set of five leaves, but not necessarily the first set. Pick a set of five that are pointing outward because that will be the direction of a new cane and flowers. If you choose one pointing inward then your canes can cross and will cause other problems. Cut the cane at an angle like this (/) about 1/4" above the five leaf set. It is okay to do this with each cane and especially if the cane is dying. It is also okay to do this throughout the growing season because it promotes new growth.

Autumn Pruning: Any time between the first freeze of Autumn and the last freeze of winter you can seriously prune your rose down to about 2 feet. This will create a fuller, lusher plant for the new season. Once again you will want to cut at an angle. However, instead of cutting above a five leaf set, this time you will want to cut right above a node which will resemble a small, reddish, slightly pointed bump on the cane. Like the five leaf set, make sure the node is pointing outward.

Here are a couple of web sites that have more detailed directions on pruning roses.
http://www.bayeradvanced.com/article/how-to-prune-hybrid-tea-roses.html?source=google
Video from Expert Village on how to prune a rose:
http://homegarden.expertvillage.com/videos/deadheading-roses.htm

Good Luck