Some of you might remember that my boss bought a cutting from my Aloha
that I had donated to the Rose Society. He and his SO planted it in a
large pot, with the intention of making it a patio climber.

The first year, they got a sum total of about 1 open bloom. The rest
of the blooms totally balled. This was the entire season. Then, in the
fall, they moved and took the plant with them.

The second year, this spring, they got a decent first flush but it's
been ball city for the rest of the year. When I took a photo of my
Belami into work for his consideration (with a picture of the new bed
with the mounds just 6 weeks prior, which he said was TOTALLY amazing
- both pics are in the gallery that I list below), he said, "Oh yeah,
this is my Aloha". He then handed me a large marble-sized, green
vegetative centered, ball bearing of a bloom.

Last year, he thought it was thrips, but he hasn't been able to detect
any thrips at all (even last year it was just a theory, not a
confirmed sighting).

MIchelle, Allen's girlfriend, is the rose gardener of the pair and an
accomplished one as well. Allen is more of a raised bed/vegetable
gardener with a minor in orchids. But he knows his way around roses
because of Michelle's interest and skill level (she has those little
signs in front of her roses g).

Anyway, I was wondering if you guys think that it might be as simple
as Aloha not liking to be a pot plant. It's probably not the climate,
as I've had very little problem with balling on my plant, even
accounting for the tons of rain that we have received.

I'm pretty sure that they've done the proper feeding and all that. I'm
also sure that they're savvy enough to give the plant the light it
needs as well. They spray with the appropriate chemicals and all that.

Could this be a simple pot issue? Anyone have any experience in this
area?

BTW, the further into the season I get, the more I love Baby Love. It
just keeps on blooming and growing and retaining leaves and a bushy
shape all the way to he ground. Blackspot doesn't seem to affect it
except on a very minor level I've only had about a week where there
weren't at least 20 or 30 blooms (about 3 weeks ago).

Here is the latest shot, followed by a shot of the baby right after
planting last year.

http://www.pbase.com/image/19899228

http://www2.pbase.com/image/19899145

The fence is a 4 foot fence, hence, the bush is now 4 feet tall.

In the second shot, look in the black box to see the plant a month or
so after the planting last year.

If you look past the fence, you can see the 3 "Europeanas" in the
little square bed, none of which ended up being Europeanas at all. One
was a yellow floribunda, one a very plain looking pink bloomed thing,
and the other, the white floribundaesque that I have posted before
(it's the "unknown white thing" in the gallery). The yellow one has
been moved, the other two get moved later this year.

For those of you who have been worried about my Ingrid Bergman since I
moved it, there's a new pic in that gallery. Just click the roses link
above the pic. I tossed in another couple of shots of other stuff as
well...