Help - bare root rose inside

[gardennewbie12]

I had a beautiful bare root rose as a gift for Christmas and I haven't got round to planting it so it's been inside in a container

It's started to develop leaves and I'm worried that I plant it outside now in the frost it will shock it.

What should I do?

What do you mean by "in a container"? Have you planted it in a container? If not, how have you kept the roots moist?

I would start by putting it in the coolest place you can manage, as long as it has plenty of light.

From then you have two options 1) harden it off again, by putting it out during the day and bringing it in at night then gradually leaving it out on the less cold nights, until you think it is ready to go out 2) keep it in a pot, in a cool light posision, and plant it out in May.

Thanks for reply @MereDintofPandiculation

It is in the pot I bought it in and it now has leaves. It's in our kitchen near the window and it's a climber so I'm worried if I leave it inside until may it will climb up my kitchen walls!

Sorry I was confused when you described it as bare root. Bare root means literally that - the plant is dug up from the ground, all the soil is shaken off the roots, then the plant is wrapped in hessian (and nowadays plastic) with all the branches folded up together, so it ends up as an easily transported cylinder without a weight of heavy soil. I take it you didn't mean that.

Climbing roses aren't climbers in the true sense - they don't have tendrils or sticky pad or any means of supporting themselves apart from scrambling over neighbouring plants (or being tied in to a trellis). So your walls are safe.

You need to get it out of your kitchen to somewhere cooler. In your kitchen the warmth is encouraging it to grow without the light to sustain that growth. You will end up with floppy weak etiolated growth which would be best pruned off once you plant it outside. Do you have a porch or unheated conservatory? - somewhere with plenty of light but which is cool?

It would be happiest outside, but since it's been indoors for at least two weeks, you have to think about hardening it off. I'd be inclined to take my chances and just put it outside now - the weather is much warmer than a couple of days ago and looks set to be like that for a week. If we can do a couple of weeks without a frost, you'd then be safe to keep it outside permanently. However, to be really safe, I'd bring it back in the first few nights and keep it in a cool place overnight - possibly the garage (since it won't need light overnight).