Question
I received a rose bush for Mother's Day; a pink hybrid tea.  Because I did not have a properly amended plot of soil I (temporarily) put it in a large ceramic pot.  It fit nicely in there with room to spare for the roots.  The rose had one bloom on it when I got it, but since has not bloomed at all, not even a bud.  I am concerned about this.  I water it properly, adding a water soluble fertilizer (made to use on houseplants, roses, outside plants, etc). I also have it sitting on my back deck where it gets 6-7 hours of sun a day.  There are no signs of disease or pest.  The leaves are nicely colored green.  It just doesn't appear as if it will bloom.  Could it have anything to do with being in a pot?  Thanks in advance.  Oh, yes-- I live in zone 7b.

Answer
Sounds like a lovely Mother's Day gift, your pink hybrid tea, Patricia.  In 50 years, it will still be blooming and it will be known then as Mother's Rose.  Very nice.

Tea roses are always a little finicky.  And in the best of times, they do not bloom without taking a breath -- like, say, the Floribundas.  Some tea roses are downright antisocial and rarely bloom at all.  Blue tea roses are like that.  Fragrance in blue is worth it to me, but if were to walk in my garden and see these flowerless blue tea rose bushes you'd say "What's THAT?"  So it is not unusual for a tea rose to act like one of your children going through the Terrible Twos.  We just don't talk about it.

There's also something known as the "flush" of bloom.  Tea roses go to town in the spring.  Since yours was purchased from a greenhouse that was most certainly Rose Heaven -- perfect light, air, soil, fertilizer -- it was a bit early.  It bloomed like a charm.  And now there are two problems.

1.  The first flush is finished.  So wait a month.  At least.

2.  It's not in Heaven anymore.

If you really love this rose (which of course you do), you won't push it to do anything extraordinary until it is settled in a permanent place in your garden.  Because long-term, it will be stronger that way.  A root system will develop.  It will adjust.  You and your Rose will get to know one another.

But if you MUST get more blooms, do this:

A.  Go heavy on the Superphosphate.  This is not the same as Good Rose Food, which has a lot of Nitrogen.  Good Rose Food is really best, long term.  Because Roses are VERY heavy feeders.  Superphosphate will be like hitting it over the head.  But it will supercharge the Roots and it will supercharge the Flowers.  And if that's what you want to do...  Not too much -- you don't want to burn the roots or the leaves with this stuff.  A good normal dose.  Read the package instructions.  No N.  No K.  Just "P" for Phosphate.  If you have an intense Flowering fertilizer that says something like 5-60-5 on the N-P-K side of the box/bottle, that's ok.  (Miracle Gro by the way does not make anything that would meet these specs so don't try to substitute their plain vanilla 15-8-10 or whatever they are selling these days.) If the fertilizer box says 5-10-5, that probably will not have the impact you want, but it's OK.  You want something with a HUGE number in the middle and TINY at the two ends. Feed your pink Rose in the early morning.  Plants metabolize fertilizer during the day. Just don't fertilize when the soil is bone dry -- that will scald the roots.  

B.  Don't overwater, don't underwater, just watch soil moisture levels carefully.  Because anything in a pot during summer is going to be a balancing act.  Keep ALL WATER OFF THE LEAVES so you don't get a blackspot attack which will only weaken your Rose.  And then you'll be writing to me about that.  Make sure the water is room temperature -- water out of garden faucets around here gets SOOOOO cold.  Always water in the morning, to ensure the leaves are dry by sunset.  That's non-negotiable.

C.  When you do see a bloom, and the bloom is finished, CUT IT OFF!  Why?  For one thing, Roses are EXTREMELY susceptible to Ethylene Gas.  They will stop producing buds if exposed to enough of it.  And another thing, you don't want your Rose to even THINK about setting seed.  Energy used for that could be going toward another bloom.  It's like money in the bank.  Be careful with this, because the first growing season, fading Roses should be cut from the top 3-leaflet leaf to keep as many leaves on the Rose as possible and encourage more blooms.

C.  If you can get this Rose more light, that would also be better.  6-7 hours is really the minimum for a tea rose.  A full day would be better.  Around here the sun is coming up around 5 a.m. and going down around 8 p.m.  Can you do better than 6-7?  Remember, you are competing with Heaven here.

Patricia, give your Rose as much TLC as you can.  Heaven on Earth.

And I predict ... maybe ... buds in 3 weeks?

I'd like to say In God's Time but I think you really want to push this for now.  Who can blame you?  It's your Mother's Day Rose.  He will understand.