On Tue, 29 Jul 2003 09:47:06 -0500, dave weil
wrote:

On Tue, 29 Jul 2003 07:41:31 -0600, "Tim Tompkins"
wrote:

Roses can be transplanted any time of year as long as the soil can be
worked. I have moved roses in the middle of winter when the soil was not
frozen, in the summer heat etc.

However, it's *far* more difficult to move plants in the middle of a
hot suppmer.

As mentioned in previous responses, you must be able to water every day
after the move.

And still, this doesn't always ensure success. Transplant shot is
multiplied a dozenfold in the hot heat of the summer. I lost a
thriving Cherokee Rose because I transplanted it in July. Of course,
the fact that it was so vigorous worked against it because it was
really difficult to get a huge mass of root ball due to it's huge tap
root. Yet, I had a sufficient amount of roots (far more than if it had
been a bare root, for instance). I watered it daily, sometimes twice
daily, and it still bit the dust. I suspect that if I had transplanted
it in May or even June, it might have survived. I transplanted a
smaller unknown floribunda in early June this year and it's doing just
fine (or course, it's a much smaller plant). The Belami that I moved
this year I moved in March or April. I had hardly *any* stress-related
transplant shock.

Keeping the root mass as intact as possible is probably the most important
detail. In the summer heat any plant is using a lot of water and the water
is taken up by the feeder roots. These are the fine, hair like structure
that are most easily damaged any time the rose is disturbed.

I absolutely agree, but, ironically, the better the soil you have, the
harder it is to do this. For instance, I have hardly any clay content,
so, the roses that I've moved have been almost impossible to get a
good root ball because the soil is so crumbly.

Removing a significant portion of the canes and foliage will help balance
the loss of the feeder roots. The more foliage on the rose, the more water
it demands, so balance the demand and the supply systems.

In the last month I moved a Sydonie and William Shakespere 2000 by carefully
digging and removing a great deal of foliage. They are both showing new
growth and appear to be healthy in their new home.

That's a good thing.

The move will 'set back' the size of the plant by 1-2 years as they recover
and produce a new root system. Using a root stimulator is advised as well
as feeding very sparingly. You don't feed a sick person steak, you give
them soup!

This isn't magic, just sensible and logical techniques.

The logical thing is to wait until temps drop out of the 90s, or
transplant before the middle of the hot summer. There's no logical
reason to *have* to transplant at a certain time. You can almost
always wait an extra month or two.

After my experience with Cherokee Rose, I will *never* transplant
after early June. Of course, I live in the south, but it's still "only"
Zone 6b (possibly soon to be upgraded by the USDA to Zone 7).

When I read this message, I was assuming transplanting as in,
transplanting from one spot in the garden to the other. It it's about
planting potted plants, then, yes, you can stick them in the ground
now, I suppose. It's probably better than letting them get potbound,
since growing roses in pots has its own set of challenges, since roses
don't particularly like growing in gallon pots. g