On 6/13/2009 6:35 PM, enigma wrote:
"David E. Ross" wrote in
et:

On 6/13/2009 9:35 AM, enigma wrote:
when is the best time to move roses? is now ok, if i can keep
them watered, or should i wait until fall?
some are grafted & some are own root, if that matters. one is
supposedly a climber although it's never gotten more than 3'
tall in three years.
(Fourth of July http://www.rose.org/1999-winner-fourth-of-july/
)

Where are you? That is, what is your climate?

southeast NH, zone 5b/6, it's been dry up until the past week, and
it's starting the monsoon season i think (weather says 1-2" tonight,
another 1-2" tomorrow).
lee


In preparation, dig the new planting holes in the late summer. The
holes should be about 3-1/2 ft across and equally deep. Refill the
bottom 1/2 ft of each hole, stirring a double handful of bone meal or
superphosphate into the soil. It's actually best to use soil from the
surface to place at the bottom of the hole.

At the same time, dig down three arcs about 1-1/2 ft from the base of
each rose. The arcs should each be about 1/6 of the way around the
plant and about 2 ft deep. This will cut surface feeder roots, but new
feeder roots will form inside the arcs. The gaps between the arcs will
suffice to keep the plants growing.

Wait until the roses are just becoming dormant. The air should be cool
or cold, but the soil should still be somewhat warm. Connect the arcs,
digging down about another foot (total 3 ft deep). Then dig under each
rose, cutting any remaining roots. You will definitely need help
lifting 3x3ft root balls and moving them to the new planting holes.

Don't prune until you see new buds start to swell in the spring. One
fourth of the roses (or more) might fail to survive.

All this is too much work and too risky. Unless a particular variety of
rose is rare or no longer available commercially, I would instead just
remove and trash the existing roses and plant new ones. For those that
are rare or not available, I would take cuttings now and try to root
them; for each plant I want to preserve, I would do at least four
cuttings since some cuttings will fail. (I wish I had done this with my
climbing 'Chrysler Imperial' before I had to have the slope in my back
yard repaired. My rose bed was at the bottom of the slope and was
totally destroyed during regrading. While 'Chrysler Imperial' is still
available as a shrub, the climbing form is no longer grown commercially.
I finally replaced it with climbing 'Dublin Bay'.)

As for 'Fourth of July', I have it. It's growing at the side of my
house near the front. Finally, it has reached a wire rope that I strung
between my house and my neighbor's house, about 7 ft high. From April
until I prune it in December, it blooms repeatedly.

Regarding your search for perennials, I can't help you. Your climate is
far too different from mine, so I don't really know what would do well
in your garden.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary