Every year I transplant several of my potted roses (planted as bareroots that spring) into my garden. As long as they're in the ground by the end of August or beginning of September here, I've never had any problems. It's better to wait for a cloudy day, preferably with rain forecast, before transplanting, but as long as you keep it well-watered it will be fine. I don't cut them back either....there may be a little wilting from the move - don't worry, it will be o.k.
Judith

Judith, so great to hear that someone's had experience doing this. I have enjoyed growing this in a pot from bare root this year and as long as moving it to the ground in the fall works out fine, I would definitely do it again. Do you move them back into pots in the spring, or do you buy new ones? What varieties of roses have worked out in pots for you? I grow organically, so I need something that is pretty carefree. The Julia Child was without problem all summer. Nice foliage, pretty blooms. My only complaint was that it was barely fragrant. So next year, I hope to do it again and try for something with the same repeat bloom, vigorous growth but more fragrance.

Thanks a lot!

If you're doing this just to overwinter it outdoors, keep it in the pot and plant the pot with the rose in it. Better yet, let it go dormant and store it in your unheated garage or shed. If you do plant it outside, make sure you plant it deep enough to cover the bud union 4-6 inches.
I don't think it's a great idea to transplant into the ground with the intention of repotting it next spring. The bush needs time to put out feeder roots and the contant moving back and forth, year after year, will eventually take it's toll on your rose bush if it survives the winter.
Perhaps I'm reading you wrong and if so, I apologize.
If you transplant it into the ground make sure you do it in a way that doesn't result in loss of soil from the roots. Doing so in this hot weather will cause severe stress before winter and could lead to loss of your rose.

Thanks Karl, actually it's centered in a 20 inch pot, so it's not really a pot size I can sink in the ground. I'll have to dig it out. I don't have a place to store it over the winter either. So, should I plant it in the soil that deep, or can I use mulch after it's planted to bring it up to that depth?

Thanks for that input. I have a place to move it, that I think I might like to keep it permanently and try a new rose in a pot next year. I think you're right about moving it back and forth.

So you're saying try not to disturb the root ball as much as possible when I dig it out?

Thanks!

I'm saying don't disturb the root ball ever.
Such a large pot, especially if it's a decorative type you want to keep, can make transplanting very difficult and result in soil loss if you can't destroy the pot when transplanting. In hot weather loss of any feeder roots means the plants ability to take up moisture is lessened. This can result in severe transplant stress and eventual plant loss, especially if it goes into winter in less than optimal condition.
If removing from the pot or overwintering in an unheated garage or shed is not an option, consider placing it in a sheltered place and cover it with lots of oak leaves after it goes dormant. I've had luck overwintering a grouping of many pots this way. Spring leaf removal should be done while the bush is still dormant but after the buds swell. Canes in constant contact with wet leaves can develop canker resulting in their loss and damage to the health of the bush.
While I grow some roses in large pots, they are meant to stay in them and I plan ahead with a proper winter storage place, in my case, an unheated greenhouse. My pots are large and have to be moved with a two wheeled dolly.

Karl, you are right in advising not to disturb the root ball, if possible... you used "ever". However, I know from personal experience a rose can be successfully transplanted in high temps. We get weeks of high 90s to low 100 temps and I had to transplant a rose during a period of high temps to save it.

The key is not to count on the roots to hydrate the plant. As you have mentioned, they are damaged and are not functioning effectively.

When I moved my rose I planted it in a hole with amended soils with lots of compost. I didn't take off any top growth as the deer had already done that. Once planted, I covered the rose with a wet t-shirt with the tail hanging into a 5 gal bucket of water. I had to spray the rose several times a day to make sure the humidity I felt was necessary to keep the canes from drying out would be maintained. Of course, I mulched and watered ... and prayed that the rose would make it. (The t-shirt also provides some shade during the intense heat.)

I continued this treatment for several weeks until I saw new top growth and then I knew the roots were functioning properly and gradually removed the covering and did not allow the rose to bloom, so it could spend its energy on the roots. I didn't feed the plant until I saw new top growth, and then very lightly because I didn't want to burn the new roots. Of couse, proper watering of the plant was part of the program. btw ... the plant didn't lose any leaves during this treatment.

This was a case of move the rose or let the deer have it. Since it was named after me, I wasn't about to share it with the deer.

In spring, I am often confronted with having to transplant roses in temps that are too hot because our weather can go from cold to HOT in a matter of days. I don't generally have to do the t-shirt thing, but I do have to be careful about not letting the canes dry out until the roots can take over. Generally, I water and feed the plant a few days while it is still in its container before transplanting to allow it to take up both nutrients and water.

Roses are tough, but sometimes they need a little help because you just can't always do things at the perfect time in the garden. So far, using this approach, I have only lost only one rose, so I know it can be done. If I had my druthers, I'd do it the way you advise, but things don't alway work out so that I can do things that way.

Pairiemoon2: Transplanting the rose now does give it a change to develop better roots before going into winter, but you have to be willing to give it the extra care because you are "breaking the rules". Since plants can't read, they don't know the rules, so do the best you can for your situation.

Smiles,
Lyn

What an interesting method of using a t-shirt to keep the canes of a transplanted rose bush from drying out. I never thought of doing that.

I've had a lot of luck planting and transplanting roses in the fall, either purchased as starts from places like Heirloom's or started on my own. My advice would be to watch ahead for when the heat breaks...I usually wait till daytime temps are back into the 80's and then keep them watered...occasionally covering small ones with milk jugs for a couple of weeks till they put out new roots.

Here is a link that might be useful: Garden Musings

Thanks Karl for the additional suggestion to overwinter it outside in the pot. I'm not sure that would be easy to do without a greenhouse or a cold frame. I could put a milk crate over the top growth with leaves packed inside, but that won't insulate the pot.

Interesting techinique with the T shirt roseblush. And good to know professor that you have had luck transplanting in the fall. Which brings me to my confusion at the suggestion that a rose can't be dug up and replanted in the fall. I thought they are always recommending that if you want to move a plant, the fall is a great time to do it. Isn't a rose, just a shrub? I also read that in moving a shrub that is not dormant, that you need to give it enough time to establish before the ground freezes, so I thought to start thinking about doing it in August when I have at least Sept and Oct before we get a freeze here, would give it plenty of time. Right now, it is still hot in the day time, although more in the 80s and not the 100s, while nights are cooler.

So, is a rose, different than a shrub in this regard?

It truly depends upon your climate and which rose you are planting. Yes, fall is a good time to plant some classes of roses in the ground. However, in my climate, I can never really figure out when "fall" is here because we can still be experiencing triple digit temps right up to and into October some years, and other years I am already into the wood pile to heat the house in early September. Some years we have a short fall, others a longer fall.

Like other plants, roses continue to grow roots even when the ground is frozen.

The problem comes when you are working with a "tender" rose. If it gets very cold quickly and doesn't have time to repair the damaged roots, you can see a lot of die back because of frozen top growth. In a sense, roses with a lot of "tea" in their linage, are more tender because the species used to develop these roses came from a climate where they did not have to go dormant and they store their nutrients in their canes, so die back weakens the plant. Also, if the plant doesn't have enough time to grow top growth, it doesn't have a place to store the nutrients needed to keep it alive.... but you mentioned that you are transplanting a rose that has been growing in a 20 gal can, so it should be OK in that respect.

If you are working with a rose with less tea in it's linage, they know how to go dormant. They send all of their nutrients down to the roots. That's why their leaves drop off as they prepare themselves for winter.

If the plant is own root, it probably will come back in the spring, if it got sufficient water during the time it was growing new roots (and enough time). That's the same with other shrubs.

Smiles,
Lyn

Julia Child is a floribunda. Parentage: Voodoo which is a hybrid tea x R. soulieana derivative x Summerwine a large flowered climber x Top Notch, a floribunda & grandiflora group and Hydridized by Tom Carruth, introduced by Weeks Roses.

Not sure if that helps.

Prairiemoon, once I plant them in the ground, they stay there LOL Then of course, I have all these empty pots to fill, so I HAVE to order more roses! I do leave two or three in pots, and overwinter these in my attached shed. That usually works for me. I've only lost a couple doing this - a few years ago during the famous 'Easter Freeze' I pulled them out too early and didn't put them back when the temps dropped drastically. I learned my lesson the hard way. Now I move them inside when they call for 28 degrees or less.

I had Julia Child in a pot for two years, and loved her! She was healthy and bloomed all summer. Unfortunately she was one of the ones I lost.

I've grown all my Austins in pots for at least one season, and some do better than others. Tamora and Pretty Jessica were particularly suited to pot culture, since they stay compact. This year I have several HT's in containers, but my favourite so far is Moonstone - nice bushy shape and lots of blooms. You will probably just have to experiment with the roses you like, and go from there.

Good luck!
Judith

Prairiemoon......

The nutrient storage information I passed along was taught to me by a rose master. I am not an expert. My mentor talks in crosses and doses of this species and that species in the linage of a rose. (I had to do a lot of studying just to understand him.)

It's pretty safe to assume that all modern roses have a lot of tea in their linage and each cross that includes a modern rose adds more tea characteristics. Along with re-blooming, the teas have passed on the genes where they stored the nutrients in the canes. (btw .. I checked JC's linage on HMF and saw a lot of teas, floribundas and HTs and very few species which would introduce more hardiness)

I don't know your climate and don't know how soon you have to deal with your roses going dormant... or slowing down because of the cold. It's August. If you can plant it soon, I think you will have time for the roots to recover enough to get through the winter with your usual winter protection methods. You might have more die back this year, but I don't think the plant will die. This is just a guess.

My zone is warmer, but I live in the mountains of northern California. Everything here is a matter of micro-climates ... elevation, air flow, etc. Our winter temps can get down into the low teens for a few hours at night, but are mostly in the high teens and low 20s, and day temps are high 30s - low 40s. I don't know how that relates to your climate.

I had to overwinter almost 100 roses in 7 to 15 gal nursery cans out in the open. I clustered the pots with the largest in the middle and bags of leaves between the pots and then the smaller pots outside of that circle. Then I surrounded the whole thing with more bags of leaves. My theory was that it takes longer for a larger mass to freeze than a smaller one. (All of the roses were own root).

Every year I spent my time in spring and summer digging holes in glacier slurry and planting roses. Each year, I had fewer roses to overwinter. It's taken me 5 years to get them all planted and I didn't take time out to change out the soil in the containers. The roses made it, but the last 12, which I planted this spring, were pretty sad looking. It was either get them in the ground or let them die. They are planted and thriving.

Go for it, but dig a BIG hole so you don't disturb the roots very much. Feed the rose in the container a few days before you put it in the ground. Right now, the roots are not disturbed and will take up the nutrients. I would use a chemical fertilizer for this task because it works faster. The big hole, a well-hydrated plant and a well fed plant will give your rose the best chance of survival, if you plant it out. Temps in the 80s are not too hot. You won't need the t-shirt.

Good luck.

Smiles,
Lyn

Thanks Judith and Lyn....well it's amazing how many really great answers I have to my question.

You all added something interesting and important. Thanks so much for sharing all your wisdom!!! :-)

Prairiemoon........

I forgot to add that when you transplant your JC, try not to cut off much of the top growth because that's where this rose stores its nutrients and it gives the plant the most leaves to perform its natural process of feeding the roots through photosynthesis. For winter, only cut off enough to avoid snow breakage.

Again, Good Luck.

Smiles,
Lyn

Lyn, thanks very much, I will remember that!