Don't know if you would call it sulking but when I shifted Mme Isaac Perier from pot where she had put out a big root into the ground, to her proper place in the garden she did nothing. A few months ago I trimmed her right back to bare root size and shape, checked her roots etc and now she is starting to do something. Have just had my first flower.
Cheers
Judy

Funny you should mention this. My two Mrs Herbert Stevens, bareroot this winter, appear to be sulking. Everything else is shooting. These two are just sitting. They seem to be alive when I cut the canes but so far nothing.

I moved a large SDLM last winter and I had bought a replacement rose for it because I thought it was dead. As soon as I bought the replacement rose it started to show signs of life.

Do any of you use a root starter or plant starter when you move roses, or plant bare root roses?

Von

Not quite sure exactly what you're referring to there Von. Do you mean something like seasol or something else? There's so much conflicting advice out and about re what to include or not include when planting bare roots, I vary according to whim, and by now I figure that treating the roses like any other plant and incorporating cool manures seems to work best. If I'm moving a rose, I try to take as much of the root ball along as possible of course. But I reckon it can't just be cultivation, as there is a marked difference in the behaviour of different varieties. Mother's Love for example was perfectly happy, nay extremely vigorous, till the moment I inflicted that one cut on it's new basal. Cultivation didn't change - no disturbance to the roots at all.
Francois Dubruil on the other hand couldn't care less, rip him up, move him about prune him, whatever you like and if anything you'd think he appreciates it. Monsieur Tillier I've pruned to within an inch of his life in the past, and he gives every appearance of loving you for it.....but these others....no chance.

I put a small slug of plant starter in the bucket of water when I soak my bare-roots before planting them. You can buy it by the bottle from any gardening shop - its not cheap. Seasol works okay too, seems to give them a bit of a start. I actually picked up that tip from a gardening guru who writes books on roses. Adding a dash of plant starter to a watering-can full of water can help kick-start a reticent rose...though if a rose is in water-repellant earth nothing is going to work. Carefully digging a hole alongside a rose can tell you whether or not the moisture is travelling to the root zone, or if the soil is repellant.

You're quite right about roses being so different from each other! For starters, consider the Austins, now that bunch of roses couldn't be more diverse! You really need to study the growth habit before you decide where they're going in the garden or you could be in for a bit of a shock!

Von.

I had a Rhapsody in Blue which was growing strongly - too strongly in fact. I could see it was going to get too big for it's spot at the front of the garden bed. So I moved it last year and it has sulked ever since. Hoping that this year it has got it's roots re-established and will start to grow.

I'll have a look at the plant starter and give it a go. They really can't afford to waste time this lot I've moved. I really need them securely re-established before we think about moving out and leaving them to nature for a few months. That's the thing with deciding to demolish. Takes a year's season cycle to move everything out of the way, then re-establish. Summer will see the bulbs shifted. With a bit of luck we'll do construction over winter when the demands of the garden aren't too high.