I would wait a while until it is entering dormancy (early Nov.?) and remove all the foliage. Since water is lost mostly through the leaves, you might then get by with no pruning of the canes, if you get a fairly decent rootball. Spraying the bare canes with dormant-strength anti-transpirant could help. Watch the canes for any sign of shriveling, which might call for more pruning.

I just moved one this morning........may be I should dig it up, put it in a pot and store it in the garage for the winter.

I dug it up, it's in a pot now.

Sam, I think you are asking me. In my current garden, I have grown roses through winters as cold as -16 and numerous zone 6 winters. I've transplanted a number of roses during early dormancy in November. It's a common practice.

Bellarosa, I wouldn't cut anything back of move an established rose now. I have had horrible luck with any kind of fall planting myself. I know it's what everyone says to do but I've never had a fall planted rose survive my winters. Now I do all planting and moving in the spring.

I would wait until spring to do any hard pruning. You want that rose to store as much energy as it can and retain it to come back with next spring. In the early spring prune off only what has winter die back and move it. Leave all the green cane you can for it to use to start growing in the spring. The roses in spring wake up in growth mode and ready to take off. I've found that's the best time to move them around.

Summersrhythm, since you had already moved it I would have just left it in the ground and mulched it heavily for winter. I'm not sure disturbing it a second time was a good idea and the ground is usually the very best place for them to winter. Now that it's potted wait for it to go completely dormant before putting it in the garage. Keep it off the floor, on bricks or boards, and make sure you water it all winter at least once a month. In the spring you may have to do some in and out until the weather settles down and you can plant it out.

Thanks Seil, I will do that, keep it in the garage with all the KO rose trees during the winter. We had a cold day here, high was 50F with high wind and light rain, I thought it was a good day to move roses around......

Thank you all for your advice. I'm going to wait until November to move it. Like I said, I've planted bareroot roses in November, and they've made it through our Zone 5 winters with no problem. We build a little chicken wire cage around them and mulch them very heavily. Come Spring, I just prune back the winter die back and all is good.

My climate is very different; it's warm (about a zone 8?) and our winters are generally very mild and short,so take what I say with a grain of salt, please. Iplant bare-roots and do "big" moves in November. I have already started moving small roses now that it's begun raining, but am focusing on ones that have been doing poorly in their present spots, so they are practically dormant already from the summer's drought.In my experience, it is best to cut the roses's canes back when moving, for though it is certainly true that they store up energy in their canes, experience has showed me that once moved, the roots do go into a bit of a shock, and they have trouble functioning and pumping out water and nutrients all the way up long canes. So I'd advise cutting it back a little; say, to 4 feet, maybe? it will also be easier to handle, I think. Mind, I DID once get away with moving an established rambler leaving long canes on it, but I wouldn't do it again. The plant took several years to re-establish,for one thing, and in any case I lost so much wood on it that it wouldv'e been easier and more sensible just to cut it back in the first place! I think it would require constant watering and fussing in order to move the entire, un-pruned plant with perfect success.

A lot depends on the soil conditions and the gardener--I've moved very large root systems--up to about 4' x 4' with many large roots in all directions--which can allow you to move a very large plant during dormacy and have a big vigorous plant growing in a new spot. But, if the soil is too sticky or too hard, you may have to re-consider how much of the plant you want to move.

I agree with Seil. It is better to move it in spring.

November is not a good time of the year to prune or move a rose in a cold climate. Pruning a rose causes stress and the plant exudes sugars. The plant needs all its energy to make it through the winter.

After you move a rose you have to water a lot. November is not a good time to water a lot. November is not a good time to fight swirling winds and watering roses.

A winter protection method will help alleviate some of the dieback. I use the same winterizing method for my viking queen climber, topped off with frozen curled up leaves with zero dieback.

In Zone 5 cold climate I move a rose in the spring. Like a bare root rose. I wait until I see the new growth appear in the Spring, then I prune the plant back to make the move easier. Water water water. Roses roses should be pruned in the Spring.

I try to get as much soil and use a tarp. Or another method I used this year. I soak the soil for 1hr, use gloves and slowly pull the entire plant up. Just like bare root roses.

Then I add compost and soil from where I removed the rose from.

The spring is much better for me, no dieback.

Sam