The best time to move a rosebush is in late winter or early spring, preferably while it is still dormant, but I think we're early enough in spring that you still can move it now.

First, I'd take the cuttings and start rooting them so you have them for insurance in case it doesn't survive being transplanted.

Then, prepare the hole ahead of time and have a 50/50 mix of soil and compost mixed up and ready to use to backfill the hole after you place the rose bush in it.

Try to dig up the root ball as intact as possible. I wouldn't trim the roots as they are being disturbed enough already. However, after the bush is replanted in prepared ground, you need to prune off 50% of the topgrowth. This is done to reduce how much topgrowth the bush must support as it recovers from being transplanted. The failure to cut back the bush by half could result in a serious enough case of transplant shock that the plant might not survive, so please don't skip this step.

If you had started several months ago, you could have done a form of room pruning monthly while the rose was still in the ground. (You would have done this by using a sharp spade to cut a circle in the ground around the root ball, thereby severing some far-reaching roots in the process.) This would have helped prepare the rose for transplanting, but now that the bush is putting out new growth, you really don't have the luxury of having enough time to do that now since the hot season is fast approaching.

Have you ever transplanted an established rose bush before? In case you haven't, I will find a page that describes how to do it and will link it below. It really isn't hard at all. I brought three favorite rose bushes with me when we moved here in 1999 and they still are alive and doing just fine. They were between 10 and 15 years old when I dug them up and moved them here.

Maryanne must have been very special to all of you and I hope your plan to save that special rosebush and to raise new plants from cuttings in order to share them with everyone works out. Do you happen to know the variety name of the rose or if it is either an own-root rose or a grafted type of rose?

Here's a link where P. Allen Smith describes how to move a Knockout Rose. His method should work for any rose, though not all rose varieties are as tough as knockouts.

P Allen Smith: Transplanting A Knockout Rose

Be sure to keep the soil/compost around the transplanted rose moist (but never soggy) for the next few months. You might see some wilting to indicate transplant shock, but if you keep the soil moist, the transplant shock should not lead to plant death. Letting the rose get too dry on top of it having transplant shock could result in plant death.

Good luck,

Dawn

Having just dug up two 50 year old roses, I was surprised at how small their root balls really were. I think maybe they had a lot of laterals that I cut through, but they weren't terribly deep. However, I was just ripping them up, not transplanting, so I wasn't trying to be gentle.

Dawn- thanks for the advice. I have started digging the hole for the rose's new spot. Amendments are next to it, waiting to be mixed in. I was too tired to finish digging the hole this weekend, It will done by next weekend, so it can actually be moved. Meanwhile, I am going to make sure it is well watered and as happy as possible before moving.

Lisa- It would sure be nice if the root ball is small, but happy. But I think I will plan on lots of digging. ;)