I would repot them now, seaside. I would not cut them back now. Let them decide how much of the plant to keep. One can trim off dead bits later if needed.

@seasiderooftop any time you have to molest rose roots, it's safest to do when the plants are as dormant as possible and when the temps are as low as possible (as long as you don't live where "winter" is sub zero) and there is a potential for rain. You are going to severely disturb the roots of those roses and with the heat and aridity you're likely to encounter in the near future, you could actually lose one or both of them. Forget what an internet site says about "Autumn" being best for pruning. Your roses may well not even stop flowering because of the climate. When should you realistically expect the weather to be the coolest and dampest there? That is when it will be safest for you to virtually bare root those plants. That is what you are looking at, bare rooting the two bushes. Their roots are intertwined and you will likely lose major portions of their root systems. If you realistically can't expect any rain periods around that time, your roses will have the best chance of survival if you literally bare root them and prune them back to nearly what they were when you obtained them. If it's hot, dry and windy when you do it, I would also mound them with soil to keep them cool, dark and damp while they regenerate new root systems to prevent them from drying out. You can easily create cylinders of card board or even many layers of newspaper taller than the planted height of the plants. You want the bottoms buried in the surrounding soil to prevent the soil in the cylinders from washing out when watering and to help maintain their shape when they are wet. Keep the soil in the cylinders as damp as the soil around the roots. Ideally, you only want the top inch or two of the canes protruding from the soil in the cylinders. Once you begin seeing new growth emerge from the cane ends, you can begin removing the soil from the cylinders, exposing the canes to gradually acclimate to the hotter, drier air and sun. If you get rains about that time, you can remove the cylinders and spread the remaining soil around the pot surface to allow the rains to harden the plants off. The whole goal is to prevent the plants from drying out after they lose all of those roots. You can successfully achieve it. Good luck!

I totally agree to wait for the rainy season. I was hoping that was now. It has barely started here. We have gotten 1.3 inches of rain which is a start. My totally rootless roses (gophers) all were potted during Dec-March last year and all 6 made it, no pruning needed. Good luck Seaside.

@Sheila z8a Rogue Valley OR @roseseek

Thank you both for these replies!

Roseseek, yes, this is going to be a big scary bare rooting procedure! I am really scared of killing them in the process.

Here the rainy season is between Nov-Feb, and the coldest month is January, although it never gets below around 6°c.

I think I will wait another month, in November the temps will be around 20°c daytime and a little rainier. Humidity in the air will be upwards of 80%.

I am worried that with every passing month, the roots will get bigger and more tangled together.

Thanks again for your advice!

🤞

@seasiderooftop you're welcome! Don't worry about the roots getting more tangled. The temps and light are reducing and the plants are slowing down. You literally will need to bare root them so anything they produce in the mean time will only serve to feed them and help them build up the required stored nutrients to break back into growth after winter. Waiting for rains and colder weather is definitely the right course to take. They will survive and be much happier once they aren't overcrowded and have room to spread out. Roses can be bare rooted multiple times and still explode back into even better plants than before. Not letting them dry out is the key. You and they will do just fine!

@seasiderooftop congratulations! I envy your rains. It sounds as if you're good to go. Enjoy!

That sounds great, Seaside. That moisture should really help. This should really help your roses.

I just put the roses (6) whose roots had been totally eaten by gophers 6-10 months ago back in their old spots in the ground but now planted in gopher wire baskets. During their times in the pots they did not lose any of the top growth since it was during the wet season. They had regrown nice root balls amazingly. I hope they can regain their former vigor. How much can a rose take?

I plan on using the baskets (Digger's Root Guard Heavy Duty 5 gal) going forward. I possibly should have used 15 gal size but it is a start.