How many roses are you moving?

Moses.

At this point, about 50. The jury is still out on my attempts at striking cuttings, so that number may be revised upwards.

I'm trying very hard to avoid nurseries and their bareroot hybrid tea temptations at the moment. ;-)

I think your plan will work, Kathy.

Hi Kathy ! by chance are you KStrong the poster from a few yesrs back ?

either way , congrats on the move !!

my only thought ., is are you using a moving co to move the plants ?

i moved a few times , once across town three times to different states and each company stated they wouldnt take plsnts .

so , you could label them as something else , or move the boxes yourself. we used companies that packed the boxes themselves and i coudlnt get away with anything :(

its so exciting to have a fresh new garden! good luck !!

Nope. That is somebody else. We're self moving. Although there will probably be some sort of cube or pod service involved for delivery of furniture and household goods. The critters and plants will be riding with me. And I anticipate a delightful time. (Ha. Ha.)

Thanks for the well wishes, we're really looking forward to it.

Think through how you are going to handle the top growth. That's going to be the most fragile part of the plant, and it is going to take up the most volume. Are you willing to cut the roses back hard to pack them?

Personally, I'd start by trying to keep them in 1 qt *square* pots. If I'm doing the math right, 50 of those are about 7 sq ft, which is about the size of the trunk of my VW station wagon. Packed in, they won't shift around, and the canes can wave back at me when I look in the rear-view mirror.

I've been pruning pretty aggressively. I'll lose flowers this season, but the root growth has been excellent, so I'm not too worried.

What struck me this morning (because I've been grooming and repotting the last couple of days ) is the timing of it all. My fish tank survived 6 days in an aerated bucket on our last move. Most roses, even at the height of the late shipping season are okay for a week or so, as long as they are cool and hydrated. So if I start depotting and packing 4 or 5 days ahead of the move... Guh. There are so many moving parts to consider. Which is why I'm doing it now.

I'm not sure I see the point in packing them in boxes. Are the boxes going to be stackable? If they aren't, then there isn't any point to the top half of the boxes. They just exist to make several pots easier to carry.

I'm visualizing using the ten gallon flat that Sterlite has gone to. (RIP their old style 10 gallon tote). They're not good for much of anything other than clothes and linen, but they should be ideal for this.

It's a long move, and me, the Spouse, two middling size dogs, four cats, a rabbit (plus their gear) and a bucket of fish, plus my first night kit, all have to make the trip. Space is at an absolute premium. We're wrassling logistics because this isn't a next town over relay.

As I mentioned in a different reply, our household goods will be shipped by one of those pod services, but I'm not entrusting the nucleus of my new landscaping to a third party.

Depending on when you go, I might be tempted to add a thin layer of ice at the bottom in some baggies, and then cardboard or news paper layers over the ice. As you mentioned heat is the enemy.

THAT is a good idea. Our weather in autumn can be awkward. I could potentially gain a day or so in my prep schedule if I used blue gel packs and cardboard before layering in the plants. Thanks!

I can see you have thought about this quite a bit. Have you considered making two trips? Or asking a friend to drive as well?

My concerns are

1) the weight of the roses in your car or truck if there's dirt. Ten pounds of dirt per rose is equivalent to two 250 pound football players or three average size people.

2) what the weather will be like in fall in the Central Valley of California. It could be 105F for a week in October. Hotter in Bakersfield! Maybe a bunch of cheap Styrofoam coolers and some blue ice?

If you have an un-favorite rose, you could try digging it up and then packing it for a fake journey in the car that takes all day, as soon as it warms up enough to imitate fall weather. See how it does after being left in the car all day. Better to try out ideas with just one or two roses than all 50 roses all at once.

I'm packing my plants soil-less. I want to avoid transporting ants and other insects. Hence, wrapping the root balls in wet newsprint, and then the fabric pots they're being potted in at destination.

The move is 8 hrs. Not the longest relocation, but not one to do on repeat, either, if possible. We discussed logistics again and have come up with a workable solution for the amount of personal kit that needs to go. So, that, at least is resolved.

After some feedback received here, my revised game plan is to:

De-pot plants.

Hose off residual potting soil

Hold in buckets of water until they are packed.

Wrap in newsprint/the appropriate sized felt pot

To each 10 gallon bin add 2 frozen blue ice packs and a sheet of cardboard.

Line with plastic.

Fill snugly with plants.

Lather, rinse, repeat until everything going is packed.

Store in house (coolest available place) until time to pack vehicles.

Upon arrival:

Unpack into garage for holding until pets are situated.

Get potting mix delivered if feasible, otherwise go pick it up.

Repot plants in their fabric plant pots

Bed in at some later date TBD.

LOL. I'm ahead of you there. To my utter consternation, I found out that indelible marker when used on plastic plant tags, isn't. So I purchased those soft metal tags that engrave when you write on them. As part of last week's repotting effort, I've been re-tagging my plants. Even the ones with nice printed nursery tags, as a backup.

Other than one plant where the stake marker got misplaced and I'm not sure if it's an Alain Blanchard or a Ville de St Denis, and a couple of "Mystery" roses from Rogue Valley Roses, I'm good. Hopefully, I'll work out those identities come the spring!

Paint pens are indelible. Sharpies only last a couple of months.

Make sure you attach the labels to the plants. Something like the old J&P tags that were wired to the plants. Otherwise, I guarantee they will fall out and get separated somehow.