I moved my rose bush on Friday so that it's done before the weather turns too cold. It's a climbing one, and it had no support, so it was just spreading out with these several very long branches for several feet in a couple of different directions. It's moved now, following your instructions as closely as I could. There was one root that went WAY down and when I followed it to try and get it all, discovered that it had run under the grass where I couldn't get to it. So I had to chop it off. Anyway the rose bush looks pretty sad and sorry right now poor thing. Is it going to be OK eventually or have I killed it?
Plants go into transplant shock when they are moved and since you had to cut a root that is probably making it sad. The leaves are not drooping from lack of water so don't over water it. Recovering from the move and loss of a root will stress it out for a few weeks, personally I would cut all the stems off to about 12" long and let it concentrate on getting the roots settled in before winter instead of having to also keep the leaves and long stems alive.
Ronni, now is the time to practice your pruning skills. Cut the stems off to about 12" length, and cut them just above a leaf node (that's where the small branches with leaves branch off the main stem.) Make the cut at a 45 degree angle, not a flat cut. Your rose should recover--just don't expect it to perk up and look happy until spring. Roses are tough, and have been around for hundreds of years. The original Old Blush was imported to Virginia in the 1600's from England. If roses could survive that ocean trip, they can survive most anything we do to them!
Hello Ronni--Well, there isn't much that I can add to what the other guys here have said. I do feel strongly though that the advice to prune your transplanted rose is of paramount importance, because it will decrease the stress your rose will suffer as a result of the trauma of the transplanting process. One further thing: I would urge you to take careful note of the locations of nodes on the stems before you prune. The reason for this is that the nodes are where the new branches will emanate from. Secondly, the position of the node on the stem determines in which direction the new branch will grow. If you calculate a bit, you can have that transplant growing in a shape that is exactly to your liking next year. Good luck with your climber, miss.
Thanks all, for the advice. I'm having a little trouble understanding some of it, not because of you all, but only because I am still so new to gardening that I don't have a decent gardening lexicon, and so I get confused by things like "nodes" in relation to "leaf stems" and such. I found this website that gives instructions with plenty of pictures. I'm a very visual person, so this really helped. But before I use it as any kind of specific guide, I wanted to run it by you all and have you tell me if you think it's OK. http://www.weekendgardener.net/how-to/prune-roses.htm
Ronni, those are very informative, clear instructions for rose pruning. The only suggestion I have is to skip the sealing of the fresh cut. If the cut is done properly, the stem will seal itself within a matter of hours. (I'm talking about roses in our moderate to warm climates.) Also, if your rose is "antique" or own-root, there won't be a bud union. It doesn't matter in your case since you aren't doing a severe pruning, but for future reference (and I do see roses in your future! :-D ) you might want to remember it.
See, this is the kind of thing I mean. I'm not picking on you, MG, I promise! But I don't know what you're talking about, so I'll go find references for "own-root' and "bud union" because I have no clue what they mean. It's fascinating, isn't it, how there's very specific nomenclature for every endeavor? As a ballroom dancer, if I start throwing words and phrases around like "contra/ CBM/CBMP" or "crossover" or "frame" or "latin motion" most of you won't have a clue what I'm talking about. But a dancer will, in an instant. Same goes for gardening. Going to go look up those words now, before I head outside to prune my poor, struggling rose bush!
Ronni, I sometimes get so caught up in answering, that I don't post a coherent answer! Antique and own root roses are just that. Antique roses are those that weren't patented, they often came over from Europe with settlers. They are hardy, usually of smaller bloom size, and can be propagated with impunity. Own root means a rose isn't grafted. If you look one or two inches above the soil line, and see a large bump or where the main part of the rose bush takes a slight angle before growing upwards, that rose is grafted, and likely a hybrid tea. The desired rose and its blooms is not very hardy, so it is grafted onto the sturdy root stock of a rose that isn't valued for its blooms, but for its strength. The bud union is where that bump is. The bud of the desired rose is united with the root stock, therefore bud union. I know you aren't picking on me Ronni. I just love it that you care and want to learn!
Thanks so much for the explanation MG. Saved me from scouring the internet, wading through all the chaff and stuff that is just annoying it's written so poorly or with such a lack of clarity that there's no way for a newbie like me to understand it. Truly, it's very frustrating to go look for an explanation of a gardening term, only to discover so many more words or terms in the explanation that I end up more confused than I started out! Well, sure! I wouldn't be here if I weren't interested in increasing my skill level as a gardener! And for me, for my own particular style of learning, the only way to get better at gardening is to immerse myself in it, ask loads of annoying questions, read, experiment, do, ask more annoying and picky questions, do some more, and bug people with yet more questions!
Toni & Marlin are right, Ronni. Yours is a lovely plant, keep us updated! Would love to log in one day and find that your plant has forgiven you for the transplant
OK, so back in October I pruned that rose bush WAY back, to where it looked completely naked. And then I crossed my fingers and prayed! Well, I guess my prayers were answered. See what I found on that bush? I'm actually not sure how long those little buds have been on the bush. I just noticed them the other day, when I was trying to figure out what was going on with my faucet that had all the ice near it! Now I'm worried that all these below freezing temps that are so uncharacteristic of Nashville have killed any hope of the plant actually growing when it warms up!
You are in Zone 7 right? Roses are good to zone 6 which would be around -5 degrees. The above ground growth may suffer freeze damage but the roots should be fine. If that is a grafted rose and all the above ground stems freeze back, you could end up with different color blooms next Spring though.
Ronni, your rose will do fine. Ours have new little leaves, and the nighttime temperatures have been in the 20's, with daytime not above freezing for three days. The new leaves are not affected, just not growing. Roses are a lot tougher than folks give them credit for. Just be patient--your rose will grow and thrive when conditions are right. I knew you were a "rosarian"!
