I have a rose bush I wanted to move and was waiting for the end of blooming season. I live in Utah and our seasons have been very strange, up until a week or two ago my roses were still blooming so I didn't dare move my blue girl. Is it too late to move it now that it's started to snow? If so can I move it at the beginning of spring or do I need to wait until next fall?
Hi BreAna and welcome to GardenStew! Actually, roses can be moved anytime of the year. It might be best (and easiest) to move them while they're dormant because you won't have to take a lot of soil with them during the move. However, if you can keep the soil around the roots, you can move a rose anytime. When you dig the rose up, it's best to trim the canes back so they're about the same length as the roots. Hope this helps, Art
Art33 sounds like great advice to me. My Grandma use to say that you can move any flower anytime of the year as long as you take enough soil with it. I guess she was right. I wish I could grow roses. But I have a black thumb when it comes to them.
I would suggest transplanting your Rose in the spring. When you dig a plant up now, if it has not gone fully dormant, it's roots will struggle to establish and as winter goes by, the plant may not survive. It all depends on soil temps, but I have found Roses to be especially temperamental about relocation.
welcome to Garden Stew. I do eny you being able to grow Roses, I love them but we have Deer in our area and they also love Roses for dinner.
In Utah, I'd wait until early, early spring to transplant a rose. The roots will need to get established before the ground freezes if you do it now, and that seems slightly unlikely if you have snow. When you do move the rose, dig the hole first, bigger than you think you'll need, dig the rose with as much dirt attached as possible (I put down an old sheet, tarp, whatever and dig the rose and put it on the sheet, then wrap it and carry it to the new spot), plant it at the same level as before and water well. Since Blue Girl is a hybrid tea, you don't want the graft node to be below ground. If it's sunny, give the rose some shade with an old umbrella or a tent for a few days. Cutting the canes back by 1/3 to 1/2 will help the rose recover more quickly. Also mulch the rose well to conserve moisture and avoid rapid changes in soil temperatures.
BreAna, Welcome to our little stew pot. :-? You can grow roses, you just have to give them ample water the first year till they get established. After that you just need to spray them for bugs once in a while during their growing time. If you get some bug and disease resistant kinds you don't even have to do that.. petals? If you go out and buy dried blood the sprinkle it around the plant, your deer won't bother the roses and always refresh it after a rain. Art, I agree with you, almost any plant can be moved almost any time of the year but I wouldn't give that advice to a novice. I have moved just about everything in the wrong time but I knew how to watch for it's little needs along the way. My hubby has said, "oh well, the roots will still be alive in the Spring." He is right in most cases but a new person might rip our the "what looks like" dead plant before it can get reestablished. Barb in Pa.
BreAna, As you can tell from these post, the folks here are always eager to help if they can. Although the ideas and suggestions may differ (that's natural of course), the post are usually friendly and helpful. Regarding your original question "Is it too late to move it now", my answer is still "no it's not too late", you can move it anytime the ground is not frozen. However, the best time would probably be while the plant is still dormant, in very early spring (as some have suggested). Below are links to two interesting videos by Paul Zimmerman. The first is about moving roses during the dormant season. The second is about moving roses during the growing season (yikes!). http://paulzimmermanroses.com/?page_id=485 .... bottom of the page http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_2E_p9yw14 Art
Thank you so much for your input. I think I'll wait until springish, lol if we get one. I feel better about being able to water it and watch it instead of planting and crossing my fingers that she will grow. Roses are my favorite so anytime I have them die it makes me sad. LOL instead of being the crazy cat lady down the street maybe I"ll be known as the crazy rose lady. Thanks again!
