Prairiemoon...... The nutrient storage information I passed along was taught to me by a rose master. I am not an expert. My mentor talks in crosses and doses of this species and that species in the linage of a rose. (I had to do a lot of studying just to understand him.) It's pretty safe to assume that all modern roses have a lot of tea in their linage and each cross that includes a modern rose adds more tea characteristics. Along with re-blooming, the teas have passed on the genes where they stored the nutrients in the canes. (btw .. I checked JC's linage on HMF and saw a lot of teas, floribundas and HTs and very few species which would introduce more hardiness) I don't know your climate and don't know how soon you have to deal with your roses going dormant... or slowing down because of the cold. It's August. If you can plant it soon, I think you will have time for the roots to recover enough to get through the winter with your usual winter protection methods. You might have more die back this year, but I don't think the plant will die. This is just a guess. My zone is warmer, but I live in the mountains of northern California. Everything here is a matter of micro-climates ... elevation, air flow, etc. Our winter temps can get down into the low teens for a few hours at night, but are mostly in the high teens and low 20s, and day temps are high 30s - low 40s. I don't know how that relates to your climate. I had to overwinter almost 100 roses in 7 to 15 gal nursery cans out in the open. I clustered the pots with the largest in the middle and bags of leaves between the pots and then the smaller pots outside of that circle. Then I surrounded the whole thing with more bags of leaves. My theory was that it takes longer for a larger mass to freeze than a smaller one. (All of the roses were own root). Every year I spent my time in spring and summer digging holes in glacier slurry and planting roses. Each year, I had fewer roses to overwinter. It's taken me 5 years to get them all planted and I didn't take time out to change out the soil in the containers. The roses made it, but the last 12, which I planted this spring, were pretty sad looking. It was either get them in the ground or let them die. They are planted and thriving. Go for it, but dig a BIG hole so you don't disturb the roots very much. Feed the rose in the container a few days before you put it in the ground. Right now, the roots are not disturbed and will take up the nutrients. I would use a chemical fertilizer for this task because it works faster. The big hole, a well-hydrated plant and a well fed plant will give your rose the best chance of survival, if you plant it out. Temps in the 80s are not too hot. You won't need the t-shirt. Good luck. Smiles, Lyn

Good morning - As Luis suggested: "In the meantime, you can cover the plant with anything that will provide some shade and protect the leaves (burlap, a shade cloth, a screen, etc)." Several years ago I took down an old problematic tree and Nikko lost the perfect dappled shade she enjoyed for years. I solved the prob. with an arbor & a Sweet Autumn Clematis that climb, faster than lightning over ... I did use a shade cloth for a short while just until SA-Clem did her job - old Nik was happy! Last Fall a tornado like storm, passed thru and took the arbor & the entire massive SA-Clem down. Tired of the enslaving, coddling Nik requires (Winter & Summer in our Z) armed w/ 4 - 8ft stakes & created a temp. arbor with plasti-coated garden fencing for SA to climb over this season ... old Nik will be dug up & relocated! Still using shade cloth for a few hrs over the temp arbor. For insurance, I decided to root a few cuttings & ground layering, as Luis also suggested (in another post) ... all are doing fine - signs of new growth! Â;) ... incase 19y/o Nik does not survive the damage that I expect, will occur in digging & relocating. Wishing you & me both, all the best in the feat we are to embark!!!

I'll be using some home-made organic fertilizer. Also will mix up a couple of trash cans of fish emulsion to pour on after watering well and will start some alfalfa tea 'brewing'. It takes two weeks so it would have been good to have right now as it really make plants grow fast. There was a discussion on one of the rose forums that the tea is far superior than using the dry alfalfa pellets. Buster, I'd go ahead and cut the roses back by about a third and give them some fertilizer. Any kind will do, even lawn fertilizer formulated for use in the spring is good, about a cup of dry fertilizer scratched in around the top of a mature rose. Be sure that is has slow release nitrogen. It will say that a certain percentage is'urea coated' nitrogen. Fall lawn fertilizer has fast release nitrogen that could burn the roots. Water the roses before application and water well afterwards. Keep up the watering and the roses will probably surprise you with their beautiful blooms. Let us know, okay? Incidentally, I use hedge shears for the main pruning and finish up taking out dead branches, etc. with hand pruners. It takes too long to do it all cane by cane. Carrie, you can't do much better than manure. You get the alfalfa second hand which is much better. I have to fake getting it that way by making tea ... oh well :-) Just found what's linked below. I hope it opens to 'Rose Care'. If not then you'll see 'Rose Care' on the left of the home page. Going outside now to finish what the wind started ... LOL -- taking those sheets down! Here is a link that might be useful: San Antonio Rose Society on Rose Care

The tree is too young to produce fruit. Especially being moved and planted (shock). It will take another year or two, possibly even more to start seeing fruit. You could plant it in a container but it will require quite a bit more maintenance. You will need to repot every few years and then, root prune the tree once the pot gets large enough. You will also need to prune the branches to stay small, so the canopy doesn't overbalance the root system. I assume it's a semi dwarf or standard tree which is why the nursery told you not to pot it? If it's not self fruitful, you will need another apple tree to pollinate it. You will need to research which trees are good pollinators for that variety.