Personally, I would remove the remaining leaves; do not cut wood off; then mound the plants over the crowns with damp soil or good mulch, leaving a bit of the cane ends poking through the mound. Think how you would mound a newly planted bare root to prevent it from drying out and having the sun and heat force new leaves before roots form. That's what's always worked for me. If you make a collar from another nursery can or cardboard to hold the mulch or soil in place until there is new growth coming from the canes, your chances will be much better. You need to keep the wood cool, damp and DARK to stimulate root growth instead of leaves, canes and flowers. Good luck! Kim

Kim - thank you so much for your answer. There is just one area in which I'm not clear. When you say - remove remaining leaves, do not cut wood off - I'm unclear of where wood ends and canes begin. Do I leave the canes fully intact without leaves (as I thought then the canes would burn?) Or do I cut the canes down to a certain length above the crown? Thank you again.

Cane = wood. Retain some cane because it has stored nutrients. I would cut off the thin stuff and prune back to 12-18" depending on how much root you have-- maybe Kim is recommending more than that. Use 2 or 3 thin stakes to stabilize the plant while roots develop. Spraying the canes with Wilt Pruf might be a good idea.

Thanks for adding to remove the overly soft, sappy material as it is sure to die off. I suggest stipping the LEAVES and cutting nothing other than that soft, sappy stuff off. If you're mounding or hilling the plant under damp soil or damp mulch, the only parts which might get sun burned are the few inches poking out of the soil.

Personally, if your conditions are like what we're getting here around Los Angeles, (RELENTLESS, blazing sun, triple digits, enough humidity to make you wonder what the heck you're doing here), don't use anything sprayed on the plant except water. Cloud Cover, Wilt Pruf and other anti transpirants, have burned the foliage off roses here (yes, used strictly per label directions and no water stress involved) as easily and efficiently as Ultra Fine has. I don't know if the stuff works as suggested in higher humidity, air with more water/dust/whatever in it to filter it some so it isn't as laser beam or what. In this sun, even water can result in some burn, but it's a whole lot better than dried out plants. The anti transpirants work to seal the moisture in the plant so it doesn't "sweat" it out. Add this heat and sun intensity and you have pressure cooked or micro waved vegetables.

Just keep the plant mounded in damp, cool, dark soil, appropriately watered with nothing but water until you see new growth emerging from the branch tips. At that time, you may begin gradually removing the soil cover, as you would with a new bare root, to harden it off to the more severe conditions out in the open. If you're lucky, but the time the plant revives, it will be raining for a while (HA!) when you can simply remove all the mound and let the rain harden it off for you. Good luck! Kim

What Kim said.

We have done this a few times. (Never with grafted roses tho.)

We first soaked the plants in tubs of water with Nature's Nog. Stripped off foliage. After that, we cut away any very very green wood that was clearly wilting, (not very much) and left the rest.

Because we were going to replant in 15-G squat pots, we potted the plants up in same, and left them to sit in filtered sunlight only, keeping them really wet. When they began to grow a bit again, we put them back where we wanted them.

I think water is a key element in succeeding with this.

Jeri

Definitely agree that water is key, and I'm keeping them as soaked as I have time to. Yes 3 digit temps, but not a hint of humidity - bone dry.

K - will leave off the wilt prof (was too hot to get motivated to drive today so I didn't get any), and just water, water and more water. And I did mound all today.

Encouraged now after seeing Pink Peace. I haven't come across anything else as bad as her, and since she looks promising, things are good.

Thanks for the support. Toughest thing I've been through in my mere 3 years of gardening. As of today, 23 replanted.

Ouch! I'm sorry you've had such tsuris with the gophers! I'll be happy to send you some gopher recipes....Kim

That would be great Kim, although it'd be kind of like eating a predator that you know ate your cat.

I actually had my first momentary emotional flush of thinking about giving up yesterday. So proud of getting through 1/4 of the roses, only to find the gophers into a new area that I didn't think they had found yet, and to find "Love" with only a few remaining feeder roots. I love Love, and it has been such a healthy, bloom machine. Then I saw what is now the tell-tale dying lower leaves and wilted blooms when it's full of water. I'm no longer seeing gopher dirt mounds by the roses - I think they've figured out not to leave such blatant signs. My new test is to shake the root stalk - if it wobbles, it's root system is about gone.

I feel like I just keep falling farther and farther behind the gophers, and am second guessing that my cages really aren't big enough. As I'm rushing to get them done, and challenged to bend the hardware cloth, my cages are only about 2'x2'.

Very big sigh...

2 x 2' sounds OK.

If you don't have to worry about pets, yours or neighbors, gopher bait really does work as long as you use it LIBERALLY. Don't scrimp, feed it to them as if they are treats you want to spoil a cherished pet with. Cooke's and other brands with various active ingredients do work and I've never found one dead above ground. It can take a lot with multiple applications, but how much is not dealing with saving assassinated plants worth? I've had best results when I put more in the ground than the label suggests. It may take them a while to find it, but they WILL find it and you want to make sure they get enough to knock them off instead of just ticking them off. I'd been able to run the one out by the street off by flushing the dog poop and cat box "fruit" into the burrows with a ton of hose water, but one always came back. A couple of applications of the Cooke's seed and it's been a long while since there has been any activity out there. Gopher Gassers are candy to them. Useless. I know they are down slope from the level planting area out back and they can stay there. Occasionally, one comes from next door and I have to start all over again. Fortunately, they've worked around the caged roses and not harmed any of them. I know one of these days, one of the roses is going to look angry...Kim

Kim, I so wish I could use the poison. But I can't. All three of my dogs have decided to help me in my task, and as I'm digging with the shovel, all three of them are vigorously digging holes along side of me, also looking for the gophers, and following the tunnels. I'm at way too much risk of getting them poisoned, and I'd let every plant on my property die before putting one of my pups in danger. It is so tempting though - I'd love to spread 50 lb sacks throughout the tunnels!

Thanks Michael, I guess I feel better if the roses can survive in the less than optimally sized cages I'm making for them!

Get a "gopher Hawk". Google it!