Are they really going to grow much more now that fall is almost here? You might be better off waiting until next spring to move them.

I'm not concerned with their growth so much as the best time (least stressful for the rose) and I thought Autumn was the best time to translant roses?

Do they need fertilizer in the Fall? Do they need to be pruned back when I move them?

Hi, Indalyne! I know there is talk on here of moving roses in the fall, since that's when its cooling off; however, the people that are doing that are usually in CA or the south, where their roses never go totally dormant. For us, I believe I'd wait until next year to move them. If you do it now they may not have time to establish their roots before it freezes. I'd do it next spring right around when they're breaking dormancy.
If you do have to move them now, don't prune after transplanting. The pruning will encourage new top growth, which may not be able to harden off before freeze.
As far as fertilization goes, I believe that in the fall you want to be encouraging hardening off by giving a fertilizer low in nitrogen and high in potassium and phosphorus (maybe particularly potassium? I'm not sure).

Anyway, hope that helps a little.

Lara

Your zone is similar to mine, I live in southwest Wisconsin.

If I were you, I would wait until early spring. When you see them just start to show new growth, mid April is usually good here depending on the year.

I have found that I have less success when moving in the fall. They just don't have the time to establish before we get hit with winter. When moving in spring I have had almost 100% success.

Ok thanks everyone! I'll wait until Spring.

They have been growing feverishly the last 2 weeks and are now 2 1/2 - 3 ft tall! With that kind of growth I really need to plan carefully where I want them to go. I'll post in the Spring for pruning/transplant advice.

Excuse my butting in as I am living in Sweden where conditions may be very different. Over here we plant roses as long as the ground can be worked. Some people plant under snow but then they have prepared the planting hole in advance and covered it to keep the soil from freezing. We don't expect the rose to form any new roots until spring and we certainly don't fertilize before new growth begins. It can be likened to cold storage. This may work better with bareroots, of course, and perhaps it is not to be recommended with established plants. But I am planning to plant quite a few roses in November when the continental rose firms deliver.

Marianne in Sweden, USDA zone 5-6 (approximately!)