Hi merry: I moved 2 roses last year, and 7 roses this year (William Shakespeare 2000, Nahema, Crown Princess Mag., Paul Neyron, Jacques Cartier, Eglantyne, and Pat Austin). I moved Eglantyne last week in 90 degrees heat. I did it at 8 o'clock evening time. I prepared the new hole in advance, then dug Eglantype up. I put it on a garbage lid, and threw water over the rootball immediately. Then I drag the garbage lid across the lawn to the new hole. None of its leaves got droopy. I moved Pat Austin (2nd year bush and big) a few days ago. Unfortunately I didn't have the new hole ready. I dug Pat up, and plunged her into a bucket of water, then spent time digging the new hole. The upper branches are droopy, but the lower ones are perky. I cut off the upper branches, and 3/4 of the leaves are still perky. I moved Pat around 8 o'clock evening time, since day time temp. was over 100. From what I researched on moving plants, it's best to water it the day before, but NOT RIGHT BEFORE MOVING. You want the rootball to be slighty moist, but NOT SOAKING wet, which the soil crumbles and roots get snapped off. Eglantyne was slightly moist, but mostly dry when I dug up. Pat Austin was soaking wet, and lost most of its hairy roots. In the past I moved 3 huge Knock-outs bush by watering it right before moving - bad mistake, all 3 lost roots, lost all their leaves and took at least 2 months of daily watering to sprout new leaves.

What I've noticed with own-root roses is that what you see upon arrival will continue to grow as if it was still back on the mother rose before the propagator snipped it for rooting. So since this usually means a terminal branch was used for propagation, growth from it will continue as though it was a terminal branch. But in the meantime, it's feeding the roots. And when the roots get enough food to generate a new shoot, that new shoot will be more like what you'll see on the mature rose. And, as Jeri said, don't worry about planting an own-root rose too deeply. When I started my garden, I planted them in the native soil, then built raised beds around them. The result was that 6-8" of cane was buried. After a year or so, I started seeing roots being generated along these canes just a few inches below the raised surface. Roses aren't like many other shrubs or trees in that they will adjust to being planted deeply -- by generating roots further up. At this point, fiddling with it may cause more harm than good. Just maintain whatever depth you have. I know others say not to keep mulch at the bases of roses because this will invite disease, but I don't think this is the same thing as burying canes in soil permanently. Mulch will certainly keep things moist, but perhaps isn't "soil-like enough" for roots to form. Here, roots formed on the buried portions of cane only after I added composted manure and used coffee grounds to the mulch layer, in effect creating a "mulch" of soil-like compost with the texture of potting soil. :-) ~Christopher

I have twice known landscape maintenance gardeners who went out of their way to learn how to care for roses -- and the difference between types of roses with regard to care. Those people could command a significantly higher fee, from homeowners who wanted things done right. But for the most part, these weekly-visit maintenance gardeners are really good at mowing the lawn, and a disaster for just about everything else. The smart homeowner will tell them to leave the roses alone, and stick with mowing the lawn. Tea Roses, in particular, don't take much maintenance. Save yourself a lot of grief. Make the roses your project, and leave the Mow 'n Blow guys to their mowing and blowing. Deadheading of Tea Roses can well be done near twilight, as the air begins to cool, with a chllled glass of white wine in hand. It also gives you a chance to get to know your hummingbirds and (at my house) lizards.

Everyone was so helpful that I just wanted to give a quick update on the Duchesse's progress. As many of you suggested, I didn't prune her and made sure that she had plenty of water. I also gave her a dose of alfalfa tea (thanks gagalzone8! Jeri, unfortunately no horse manure around here). After four months of almost no growth, she has really taken off over the past week or so. She still has a long way to go to reach her past glory, but this is very encouraging. Many thanks to all. Here she is now.