Campanula, you can certainly do that 2 season thing but in my opinion there's absolutely no need to. Just move it during its dormancy even without any soil on it's roots and no fibrous roots whatsoever. New fibrous roots will start growing immediately after re-plant unless soil is frozen (if it is you shouldn't move the rose in the first place). Remember this was probably the way it was originally sold to you. Any plant that goes into winter dormancy can be moved bare root as long as it can be pruned hard. I tend to think that this can be a better way of moving a rose in its dormancy than carrying a root ball with it since you will avoid issues with rootball soil incompatibility with soil in the new spot drainage wise and you will also avoid the odd chance of the 'pot' syndrome (i.e. the new roots growing all around the rootball as if they were in a pot rather than growing into the new soil). If however you want to do this 2 season exercise, you will have to hard prune the rose twice. Since you mentioned hybiscus have you tried moving one? They have a huge hellical tap root that goes very very deep like a giant corkscrew. They are beasts to uproot and sensitive after that. I have successfully managed to move a 10 year old one almost bare root and with severely cut back root system and this in the beginning of the summer season. It took a drip irrigator and a couple of seasons for it to recover but recovered it has. Since I did that I have no fear to move any rose although this is not something I practice regularly. Nik This post was edited by nikthegreek on Thu, Jan 9, 14 at 13:35

Thanks for the ideas. I could go crazy with orange roses apparently! I think I'll have to rule out Amber Queen which does look right but I think this plant has been in the ground longer than the 80s. The previous owner thought it had been in since the greenhouse was installed in the late 50s or early 60s. The classy fence post is newer. :) What makes a climber a climber instead of something that was pruned funny? Aside from the obvious trunks, this one doesn't put out any long branches. But it's had so much "shaping" I can't tell.

Traditionally, before the technology of refrigerating them was developed, most new roses were planted as bare-roots in the late fall. Transplanting roses as bare-roots is much the easiest way to do it. In your zone, there is a risk that a warm December could cause roses to grow out, freeze back, and deplete the plants or even kill some of them. However, that's the way I'd do it, as opposed to the expense and labor of potting. Just dig them with 12" roots and canes, strip all leaves, label them and bag them. Store in the shade until you can plant. They should keep well at temperatures mostly between 25 and 40 degrees Remove any growth buds that break before spring. After planting, spray the canes with dormant-strength Wilt Pruf.

Lildelil, how did you go in moving the roses ?