Is it tougher to move a plant in a climate that has no true winters? Perhaps the plants get too big--the plants can't stand the huge reduction in size once people get around to moving them. Or does the winter reset the biological clock of a rose? A large shrub or climbing root will have a much larger root system than a Hybrid Tea, even though both are on Dr. Huey. I just dug up a Tropicana that was in the ground for perhaps 5 years. The anchor roots were pretty thick, but probably not a whole lot longer than when I first planted them. On the other hand, a big shrub can grow roots several feet long. Transplanted bushes often grow better once I've eliminated the tree root competition. I also carried off a 5 gallon pail of invasive tree roots to the compost pile. I typically move as much of the plant as I can. Even though I'm I stroke survivor who is just 5' 2", I can move a pretty big bush.

Thanks for the compliments and suggestions. Bart 2010 - to answer your question, the rose and the wisteria are planted about 4-4.5 metres apart. The rose is growing up on the left of the photo, just below where the flowers are. The wisteria is planted at the far right of the photo, where that large cluster of blooms is hitting the ground. Overall, the wisteria covers about 11 metres across the fence. But it does send out runners along the ground and tries to put down roots along the fenceline. Plus it is very heavy, so you need a strong wall to support it, like I have. It is really magnificent, and I think worth the effort. I would think the minimum distance apart for planting would be 3 metres, based on the age of my plants. Thanks windeaux for identifying my rose - I've always wondered what it is - it is very pretty and old fashioned, I just wish it bloomed more often, so I could enjoy it for longer! And obviously, the thorns are a bit of a nightmare.

Hi Mila Welcome to the fun of rose gardening and we all understand, since we're in LOOOOVVVE with roses too. One way to keep the love going both directions is to pick roses that will easily love you back. I would question the rating of Dortmund as zone 4, since it died like a dog in my zone 5 Nebraska winters, and Kate reports that hers just barely squeaked by in zone 6. I'd guess it's more like a zone 6 rose at best, and it wouldn't be the easiest rose to grow as a climber in zone 5. The most important thing about climbers isn't just getting them to survive the winters at their roots, but to have surviving cane to climb and bloom from. That means choosing roses that are hardy at least a zone colder than yours (as you were trying to do with Dortmund as it was reported to you). Otherwise, you're likely to end up with a "climber" that's no more than knee- to waist-high, with skimpy blooms on the ends because it doesn't have enough strength regrowing from the ground each spring to put out the laterals that are the good blooming canes. Doing this means you don't have to mess with any winter protection at all, which is not only a heck of a lot less work and more fun, it makes for nicer blooming roses (because they're already hardy and healthy in your zone) and it makes your neighbors happy. My husband has requested that I keep the front yard "neat", but he's fine with several hundred roses with bare canes, since the trees are bare anyway and no one expects leaves. The untidiness came from my old winter protection methods with bags of leaves chopped all over the front rose beds (now I have a low fence and just dump leaves around the edges of the beds a bit). All of the winter tip methods and other ways of winter protecting roses are likely to be unsightly, and might not even work for a climber that's not suited to your zone. I do absolutely nothing for any of my 30 or so climbers, and most of the time they're the only roses in the spring that have live cane left on them. So, if Dortmund is a risky choice, you have 100's of other options that will be more fun and less work, some of which folks have already mentioned. Madgallica listed some Explorer roses that she grows, and most of those roses are rated to zone 3 or even 2. I agree that Quadra is indestructible and even in a bad year it covers my arch comfortably. It does need an arch or something very substantial to grow on, as it gets big and is very thorny. Here's mine on a better than average year. On the north and east side of my house, it's effectively a zone 4, so this and other Explorers are great choices for me, and they mostly seem to repeat pretty well. If you're on the south side of your house, you may be flirting with zone 5b or even 6 effectively. Here's a shot with Alexander MacKenzie and John Cabot joining forces (very similar hot pink flowers) to try to climb the wall on their own. They really need some support - the canes are well over 7' tall - but I've been kinda lazy. If you're intrigued by Dortmund, you may want something further on the red end of the garden "red" (often a hot pink). Two options are The Prince's Trust and Florentina, both of which are nicely hardy and healthy in my zone, and are already getting big in their second years. I don't have full bush shots, but here's a flower from Florentina. The Prince's Trust has been intriguing me more and more lately. It absolutely was DESPERATE to grow right out of the pot - my band from Rogue Valley was easily 3' tall when it arrived, and it has put on nice growth ever since. Again, I don't have a full bush shot but it's easily 8' in each direction from the base by now in its second year. There are climbers that would work for you in almost any color scheme you would want in zone 5 (OK, purple would be a tough stretch), so let us know what you're thinking and we can help you and your rose come to a lasting and meaningful relationship (smile) Cynthia

I have never heard of cutting back a bare root rose at planting unless there is some dead cane to be removed. Pruning of any kind always stimulates TOP growth, not the roots. You can leave all the hips on you want. The rose will not go dormant. It will continue to put out growth until the weather stops it. I've left hips on from the spring flush in June and the rose continued to grow and bloom right through until October. New Dawn is such a growth monster that I can't see any purpose in disbudding it. The roots are growing, count on it! Roses, climbers in particular, will not send up more cane than their root system can sustain. Hence the saying for climbers, first year sleep, second year creep, third year leap. Those first few years that it seems to not be doing anything it is in fact building a big enough root ball to be able to push nutrients up those long canes you're waiting for. Once it feels it has sufficient roots to do that it will begin to climb.