I agree with Janet and as she well knows I have beating this drum for several years now. The old adage of heads in the sun and feet in the shade is an old wives tale. Moisture is what is required and that typically occurs when the roots are shaded since it slows down the evaporation of the water in the soil and the consistent moisture is the critical element, along with appropriate fertilization. For what it is worth, I have potted up countless numbers of clematis into one gallon sized pots and left them in the sun where they get morning sun thru midafternoon sun and they have been fine. One definite advantage of sinking the pots in the ground is that you won't have to water the pots as much since the soil will act as an insulator to the desication of moisture from the potting mix. Just make sure that the surrounding soil drains well or your pots could hold too much moisture and cause root rot.

Just make sure to get as much soil as possible with it, wihout cutting or exposing too many roots. We moved our Washie from one area of the garden to another in May. Lots of the soil fell away and exposed too many roots as well, we had to cut all the roots from about 1 foot around and 1 foot under. The palm lost all of its fronds, except the center. It's recovering now, but looks like crap because the fronds that are coming up aren't perky as they should be and show signs of damage where water had entered the crown. I'm sure it'll be ok by next spring though. So, lots of soil is highly recommended.

Lozza, you could impart a lot more information to people if you didn't do it in such condescending and sneering manner.... Yes the various states have their Rose and Horticultural Societies, and yes they usually have people only to willing to help out those seeking information about growing roses, and anything else (I guess I can say I speak from personal experience here, my Mum was a member of the W.A. Rose Society, Gosnells Horticultural Society, accredited Rose and general Horticultural and Floral Art judge with the W.A. Horticultural Council. That was the environment I grew up in. The info was always there at hand.) But today, for the average person just getting going, sure they can ask at their nursery but unless they happen to come across an exhibition being staged somewhere like at one of the big shopping centers, they are not going to come across Rose Society members,or other types of horticultural people or even think about consulting with them. Most of them would be too afraid of being shot down in flames for their ignorance, such as I have seen here,after watching the carrion fowl circling and waiting, after reading back through some of the archived postings.... Wal, listen to Misty, she is already doing it your area so to speak. In the warmer climate, proper dormancy is not going to be achieved; MISTY, do think your roses, when they were under water stress, went dormant? I would choose to do it at the time of the year when the weather was at it's coolest for your area. Although this is probably going to be your driest part of the year it shouldn't be a problem. If you are going to be keeping them in pots, for the purpose of transplanting them into your new garden arrangement, I am sure you will be pretty diligent about watering them. I was always taught that you reduced the canopy by the same degree that you reduced the root mass/ball... I have relocated a lot of roses into pots at one time..., (the ones that I could save from a malevolent ex)(if it were people, I think they call it forced migration) about 300 of them. But because we have such sharp winters here, I could hold of until they were truly dormant. I dug up, with a great deal of grunt and push and effort, (ladies think of childbirth) plants that had been growing in the very fertile Donnybrook soil for about 6 years. Most of the H.T and Floribundas had exceeded their growth stats as described, and as for the D.A.'s, if they weren't 7ft tall, they were 7ft wide, and as for the O.G.R, well, digging them up was another challenge. But we did, a sister and a friend came out to help. Totally backbreaking ... heartbreaking as well, but we got the plants dug up. Then, because the only pots that we had managed to acquire in enough numbers were 10- 12" ones, that's where we made things fit. There were a handful of larger pots, that we managed to put in the larger plants, like my beautiful Albertine. But mainly we dug and heaved and grunted, got the bush free off the...

Are you moving them to pots permanently? I just ask since I wonder what will you do in the fall when it's getting cold again? That could help decide if they would be moved to pots or not. However, besides thinking of that future scenrio, you can move them to pots now. But just be aware that digging at it will usually cause accidental breakage of some stems, so just know you may not get it as intact as you hope. As for the root ball, you can remove excess dirt, even long root hairs but you don't need to wash out all of the soil.