Question
I planted 18 beautiful rose plants last mothers day and now I'm moving to from N.C. to Cape Cod. I want to bring them with me but my husband says they will die. Is he correct or is there something I can do to bring my beautiful present with me?

Answer
Roses dislike being moved so the best time to transplant a rose is when it is dormant or not growing. That is usually in the late fall or early spring. If you move a rose when it is in growth there is a good chance it will die as you have destroyed the frail feeder roots that take the nutrients up to the bush. However if you want to try and move them and they are not actively growing you can do the following. Have the new holes dug and ready to plant. Cut the roses back to 18 inches as the damaged roots can't sustain a large plant and new feeder roots will take about 6 weeks to grow back again.
Place the rose bush is a black garbage back and wrap the roots well with wet newspaper. Tie the bag tight with only a few inches of the rose tips showing. Try to plant within a few days. Place a thick 3 inch mulch all around the base of the rose bush as roses love cool, damp roots and this will encourage the roots to grow quicker. The reason most roses die when they are transplanted is because they are not watered enough to keep the roots damp but not soggy, so make sure you give the rose water daily. Don't give it any fertilizer as you are trying to get roots to grow not the top part. If the plant droops or looks like it is dying, just ignore it and keep watering. Some roses may not start into growth again until the next spring when you then can give them some fertilizer.