Question
My grandmother has a beautiful cecile brunner rose bush...at her house that my grandfather planted 60 years ago.  My question is how would I go about starting a new plant from a clipping of my grandfathers (my grandmother said this bush was started from a clipping) and also what are the chances of survival if we tried to transplant the bush?

Answer
The best time to transplant a rose is when it is dormant and that is usually late fall or early spring depending where you garden. Have the new hole ready, then go and cut back the main bush by a half. Dig as much of the top roots out as you can, never mind the very deep ones as they are mainly anchor roots. Plant right away, water well daily and place some sort of mulch all around the base as roses love cool, damp roots. The bush may look sad for a few months but don't stop watering it as it may take a whole season to start to grow again. But if you plant it when dormant your changes are good. However don't forget to take cuttings also. Here is a web site that will guide you through the process. Take many cuttings as not all with strike.
http://www.rdrop.com/~paul/hulse.html