Question
I am trying to transplant a section of an 80 year old rose for a friend in Chicago.  I'm in Minneapolis.  I dug the the rose section out in April and put it in a large plastic container with potting soil on the bottom plus a good sized root ball.  It grew fine for 2 months.  The leaves were smaller than the main plant and it also continued new growth.  About a week ago, we had an extremely hot spell and  the leaves wilted.  I moved it to our shady deck and the next day the leaves remained wilted, by the 3rd, 4th day all leaves had turned brown and dry.  The plant has always been watered, maybe overwaterd, including root starter.  The reason it hasn't been planted in the ground is because of a timing problem getting it to Chicago.  Is there any hope of new growth?

Answer
It sounds very normal to me the way the rose is acting. When you dig a rose up of any size you can't help but badly damaged the frail feeder roots. These roots are the ones that take up the water and nutrients. So until the rose gets settled you have to be the feeder roots for it. I am assuming that you cut the rose back by a half before planting in the container. If not then do it right away as the damaged roots cannot support a large size bush.  Most rose roots are anchors. Place the container in part shade or filtered sun. Water daily and try and keep the soil just moist not wet. Just ignore the wilting or dead leaves as the roots are your main concern. Don't give it any fertilizer as again, it can't take anything up now, and new feeder roots can take up to two months. The bush will look terrible but as I said simply ignore the looks and care for it as you would any other rose. Also when you can plant it, make sure you have the hole ready and just pop it in. Water well and place a mulch of anything you can get in the area, all around the base, as roses really love cool damp roots. It may not perk up until next year but trust me, it won't die. Hope this helps.