Is this a good time of year to move plants? Or will I be stressing them?
Moving Plants
This is one of the better times of year to move plants, especially evergreens. The spring rains usually help roots to develop before summer droughts...
crockny - what plants are you thinking of moving?
A butterfly bush, some generic daylilies, a giant penstemon, some catmint ... it just goes on and on ... sounds like it would be OK ...
OK!!!
How about moving rosebushes? I read somewhere they should be moved before there's new growth--too late for that--but I need to find a sunnier spot for this one (Scepter'd Isle).
Meg, I think Pirl is more experienced with roses, so you may want to see what she says but I think it would be fine to move them. Today is the perfect day for it.
Zuzu (Sebastapol, CA) is the pro on roses. You can find her in the rose forums.
How long has it been in the ground? If it's more than four or five years it may have formed a deep tap root and then it might not be a "good thing".
Is it an "own root" or a hybrid?
As a compulsive trans-planter forty one tree's and shrubs this spring, twice that last fall, and I couldn't even guess how many perennials, my general experience is most plants will happily move to a better site. I would suggest that you keep them well watered for the next year and if you are particularly concerned you might use a product "Wilt Pruf" to help the plant retain water. This is a good time to prune your buddleia and if your rose has already leafed out spraying with "Wilt Pruf" is believed by some to prevent/keep in check black spot so that could be an added bonus. Katy
One fall I moved 681 irises and over 1000 hosta and dug up over 1000 hosta the following spring for a trade - never lost one. I just have heard, too often, how tricky roses can be and would feel terrible if I gave you bad advice. I'd trust Zuzu, totally, for roses.
Well, I moved some plants and we'll see! It was very cold and wet the day I moved them but warm and dry the next! By the way, I was raking out a wet pile of leaves in the corner of the garden and uncovered a very large toad! The poor guy was too cold to move so I quickly piled the leaves back on ... hopefully he warmed up the next day and moved to better quarters!
You are such a nice person!