Google Paul Zimmerman rose videos. Really good advice from an expert..

Thanks.. Another question, the saying first year sleep, second year creep, third year leap - does that apply to bands as well? Or do bands take longer to fully grow? Obviously a band will take longer than a bare root, but by the third year how'd the rebloom, size of bloom, etc?

It depends on the type of rose. A band of an HT is going to be good in 2-3 years. An OGR or Tea will take longer.

If you can, I would move the roses now while they are dormant. As long as your ground isn't frozen, you can replant them. If you wait until they start coming out of dormancy, they might lag a bit more for the first flush. Also, you will want to trim them back to about the size of the root ball so they will thrive in their new spot. Since these roses already have a large root system, I usually just make the hole big enough to fit the existing root ball.

I'd wait until March, possibly April. You do want to wait until chances of the ground being frozen more than a couple of inches are gone. Newly transplanted plants and frozen ground around their roots are not a good combination. It will also give you a chance to see how much winterkill is happening, and possibly readjust your expectations accordingly.

Bands of hardy roses usually mature in about 3 to 5 years. These are the ones that seem to be making progress. Roses that aren't hardy enough will never mature from a band.