If they're traditional root stock, as long as you're not cutting most of them off, I don't think it could hurt. I would try to balance the tops and bottoms so you don't have two feet of cane with six inches of root. I've seen the tops die back seemingly in attempts to balance the tops and bottoms of the plant until they broke dormancy and started manufacturing their own food, instead of operating solely on what they have stored. If they're own root and not particularly known for being that great or vigorous on their own roots, I wouldn't cut them. If they're vigorous types and own root, it probably won't hurt cutting the roots a bit to fit the pots. Kim

BAREROOT PLANTS -- Available only in winter, but easy to work with if you follow the rules: Choose plants with plump stems. Break off any sprouts. Cut back stems to only 8-10 inches. (Removing the sprouts and cutting back the stems were hard lessons for me to learn, and they may seem counterproductive to you, too, as they first did to me. But I can reassure you, following these two steps will result in much stronger plants than you will have if you leave the shoots on and refuse to cut back the stems!) Next cut off any broken roots. Thoroughly mix up to one-quarter cup of granulated rose food into loose soil at the bottom of the hole. Spread roots, and plant your new rose bush with the crown (that knobby area from which all the stems come up) AT soil level in mild climates, or about two inches BELOW soil level where the ground freezes. You don't really need to worry about the size of the hole; just make sure all the roots are buried. Water the ground well, then cover the entire plant with excess soil or mulch. (Yes, the entire plant!) This acts as insulation, protecting the whole plant as new roots establish themselves. After two weeks remove this excess insulating soil. Feed again when the first flowers open.

It's the same issue seen with wrapping cuttings. If it's too warm, they won't root, but will try to push new growth from the growth buds, resulting in failure.

As new growth develops, you slowly remove the soil in the sleeve to expose increasingly greater amounts of the plant until it is gradually hardened off, used to the normal garden conditions. This can be wonderfully accomplished during a longer period of rainy weather, just as transplanting and setting out newly rooted plants can be. The cooler, more over cast, more humid conditions are perfect for all of these projects.

Trevor Griffiths wrote in one of his great books, a customer brought him a dried out, "dead" bare root he'd purchased from him demanding a refund. Mr. Griffiths buried the plant in damp soil, then planted it in a bag of soil where it flourished, grew and flowered as expected. He wrote that was the plant he frequently took to lectures and presentations to rose groups to illustrate how difficult it is to kill a rose as long as you know what you're doing.

I purchased heavy gauge plastic rose sleeves from Gurney Seed back in the early to mid 80s which I used for over fifteen years before they finally wore out. I then began making them from cardboard boxes, even many sheets of newspaper, both of which worked perfectly. Taking fifteen or more full sheets of newspaper laid out flat, then folding them in half length wise to make a thick layer, I could take them to the can I'd planted, insert them into the rim of the can and determine how large it needed to be to prevent the water and soil from washing from underneath them and hold the soil in place. I'd then staple them closed to form the sleeve. I planted the rose in the can, but didn't finish filling it to leave a large area of the interior can sides to securely hold the sleeves in place. Once inserted over the plant, I finished filling the sleeves with soil, watering them to settle it in until the sleeve was mostly filled, leaving enough room to water them well without spilling over the sides. Many sheets of newspaper in a thick layer, rolled in a cylinder like that and supported by several inches of the can sides will hold water and soil in place well until new growth is seen. I only left the top few inches of the canes protruding from the soil so the majority of the plant was kept buried in the damp potting soil. As new growth pushed, I removed an inch or two of soil a week until there was enough taken out to permit the sleeve to be removed and the remaining soil to stay in the pot, filling it to the planting depth I wanted in the first place. By then, the cardboard or paper was pretty much ready for removal and could then be disposed of either in recycling or the compost pile.

You can save many dried out bare roots simply by "heeling them in", burying them in damp soil, for a few weeks to plump them back up. This shouldn't be done in heavy, dense clay as you do need air circulation around the plant to prevent it from rotting or developing canker. A trench dug deep enough to bury the entire plants, leaving a few inches of soil to cover them fully, should be sufficient. The soil should be of a type you would want for planting, which drains well, yet is moisture retentive. Any good potting soil would be perfect. If you lay lengths of rope perpendicularly across the trenches at the top, middle and bottoms of where the plants are to be buried, then lay the plants down across the ropes, keeping them under the plants, you can tie the ends loosely and fill the trench, leaving the ends out of the rope out of the ground so you know exactly where the plants are. The protruding ends of the ropes help keep the plants together in a bundle, assisting you in finding and removing them. A couple of weeks in that cool, damp, dark environment will frequently rehydrate up to pretty severely dehydrated bare roots. I wouldn't suggest it as the usual procedure, but for extreme cases, it can work wonders.

The trenching and ropes have been used for many years to overwinter tender types in harsher climates as well as to hold early arrivals which have been received before it was safe to plant them. Now, suddenly, to many of us, it's new information. There really is nothing new under the sun, except the plumbing Kim