Hi Claire;
Last summer I moved Mme Isaac Perrier. Thats right I did it in the summer. Wrong time but the Mme didnt care one iota. She's a pretty vigorous plant.
The only tip I can pass along. Before digging her up I wrapped her up in an old thin blanket...tied with twine. That helped preserve her canes. I also dug the new hole before I began to move her. Oodles of water after the transplant for a few weeks..
Black spot was the reason for the move. She was in an area where she only received 6 hours of sun and she showed those ugly black spots in spring and fall. I moved her to a more sunny location...10 hrs of sun. Last fall she did get some BS but not anywhere near the amount she had exhibitted prior to the move. I do not spray.
Good luck.
Jeannie

O, Claire, don't worry! Your MIP has not even been in the ground very long; it should move beautifully.I've moved lots of roses, even ones that were in the ground much longer. My advice is to cut the canes back,as you thought (you don't want the plant to have to worry about supporting a lot of top growth once it's been moved, you want it to be working on re-establishing roots). Try to get as much of a root mass as possible when you dig it out. And Jeannie is right: make sure to water it in thoroughly,though if you do it in the cool season, while the plant is still dormant, you needn't be obsessive about this,just treat it like any newly planted rose. Since MIP puts out basals from the base,in the next year you can remove any old ones that look awkward. This is such a beautiful, profumed rose that we pardon it's faults. You could even try growing it as a climber, if it seems to want to get big in your climate! And if you have too many fungus problems, you can spray with sulphur;that is not very poisonous, in fact the people at Bierkreek(an ORGANIC rose company in the Netherlands)even say it's OK to use.You can also re-plant a different rose in MIP's old spot. Here in Europe, we have problems with Rose re-plant sickness,but I have heard that it doesn't exist in the USA. But even here, you CAN re-plant; you just have to change the soil. You, too, may want to do this, or at the very least, dig in lots of organic matter, to re-fresh the soil.Don't worry; the first time you move a rose, it may seem traumatic, but really it's no big deal, especially since here we're dealing with a rose that has only been in the ground about one year. regards, bart

Agreed. This rose should move well. The more roots you save, the less cutting on top you have to do. I make a frame out of bamboo or pipe and put a shade cloth over it if the weather gets hot right after the move. A big market umbrella works well too. Don't let the midday sun beat down on the moved rose until the roots heal a bit.

Now is the time to find a better spot and dig a HUGE hole. Bigger than the previous one. I'm on my third Madame P. and cannot get enough. One is trained up as a semi climber and one I maintain as a 5 foot bush. The other is trained out low ( more about that later). I let them grow as they will for 3 years and then the training begins. For the traditional bush- Once you get big sturdy canes coming up, shorten them back in summer after flowering when they look like so many fishing poles shooting out of the top of the bush. Then you should get a decent fall crop of flowers. I get some now and again through the year but only when I shorten the "poles" in the summer. If you leave the canes in the center taller, and trim the others progressively shorter as you go outward until at the very front, they are quite short, you will get a rose that spring blooms top to bottom!
To increase the flowers, every year, do the spring pruning slightly higher than the year before so that you end up with what I call "branchy tops". That increases the flowers X4 or more. You have to figure out where you want the eventual height of the trimmed rose to be with this method and start trimming lower than that because by year 3 and four when its branchy it will be the final height you want. This training is only for plants that are throwing up big fat canes, not roses that are just moved and starting to establish in the first 3 or 4 years.

Mine start out ( I dig them up and split them sometimes) as young tall thin plants and gradually build into big rounded bushes full of branchy ends that are loaded with flowers. If you don't force the branching on each cane, you will get one big bloom on the end of each tall wand ( how mine look in the first years)

The last one I have is allowed to grow tall and then I bend it down- not quite pegged down to the earth- through the other plants. Then I get a huge crop through the geraniums, penstemon,iris,etc. ALL ALONG the long cane. This is the most work to do because you have to tie them down to poles and then you have the canes and poles to step around as you pull weeds and mulch. I think it's worth it if you want these huge blooms by the bucket full.

Truly this is one of the best roses heaven ever gave us and there are many great ways to grow it. I even grew one in a pot but don't think it could get the size it needs to get because it needs lots of room for the roots to get big so you can get the amazing flowers. Shake out the water that rained overnight into the open blooms into a glass bowl and you will taste something so rare...the amazing perfume as you drink the rainwater...try it for yourself..I do this whenever I can and it's a real treat for the senses.

Good luck with the move. I know you will just love this rose once it gets over 4 years old and becomes big.