UPDATE: Over the past two weekends I moved 21 roses around the garden, like pieces on a chess board. Several roses right on the edge of the garden path were too tall and vigorous for their location - not just the short climbers mentioned above, but some Buck shrubs, a couple of Traviottas, a Red Queen, and a Glowing Peace, among others. So I carefully dug them up and moved them into locations where I previously had shorter roses situated toward the back of the border, and moved those shorter roses up front. But it wasn't an easy one-for-one swap. It was more like moving Rose A where Rose B was, and moving Rose B to where Rose C was, and moving Rose C where Rose A was, etc., etc., until I was satisfied with the balance between color, size, and proportion. There were also some roses that simply got crowded out by their neighbors, and weren't really flourishing, so they got moved, too.
The only one that resented being moved was Moore's Striped Rugosa, whose leaves drooped and dried out after being relocated; but I suspect it will bounce back next spring, especially since it's growing on its own roots. All the others have done quite well, with minimal drooping, due to the amount of autumn rains we've had, the cool temperatures (already dipping into the high 30s here at night), and my watering them in deeply after transplanting them. I'm looking forward to seeing how it all comes together next spring when they bloom in full.
In the meantime, I still have plenty of roses blooming, and just gave a bouquet to my elderly neighbor this afternoon, after she finally returned home from the hospital and nursing home after falling and breaking her hip this past summer. It was the first time I had seen her in months, and she's slowly making her way around with a walker. The roses brightened her up.
