A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Rose Bushes

I live in Oklahoma where the heat is on right now

I came long a sale of roses for 2.00 and I could not pass them up, but they are the type that are sold with sawdust, not dirt in the little packages.

I have watered well, (I give them a drink every day, without touching the leaves) but a few are not doing so good.. a few I see new growth, others esp. one is not doing well at all.

the stems that was on the plant is now turn brown and died, and it looks like the canes is black..

The only thing I have done is gave them a bannana and used soap and water for bugs. ( I learned this this year) and gave them a rose spike.

Should I cut back some of the plants that are not doing well, will I loose the one rose bush that the canes are turning black on and what about the others that I don't see anything happening too, they seem to be just sitting there "Pondering"

and No I did not cut back any of the canes when I planted them..


I just do not have much luck with any type of rose bushes it seems, in a pot or unpotted.

out of the many I have bought over the years, I only have 4 living, none are very tall yet.. and look umm sickly.. any help on the matter is most needed.

There is so much that could be wrong with your roses. But, judging by the price...they might have already been neglected when you got them. Cutting them back is usually a good idea when you transplant as it reduces plant shock. Watering well for the first several days is also a good idea. You already gave them a rose spike, so fertilizing the way I do at this point probably wouldn't be a good idea. Always cut off dead growth. If there's no green, leaf buds, etc. cut it off. By doing so, it should help the plant to regenerate some new growth.

Thank you,
I will work in it this evening.

Christina, I live near Norman, Ok. Where are you?
It may be a bad time to plant roses, but you should have a guarantee, so not to worry. I, too, buy the $2.00 roses, and I get one of 2 to live. Part is my fault, part is the quality of the plant, or so I tell myself!
I've planted hundreds of shrubs over the years, for myself and clients, and I find that roses either thrive or die, for the most part.

When you unwrapped them and removed the sawdust, did you see any white roots or were they all brown? Also, you say you planted them...where did you plant them? You say it's hot there, are they in full sun?

I often feel sorry for those roses, and several a year do come home with me. Here is how I treat them:

First, the plastic is cut off, and without disturbing any of the sawdust I place them into a bucket of water with B-12 and let them re-hydrate for several days. Then I carefully remove as much of the sawdust as I can without disturbing any good roots and plant them in pots, so that should they develop a problem I can move them easily and treat them accordingly.

I do not place them into full sun until I am certain that they have well established root systems to support themselves with. Otherwise they will use more water than they are able to absorb with their new roots.

Only after I'm sure they are feeling well and have strong root do I feed them. I don't want the top to grow too much until the roots are there to support that growth.

Make sense?

I looked today, and cut back the dead.. I bought 7. and one is not doing too good.. I cut back all the dead wood on it. until I found some living wood.. I am not sure if it will make it or not yet..

all the others are starting to turn around.. 3 I have new leaves coming on, and the 3 are really starting to take off.

I have been watering well every day

I knew that one ( camlot) was going to be trouble, but I just love that rose bush.. I just had to try.. now It may be the only one that doesn't make it.

Today a placed mulch around the bushes.. I need to buy some more. so far so good. ( knock on wood)