Hi thisisme, thanx for the response. I tried to follow the directions as closely as possible. I have even had a few conversations with a lady from that company, Cynthia was her name I think. The trees were cared for just as stated on their website in regard to their arrival. I wasn't able to plant them right away, so they were unboxed, and placed in upright with the roots still wraped as they were shipped in my garage. My soil in this area is quite sandy so I didn't feel the need to add additional sand to the mix. The water does not puddle when it does rain. If I fill up the area around the tree (fill the baracaded area built while planting) it is all drained within 15 min. Regular waterings are not conducted in this manner. I let my water hose trickle into the area around the trees. I have let my water hose trickle for up to an hour this past weekend and the soil seems to drain so fast the baracaded area never fills up. The hole that each tree was placed in was quite large. They were dug approx 2.5 - 3 feet wide, and several inches deeper than the root required. I then sorta loosely put dirt in the bottom of the hole that formed a cone shape. Then placed the roots down into this cone of loose dirt. I had a piece of pvc pipe that I used to measure across the top of the hole to verify that the depth was not below or above where the previous dirt line was on the trunk. I finished filling the hole and lightly tamped down with my foot. The folks at Willis instructed me last year that I was possibly over watering my trees, so this time around I tapered off the watering from every day to every 5-6 days this time. You thinking that I tapered off the watering too much? Would it be benificial to re-plant these trees using the Mycorrhizal Fungi? I did not use this a two to three weeks ago when I planted the trees.

I would soak it 24 hours or so and plant it as is. Depending on your climate, it could do well. If it is too hot already it will struggle. I would put a chair over it to shade the sprouts of new growth for a 2-4 week period until it gets going. You can trim off any edges later. Where are you State and zone?

@Sheila z8a Rogue Valley OR Thank you very much for your advice. I’ve watched a ton of videos on YouTube but never saw anyone post a bare root rose looking like this.. your advice helps a lot. I’ll wait until it gets established well on the ground. @Stephanie, 9b inland SoCal Your Lady of Shalott is very beautifu! Thanks for sharing this picture. I hope mine thrives well too. I’m in the Ottawa area and our growing season has just started. I can’t wait!

Austin, I’m so happy to hear from you, and that you’’ll still be growing your cherished Dark Lady! I hope you have found a great place in Austin, TX close to your family with a nice yard for gardening. I think you’re doing all the right things to baby those late season bare roots. Mounding mulch or coarse soil over the base is so important to prevent dessication. Somtimes I’d cut out the bottom of a nursery pot, invert it over the base and fill it with fine mulch so that the mound would stay in place. When Winnie Edmunds owned Edmunds she recommended everyone to cut the canes to half the length even though it seemed barbaric (her word). I think it’s a good practice, but if you already have buds swelling then they are probably already doing fine. I remember when we were probably the only two from this forum actively posting from the DFW area. Well, I have moved too! I’ve relocated to near the Sacramento area, also to be closer to my family, especially my mother who is 85 (but still in great health). I was told I could bring roses to California if they were bare root…so my friend and I dug out about 80 of my roses, cut them all extremely short and the movers drove them to my new house. I’m very much looking forward to starting a new garden , everyone’s roses look great here, there’s not a trace of blackspot or RRD to be found! And no one in the neighborhood grows the dreaded Knock Out, they all have better things to grow!