If there is a woody bulge from which the canes diverge, this is the graft or bud union. The graft should be slightly buried to protect it against freezing.

You don't say what you did about the shale. If there is rock, the hole must be cleared of it to a depth of at least 18". Otherwise roses should be grown in raised beds or large containers.

Too late for this time, but you should never tamp soil with your foot. Do everything you can to avoid compacting the soil. Settle the backfill in two stages by flooding with water.

Many people don't fertilize newly planted roses, but I do, a 1/2 dose or less. Use any reasonably balanced fertilizer and follow directions, except use less until the plant reaches 3'. Many here like Espoma Rose Tone. Fertilizer isn't the main thing to worry about.

The most important factors in getting good growth are water and disease control. They should get 1" a week, once a week in deep heavy soil, or 1/2" twice a week in light or shallow soil. Your roses will probably need to be sprayed regularly with fungicide to keep blackspot disease from killing the leaves.

Thank you for the feedback. Ok for the fertilizer and the regular waterings & disease control. It's right next to my veggie garden so they will get plenty of water.

I have 2 crawler roses on that same fence line, sharing the same soil so hopefully the soil/hole is okay. I also have a couple of those giant knock out roses planted there, one died & has to be replaced. Some other stubby rose bushes too are there. I have yet to cut a rose from them.

Will it take years for rose bushes to grow? Do I have to prune them in fall or spring and how do I cut it? For my knock outs, I just cut them into a circular shape and they got huge real fast. For my crawlers, I cut the branches that grow straight up from the base, maybe you call them suckers--i have no idea. But I do that so the main crawlers which appear to be shooting out in the back can continue down the fence.

My dream project in the yard is to have a double row of roses, about 20 or 30 feet long. But to remove the sod and make that island (& soil delivery) is keeping me from the project. That is hard work. My favorite colors are the really intense colors that I used to see in the bouquets in France. Apricot, orange, pink, red, yellow, etc.

My goal is to be able to cut a bouquet for my living room...I think I need to feed my bushes more.

Peter Mayle should grow to respectable size by late season. Do not cut long stems this year; the plant needs its leaves to continue growing. Next year in early spring (maybe the first week in April), prune down the canes in sections until you find white rather than brown center pith, then stop. Sometimes you have to take off most of the plant to remove winter-damaged wood. Trust me, this is standard practice with hybrid tea roses in zone 6.

With rambler roses, I would let the new basal shoots develop because roses need to be regenerated. These shoots will bloom very heavily the following May-June. Check the oldest canes during bloom to see if they are producing as heavily as the one-year-old canes. If not, cut out one or more of them at the base each year. I would do this immediately after the bloom period.