I'm guessing your plants are 1-Gallons.

They've come through the stress of shipping (and may be straight out of a greenhouse). We like to rest little roses in a shaded place, with plenty of water, for a couple of days, before planting.

So, they've had a bit of a shock, those little plants. They should be fine, and now, they're in the ground, which is probably something quite new for them. Make sure they're watered well, particularly in windy conditions, which are drying.

It's this transitional shock, as much as anything else, which has wilted the blooms they came with. No biggie. Those blooms, now that you've seen them, should be removed anyhow.

Right now, it's more important for your little roses to turn their energy to production of a strong root system, long before they are asked to use energy to produce topgrowth, and blooms. I know it's hard, but you HAVE seen blooms on at least some of your 15. You'd be wise to remove all buds from those plants for a while, to make them build root, rather than bloom.

I find it hard to do this -- and I always "need" to see a bloom, if only to make sure I have the right rose. That being so, I usually let them set and develop ONE bloom. Then, that's all for a while.

I'd recommend not feeding them for the present. Just water them, and support them as they become accustomed to your conditions, and they should be fine.

Jeri

Your poor roses sound like they are suffering a bit from sunburn--edges of blooms crisping up, etc. Perhaps for the next week, give the new roses some shade mid-afternoon to late afternoon, or even starting at noon. You can set up a lawnchair to the southwest of the rose to provide some shade--but check after a couple hours. As the sun moves towards the west, the angle changes and you will have to move the chair to make sure it shades the rose.

Some people pound into the ground 3 sticks arranged in a triangle shape (and to the southwest of the rose) and attach a cloth over the sticks to provide the shade. Whatever you can invent to give them some afternoon shade will help.

As jeri said, you want to maximize the conditions for growing a good root system so that your rose can become strong and healthy.

Most roses benefit from some shade as the day gets hotter and hotter. I couple of shade trees along the west side of your property would be great, but I guess it is kind of late to plant them now, isn't it.

The reason your poor lil' Molineux is so puny is that I received his big healthy brother (with 2 blooms and 3 very yellow,nearly opened buds) just last week from Chamblees. Sorry about that--but I'm not giving up my big strong Molinuex for anybody. LOL

Kate

sniff sniff....I bravely...reduced those first buds on one of my bands yesterday.

Jeri,

The deer pruned all but one bud off my three new bareroot roses. I was considering removing the buds, but I would have liked it to be my choice.

Thanks a lot for the feedback! Jeri, you're right. Tomorrow morning I'm going to pinch off all of the buds, which is probably around 6 alone on Sharifa Asma. Thanks for the advice!

Kate, thanks for the advice as well! I'll work on making a contraption like that, I feel like that would help with the crisping, and maybe even preserve some of the lost fragrance taken from the sun! And don't worry about molineux, you deserve the larger one! I'm still an amateur at rose growing, best of luck and hope you're enjoying its blooms!

Kippy, I know it's very hard, I'm actually going to take a good 10 buds off tomorrow morning from all my plants and it sucks! Definitely will pay off in the future though.

By the way, can we just pinch the buds off? Any specific way or just pinch off the bloom? Thanks again!

You know, they're very soft. I just snap them off with my fingers.

In fact, that's the way I deadhead, in most cases.

You are a brave, brave gardener. I salute you, because I know that's NOT EASY!

Jeri

Did you mulch around the roses? I had a problem with some rugosas a few years back where the leaves were getting crisp and black. The local nursery told me to mulch. Also watch for rose slugs if the buds look deformed.

Thanks a lot for the help guys, and Jeri you're right - it isn't easy! I didn't mulch actually but I will very soon. Here's a little bunch of them so far, I'm assuming the flowers are smaller because the plants are smaller, right? Also does fragrance sometimes not seem the same as a mature plant when they're this small? Was just wondering. Thank you

Drew

Yes, when the plants are smaller, the blooms will be smaller. (I notice, this spring, that our 5-Y-O "Old Town Novato" has never had such large blooms as it does this spring.)

They may get MUCH larger as they mature, they may have more fragrance, and probably more petals.

Frangrance is the MOST changeable thing -- altering with all sorts of changes in the plant's environment.

All in all, watching roses develop as the plants mature is a pretty interesting business. :-)

Jeri

Newly planted roses are prone to wilting. If the buds die I prune them off, otherwise I don't remove buds.

Austins can take years to establish, and in hot summer weather the blooms can fade quickly. As the plants become established the blooms last longer.