Except for Jude your roses look much the worse for their being raised by D.A. I ordered 3 Lady Emma's last year and all three were as dead as a doornail, if that is possible for a nail. Sorry you had a bad experience with DA, most of my mail order roses have performed great unless I picked a rose that does not do well in my climate.

There are many other nurseries out there to buy from. I am waiting until Chamblee's gets Lady Emma Hamilton to try her again.

Lance

It's possible that they're planted too deep - i.e. their roots are too wet, and don't get enough O2, hence the canker and dieback. Try to loosen up the soil around the plants as deep as you can. If you find that the soil in the root area (from a finger length on deep or so) smells like rotten eggs/sulphur, then there's indeed a problem with water logging/lack of oxygen. However, it looks like you received low quality plants with CD and Emma in the first place, which is very unusual for DA - they normally send out huge and healthy bare roots. Your CD might not even make it since the only live cane is already cankered. Emma might pull through since that one cane looks healthy and productive. But that's a one-cane-wonder, not a grade 1 rose. Give DA a call and ask for immediate refund/replacement for CD and Emma. Their customer service is usually very good. But should they nonetheless try to talk you into waiting to see how they'll perform by next spring, keep on insisting on refund/replacement bec. of poor quality - they'll comply.
Good luck!

Andrea

Thank you, Lance and Andrea, for your input and advice.

I put a call into DA (after hours there), so I will call again tomorrow.

I agree that these did not arrive looking like grade 1 (grade A?) roses.

Andrea, your comments about too wet were something I checked for after I read your post because we have had a great deal of rain here, and I have clay soil. (I did create this bed last year "lasagna style," so it is draining well, but when I dug the holes, I did get down into the clay.)

However, there is no sulphur smell, and it is suggested for my zone to bury the bud union 3-4" for winter protection. (We usually have two or three weeks with -10, -20 F, and I credit burying the bud union for the survival of my Heritage and Tradescant, as well as Honor and Melody Perfume for 6+ years.)

I will keep calling DA. I really would like these roses, and they were listed as "very hardy," so I thought they would have a good chance in my zone. I have enjoyed my two Austins so much, and I was looking forward to the color of Emma and Charles Mackintosh's ability to complement other colors in the garden, especially because I designed this bed, in part, with these roses in mind. I guess I will have to wait another year (at least) for these roses. Onward!

Thank you for your help!

cheers,
Nora

Nora my LEH arrived looking much like yours (the other bare roots in my order were large). i was worried but it has grown really well. Had trouble with entire canes breaking off but i hope to have put that to rest by planting the bud union a few inches below grade. New growth appears reddish purple but that yellow tint looks funny-if you're watering right then maybe try applying a weak solution of fish emulsion.

Good Luck!

You are not the only person to have problems with LEH. Another poster lost hers. I wonder if there was a bad crop that they sold anyway. I left mine in a pot or dug it up and put it back in pot so I could baby it.

Carla

Question, I'm nursing along a few roses like that, too. Is kelp as good as fish emulsion, as I have that and can't keep buying new products? Also, I scratched Pennington's according to directions (am using it up) into the soil and is it ok to use the, in my case kelp, before the other application has expired (supposed to use every 6 weeks or so).

Your Jude looks pretty healthy. I think you are entitled to replacement, healthier roses on the other two. Z5 makes it even harder for them to recover.

The other advice you got was helpful to me.

You've got canker on those roses. Cut off all the black areas where the canker is and that should help the plant. Ask for replacements as you paid for healthy roses and those surely aren't.

You planted them as deeply as I would. I know it's been awfully wet here, but you shouldn't have canker on newly planted roses. In fact, all the rain has actually been good for my new roses and the cool temps allowed them time to grow roots before it got hot.

Jude looks good though. I bought Jude last fall on sale locally and it made it through the winter in good shape has been blooming well already this spring. The fragrance is wonderful.

Thank you all for your advice and suggestions. My apologies for my slow gratitude; I have been in northern Minnesota and out of all technological touch. :)

I called DA and they are sending me a form to fill out for replacing the CRM and LEH next year.

I found another post from Jan '08 that stated a crop failure of LEH this year. If possible, I think I might request something other than LEH, perhaps Abraham Darby, A Shropshire Lad, or Golden Celebration. I would like to try something with peachy or yellow coloring.

I guess it's back to the catalog for me. One more year to amend the soil and make the bed a happier home for next year's plants.

Thanks again, everyone!

Nora

I'm relieved to read that I'm not the only one with DA LEH problems. Mine is dinky and will never survive at this rate. I also bought Brother Cadfael...and it looks exactly like your poor Charles. There are 5 canes...only 2 are barely alive. Canker city. I also lost Just Joey...never did break dormancy. All these from DA.
I ordered other bare roots from Parks, Hortico and J&P and they all are big and blooming by now. All my DA's: LEH, BC, Pat Austin, Just Joey...are either dead or near dead. I feel like such a failure. I emailed DA and they will send me a JJ replacement in the spring. I don't know what to do about the others. I guess I'll wait and see how they do. Or send them pictures!
I've about had it with bare root. I ordered a couple dozen roses from Roses Unlimited and Chamblees and it was so nice not to have to dig to China to plant them. With hard clay and being in zone 5 it's hard to dig deep enough to place the knuckles 4" deep.

Norabelle, don't give up on LEH. I ordered mine from DA in Jan & she arrived the 2nd week April (alomg with Sharifa, Glamis Castle & Huntington) and she already bloomed once, with an impressive display (at least 10 buds) for such a baby. Despite the attack of deer, who ate those flowers and a few buds, she is fighting back, three new red shoots and a really strong center cane. The color and scent of the blooms I saw before the deer got around my defenses - spectacular!