Well I would not do much of anything if it is super hot, except maybe shade them a bit, because you don't want to stress baby roses any more than you have to--the heat is enough stress.

If it has been super-hot, I would not expect to see any new growth. Right now they are just struggling to adjust themselves to a new environment and grow some roots.

But when it cools off I would pull out some of the grass that surrounds them (because roses don't compete well) and give them a dose of mild fertilizer.

Since your other new roses are doing well, unless the soil in this area is radically different, it's probably not a soil problem.

They still have their foliage and don't look burnt or diseased, so they are not in a desperate state as yet.

So, keep them well-watered, maybe shade them a bit, and see how they do once it cools off. If you start to see significant deterioration, definitely give them some shade.

I would shade that a bit for a few days during the hottest parts of the day... Keep it well watered...Yes, remove some of that grass away from the rose and apply more mulch.
I wouldn't worry about it not having any new growth yet.

I planted a new rose back in early May and with the recent heat-wave with Temps of up to 102 degrees the rose leaves on it started to sunburn, so I've been shading it during the hottest parts of the day.
I put fencing around it and placed a piece of clear 1/4 inch plexiglass on the fencing, then I placed cardboard to block the sun, I use a weight to keep cardboard down.

{{gwi:305600}}

In this heat wave I'd go with the shade thing and a little extra watering. I wouldn't use a chemical fertilizer but maybe some organics like a fish emulsion to feed them might help.

Looks like a severe nutrient deficiency to me, nitrogen or iron. Do the yellow plants have the same soil and amendments as the green plants? Any fertilizing? Do you know what the pH of your soil is? Some parts of East Tennessee have alkaline soil.

Thank you for your suggestions. I think I will try the shading, I wasn't sure how to do that in the middle of the yard, but the chicken wire with the cover looks like a good idea. It is a new part of the rose garden (I've expanded this year) and I agree that I need to work on getting the grass and weeds away from the roses...just waiting until it cools down...lol!!

Michael g:
I was scared to fertilize a new plant, so I haven't used anything on it, but according to the nursery these are two-year plants, while what I usually purchase are 1 yr band containers and know I cannot fertilize until year 2. What types of fertilizer and nutrient addatives can I use on these roses? And to answer your question, yes it is the same area of the yard as the new roses that are doing well, so the soil should be the same. I don't know the pH, but I am just outside the Smokies it is clay soil if that helps?

Because the photos were taken at close range, it's impossible to determine what the plants' surroundings are like. It looks as tho there's encroaching lawn grass. I would not wait until it cools off to pull out the grasses that are growing near the roses. I'd clear out at least 15-18" around each rose & mulch heavily enough to keep the area grass/weed free. Unless you're watering deeply in this heat, the grasses are getting far more benefit of any moisture than are the roses.

If the roses are near or surrounded by your lawn, was the area treated with anything recently -- herbicide, insecticide, heavy fertilization? I'm also curious about your soil & how you planted your roses -- ie, how you prepared the hole, if you added any amendments, if you've ever had a soil analysis.

-- And what about those roses from the two other vendors that are looking great? Were they planted at approximately the same time and in a site similar to the one pictured?

You state that the roses looked fine when you received them and have deteriorated since planting. Personally, I would immediately remove them, plant them in appropriately sized pots, place them in a semi-shaded location and assess them in a month or two. Perhaps I would then plant them in their permanent location, or opt to sink the pots over the winter and plant them early next spring.

jaxondel: thanks for your response. To answer your questions, the area where these roses were planted is the same area where the ones that are healthy were planted (all were planted within 3 weeks of eachother). The area is a large extension of my exhisting rose garden, and I haven't had a chance to fully mulch...but I promise to soon :) The way I went about planting them was to dig a 12"x12" hole, and mixed in fresh garden soil that I purchased, with the exhisting clay soil...so it ended up about 50/50%. I haven't sprayed them or anything for fear of making the situation worse.

It is my understanding that roses from Roses Unlimited come to you directly out of their greenhouses. This means that you have to spend a little bit of time transitioning them to outdoor conditions before planting them. Chances are, these two roses that haven't done well are probably a bit more susceptible to shock and they are doing the best they can to adjust to their new home.

If these were mine, I would check the pH of the soil to make sure your amendments didn't drastically change the pH and make nutrients unavailable to the new plants. Clear that grass completely away from the new roses and put down a nice layer of mulch ... but do not pile the mulch around the canes. Keep the roses adequately watered. No fertilizer unless you see new growth.

Connie

I always fertilize my new plants, and I've probably planted 200 or so over the years without harming any of them. The thing is, fertilizer has to be proportioned to the area it is applied to. So if the label says "2 oz. per plant," that's the maximum amount to spread over 5-10 sq. ft. If somebody piles that onto 1 sq. ft., it will damage or even kill the plant.

You could experiment by applying 2 qt of dilute soluble fertilizer solution to one or two of the plants. Preferably Miracid, but whatever you have around. MG product labels call for a fairly strong solution, so, given the hot weather, I would cut that in half to 1-1/2 tsp/gallon. Schultz labels already call for a weak solution. Be sure the fertilizer contains iron chelate. I know many here would disagree, but that's what I'd do in my own garden.

Did you use the same brand of "garden soil" on all the plants? These are not actually soil, but various organic waste materials. Sometimes mushroom compost is alkaline to a harmful degree, causing chlorosis.

I live in Grainger County and the O.P. has been having rather odd weather. Extreme heat with really high humidity (even for our part of the world). Evapotranspiration has been somewhat shut down by the really high humidity. Add to that some rain storms up on the base of the Smokies that are localized and torrential. (My garden got 2.5" last night in four hours). Most newly transplanted roses aren't ready for that kind of a frog-drowning rainfall.

That the leaves haven't dropped is a good thing. IMO, the new roses are trying to grow more feeder roots. The leaves are supported by pre-existing feeder roots, but there just aren't enough, right now, to keep the leaves the color you'd like them to be.

Temporary shade will help. Try to keep track of rainfall (not what's reported for Knoxville, but what your gardenis really getting) and water to ballance out the rain to a steady amount every three or four days.

You may be growing roses on the Sevier Shale, which doesn't make great, nutrient rich soil, but it does make acidic soil although good top soils are hard to find in the main Sevier Shale valley.

If you want to talk roses, email me through GardenWeb and I'll send you my phone number.

Ann

I received a rose from Roses Unlimited in mid-May and planted it the next day. It took about 2 months exactly for that rose to do anything except sit there. I was really starting to get concerned over it. The color was not as "bleached" out as yours, but it certainly was not as green as I expect to see from a healthy, growing rose.

Almost 2 months later, to the day, the rose finally started putting out new growth--nice green color--and within a couple weeks after that, started blooming--lovely healthy blooms very resistant to our triple-digit heat even. The rose is doing fine now.

My point is that while the lighter green would concern me, you may otherwise just need more patience--another month and your rose will probably be growing and blooming as great as mine is.

What were the roses doing during those 2 months they just sat there appearing to do nothing? Very actively growing their roots--which is why, I believe, I have such a dynamite rose now, blooming like it will never stop!

By the way, while your rose was waiting to get planted, did you have it set out in the sun at least part of the time? Or was it setting indoors, maybe in your garage, where it had limited access to sunlight? If the latter, that would account for its current lighter green condition. New growth, when it comes, will probably fix that problem.

Kate

Thanks Kate and Ann. Both of what you said makes me feel better. I've only had the rose addiction for 3 years and I'm slowly learning. I wasn't aware of the soil problems in this area, so the fact that you live so close Ann is great since you're experiencing similar weather and soil conditions (I live near Seymour).

Kate, This was my first experience with Roses Unlimited, but know they have a great reputation. I didn't have the plants inside or anything, but I did have them in direct sunlight on th back deck which I'm wondering if they weren't harded off properly and went into shock.

I am happy to report that one of the roses, Paw Maw, has started to have new growth in the past day or so,,,but I'm still patiently waiting for the rest to catch up!