Hi Crazy_Rose, I had over 30 roses from hybrids to David Austins when I lived in South Pasadena 10 years ago. We had CLAY SOIL and went the frugal way for amendment. We used playground sand from Home Depot. And then some slow release rose fertilizer. SUNNY LOCATIONS...well we found out that some of the English roses could not take the extreme heat all day long so we had to put in areas that get less sun. I've never seen roses do well in shade. Also, don't be alarmed if some roses are duds. Some just were bad plants to begin with and that doesn't mean that the rose variety is bad. For example, I have an Iceberg left over from last tenant and it is not prolific or bushy like the one I used to have. Yet the David Austin Mary Rose I transplanted from last house is doing the best ever! You'll love Double Delight. Big perfumed blooms, flowers all the time. Mr. Lincoln is an ol' standby. Lovely. Work in coffee grinds under the roses, chopped up banana peels and crushed egg shells. If you need coffee grinds, it's free at Starbucks. Worms love coffee grinds and that should also help with amending your soil from clay to loamy. Like a previous poster, don't over fertilize. You might want to join a Yahoo group I belong to...it's for California gardeners and there are a lot of members in Northern California. CASAPE (CAlifornia Seed And Plant Exchange). We haven't discussed roses yet :0) http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Casape/ Susan, Altadena, CA

Nice. Thanks for sharing.

I am in Palm Beach County Zone 10.... I also get roses from Cool Roses .... they are a great nursery. You can call Debbie or Geoff and ask... they are really helpfule. I have done both.... plant in the summer and plant in the fall. The nice thing about Cool Roses is that they are NOT grown under shade cloth so they are use to the really hot and humid weather.... So they can go out into the ground. Did you get your roses on Fortuniana or own root.... either way should be fine, but you will have to handle them a little differently. Your Fortuniana roses will have shallow roots and the own roots won't. You will need to mulch heavy in order to keep the fortuniana roots cool especially until the roses get well rooted.... but do NOT put the mulch so that it touches the trunk of the rose bush. Also, you will need to stake them very well because (this has happened to me) they started to root when we get summer gales or hurricanes and the wind rocks the newly rooted plants setting them back.... Once I learned to stake and mulch I had pretty good luck. If you do plant them in the ground you do NOT want to fertilize them until later in the fall... you want the rose building up roots, not putting out top growth.... this time of year we will be attacted by chili thrips so keeping the top growth to a min. is best..... and if you plant them in the ground, even though Cool Roses plants are use to the sun, you may want to shade your roses for a week or two..... Honestly, I have kept some of their roses in pots during the summer, just because it was WAY to hot for me to tear out the grass and build a new bed.... they did fine in the pots I purchased them in until it cooled off enough for me to get out there and plant.... I have also planted some in existing beds had just a few problems.... easily corrected.... don't push for new growth, but get some spinosad so if you do get chili thrips you can spray (early early morning or late afternoon) and make sure you stake until they are WELL established..... Do you belong to the Greater Palm Beach Rose Society??? Also what roses did you get?

Is the block/cement under the pots damp all the time? If so it could be draining to slow. If not I doubt that is the problem. BUT you can easily fix that by just drilling some extra holes in the bottom. You don't even have to take the rose out to do that. Just tip the pot on its side and drill away. If, when you do that, water comes out immediately then the pot was retaining too much moisture. But to me the soil does look very dry on the top and those plants are new and still have small root balls that can't possibly have reached the bottom yet. Ditch the meter. I had one and it was VERY inaccurate! Instead use your finger. If when you stick your finger into the soil down to at least the first joint and the soil feels dry, water! And don't just sprinkle the top of the pot. Soak it thoroughly until you do see water starting to drain out the bottom. Just dampening the top of the pot will encourage very shallow roots. You want the roots to go deep so water deep. Depending on the weather and temperatures that could be once a week or every day! And you also have to take into account that there is no set rule for every rose. Some roses may like it a little on the dry side and others are water hogs and demand constant watering. It depends a lot on the variety. And the only way to know which is which is by experience. And then, I think, someone mentioned transplant shock earlier. Since these are just bought and brought home from a nursery or greenhouse, then unpotted and then repotted in new soil you have effectively change all of their growing conditions practically overnight. If someone did that to you, you'd be a little stressed out too, lol! And as said before, every one of them is going to react differently to having that done to them. My suggestion for now is to just keep them watered and wait. Give them some time to rest and recuperate and to get acclimated to their new living conditions. So far now just relax and wait for those beautiful blooms to come and when they do, and they will, ENJOY them!