I think it's the wax on the canes, not the tiny buds you see there that caused the problem. The cheaper growers wax canes so that they stay green on store shelves. I've never had a waxed cane do well even where I am (and in Coastal Cal I'm in a much cooler zone than Arizona). The buds were fine -- leave them on. But ditch the waxed cane bareroots, unless you can imagine the plant without those particular waxed canes and still see a decent plant worth buying. Some bareroots are waxed only at the tops, and those ones are usually ok, because the bottom of the cane is all you need. And by the way, I've tried everything from fingernails to credit cards to hiar driers to get that wax off before hot weather burns the cambium layer of the canes -- nothing seems to help those canes to survive. They all die anyway.

I agree with Sheila - most of us use the opportunity of planting a rose to do some spot enhancing of the organic material in our soil. I agree that top dressing with organic material is the best long-term solution to improving the soil, but as a short term boost for the soil mixing in compost or something else organic has been very effective for me. I contrast beds where I have been planting roses this way for some time, and the soil in the entire bed becomes this lovely textured and rich soil that I can dig in with my fingers, while beds that I only top-dress haven't worked in that organic material very deeply yet even though they've all been planted the same amount of time. Having said that, you don't have to amend with anything if you start out with good loamy soil like you describe, so there's no particular need to do as much as you've done or certainly to add anything more. For me, the second set of additives is a bit more effort than I want to put in but it sounds fine being all organic and slow acting. The one thing you don't want to do in any new planting is add fast acting fertilizers which for me include most granular fertilizers. Biotone and other organic fertilizers break down more slowly and don't run the risk of burning sensitive feeder roots. I simplify your latter list and add just manure, alfalfa hay, and something to lighten the soil that I can buy in large bulk and relatively cheaply (lately it has been cotton burr compost). My preference is to add no more than 1/3 other substance to the existing soil, since you want the rose to get used to the conditions it's going to expect from here on out rather than getting hooked on any particular amendments at the outset. You've obviously been successful with 1/2 supplements so go with what works for you. I always soak bare roots and you'll find a majority of us do the same, and a majority of the vendors specifically recommend soaking the roots. The principle is to make sure the rose is adequately hydrated to handle the transition to the ground. One look at dried out husks of body bag roses indicates how important hydration is for bare root roses. Cynthia

I don't like the sound of that slow die back. When you cut back the parts that are turning black cut a little deeper into the green part and look at the center of the cane. If it is moist and a greenish white you still have live cane. If it looks dry and tanish the cane is dead. Even if it still looks green on the outside. If it is alive mounding can help it retain moisture. It may just be trying to establish a root ball before it leafs out. It must be a warm climate thing because I have never had Dr. Huey show up on any live rose in my garden in 15 years of growing. I do have one growing from the grafted stump of a rose that had already died that I hadn't dug out. But that's the only time it's ever showed up. I'm sort of glad it did because I couldn't seem to ever get anything else to grow in the spot and good old DH is doing marvelously!

Grab that Shirley's Bouquet! It is a beautiful clear white, lasts a long time on the bush. I had Moonlight Magic a long time ago but dont think it did much - but cant remember. Where did you see Shirley? I want another one. I got several body bags of Cl. Royal America - I read really good reports about it on HMF and went back to get 3 more. They are potted and starting to leaf out. Definitely get Shirley!