I don't think that the pot is the issue - yet (if you can, take out the plant and see if it's already rootbound or close to it, but I doubt it). As Daisy said, Lilian Austin's habit is procumbent/sprawling, and what I see on your photo is not atypical for this plant, especially on its own roots (although yours looks like it's grafted). In a young plant, this feature may be even more pronounced. Cut her back after bloom 30 -50% and give her a good rose fertilizer, not too high in nitrogen, preferably (also) some organics. Water her well but don't let her sit in water and give her a sunny spot, be it in a pot or in the ground. Long term, roses do better in the ground, but I've also grown them very successfully in pots, and that includes biggies like Teasing Georgia and Golden Celebration. As long as they don't get rootbound, i.e. have space to expand their roots, get watered and fertilized regularly, they're very happy. Hope this helps, Andrea

@floral Although photosynthesizing can help plants grow, for plants in transplant shock, I think too much photosynthesis is part of the problem. It takes time for plants to drop leaves (if they do it at all). Roots help to supply water for photosynthesis. Plants need water for photosynthesis. More photosynthesize than they have water for seems it would dehydrate the plant. I'm guessing this is why for plants in transplant shock, the leaves turn thin and both the leaves and stems wilt (because they use the water they have available and are having a hard time getting more, due to the damaged or insufficient roots). The more leaves a plant has, the more water it needs (I have tested this in containers), and in my experience, plants don't just turn off their leaves from functioning at a moment's notice when it would be helpful—otherwise, the most common kind of transplant shock, IMO, would not occur (and a moment's notice is sometimes what they need, believe it or not; twenty seconds of strong sun can kill a leafy plant with sufficiently damaged roots). If the roots aren't sufficient for the amount of foliage and sun, similar symptoms as transplant shock should occur as if the roots are damaged. Plants with root rot could have the same symptoms. Plants with too much nitrogen and too little potassium may have similar symptoms, for a similar reason. Giving plants extra potassium is one way to reduce transplant shock (I have tried this a number of times). It helps plants to absorb water. It also helps the roots. Note that people advise you to remove a number of leaves when you take cuttings. They might have plenty of reasons, but cuttings don't have any roots; I've discovered that they need time without too much light to adapt to the situation (otherwise, they'll wither and die; cut a piece of a leafy plant off and lay it in direct sun, and cut another off and lay it in the shade; you'll see that the one in the sun withers quickly and the one in the shade might look healthy for a really long time). If they have less leaves, they'll have less light. If they're in a low light environment, or are adaptable, you probably don't need to worry about removing leaves of cuttings. There seems to be more to adapting to the light than just having the roots needed. The plants seem to be in shock, and after a certain length of time without being damaged by / exposed to sun, they don't seem bothered as much if they're put in more light (as long as it's not too much), even if the roots aren't grown. What I'm saying is, the plants are still going to try to photosynthesize as long as there's sun shining on their leaves. If they can't handle it, it's not good for them. Removing leaves so that the plant doesn't get too much light can help. It'll grow more extensive roots as the new leaves grow. It's my personal opinion that older leaves tend to be less adaptable to light changes than newer leaves, and in my experience, this seeming lack of adaptability can slow the growth rate and of plants (although much more so in some species than others; I don't have that much experience with basil, so it might not be a big deal)—although what I was saying above was mostly not about adapting to light changes, but that's why I suggest removing older leaves, instead of just any leaves. Now as for these basil plants, looking at them again, and reassessing the situation, I think they're really too young for this to matter much; and, they've been transplanted for a while now (and are probably recovering, as well as shedding the leaves that are important to shed anyway, over time). What I'm talking about is a lot more helpful for older, larger transplants with more than a few leaves (how old the leaves are seems to matter, too). Ideally, you'd remove any leaves that you're going to remove *before* the transplant (to reduce the initial shock). Removing them afterward isn't as much about the shock as it is about those old leaves not being as adapted to the new environment as the new growth. I tend to think pre-transplant leaves are more prone to disease, too, but that's a different topic. For some reason, I didn't realize just how immature the basil plants were. Immature plants tend to need what leaves they have a lot more, I think; it's difficult to say what would be best here. If it were me, I might remove a couple of the very bottom leaves that don't look so great, but that's about it. Younger plants don't often grow new leaves or shoots as easily when they're missing leaves. Basil may be able to drop leaves faster than a lot of plants, naturally, due to how thin and soft they are—but not all plants shed their leaves so easily, even when they're in transplant shock.

Sounds like over-watering - but that's a SWAG - no way to know w/o more info. Al

I have a tester and I put it in and it did say it was on the dry side which I question since we just got a ton of rain. I deep watered at the base regardless and it lifted a little bit, but not much.