Recently planted climber roses maybe drying and dying out

Question

I planted ten climber rose shrubs in the beginning of June in Georgia (zone 7a). They all have been doing fine and showing a lot of new growth, except just a couple of days ago I noticed that one of the shrubs has a loose base stem (not as stable as the others, seems to be lighter in weight and a good few of the lower leaves yellowing), and I don’t know if this is a sign of it slowly dying. I’m concerned because I’ve had a lot of weird cases of my annuals this year when all my impatiens, calibrachoa and most of the vincas died. Thanks for your help!

Answer 1

There are times when a rosebush has been in the pot too long at the nursery and its root system has grown into a tight circular motion. Unless we break the root system up substantially when planting it, the roots tend to stay in that circular shape and do not branch out like they should to get to the nurtrients in their new soils home. Since it sounds like it is still loose at the base, I would dig it back out and take a look at those roots. Loosen them up a bit and make sure they are not in the circular pattern. Sometimes they are very tight and cannot be separated well. In those cases I recommend taking it back to the nursery or garden center and either get a new rosebush or your money back. If you can get the roots loosened up, plant it back into the planting hole and water it in well. If you can get a product called Super Thrive there, get some of that and add it too a watering can with some root stimulator in it. Follow the label instructions for amounts to use. Water the rosebush and all of them if you like with this water mix two or three times when they need water. It should get the bushes growing nicely in two to three weeks.

Stan The Roseman
Consulting Rosarian