Q.What Is Wrong With My David Austin English Roses?
I purchased some David Austin English Roses & I recently put them in the ground along with a few knockout roses. I live Greenville, SC so the ground is almost all clay. I dug large holes & filled them half way with gardening soil for flowers. Then filled it with the same soil up to base of the plant & topped the bed with plenty of mulch. I left a nice bowl around each & gave them a good amount of water upon planting. They don’t seem to be doing too well. Even while they were still in the pot, after one day of sitting at home they seem rather frail & drooping. The buds are turning brown almost as soon as they bloom. Although, I see signs of new growth, the stems seem to have a light green/yellowish hue & bend or break abnormally easy. I purchased them at Lowe’s for $30 each because they were so beautiful when I had seen them the day before, but when I came back the following day they seemed in poor shape. I figured some love and healthy ground could revive them to what I’d seen they can be. I’ve had a feeling that the gardening department at this Lowe’s just haven’t been taking proper care of their Roses, being that I’ve seen many of them marked down or just not doing well. If I could get some input & advice I would be more than grateful. Thank you so much!
There are some things going on with your roses that have to do with stress and shock. Most of the Lowe's and Home Depot stores have vendors that bring in the roses and other plants to be sold there. The store staff helps to water them but many know little else about the actual roses and plants and their care. The roses you bought may have just come off the vendors truck a day or two before you bought them. They are suffering some shipping shock and then if transplanted into the ground or large pots deal with transplant shock and stress as well. The root systems may or may not be well established in the pots you buy them in. So in many cases the root systems are just plain not well established enough to support all the Greenhouse Pushed top growth. I suggest removing all but one bud and one bloom on each rosebush. Prior to planting them, water them with some water that has a product called Super Thrive in the water. Next day, plant into the rose bed or garden area. Water them in with some water that has both some super thrive and root stimulator in the same water. Water them in with a fresh batch of such mix the next 5 to 6 times they need watering. This should get them going.
