Hu Ed, your otger post is here with a few responses...scroll down and you should see it :)

I would not use Miracle grow soil, if I were you. If you have natural clay soil, you are essentially creating a hole that acts like a container. The area with the MG soil fills up with water which can not drain properly because of the surrounding clay, which drains more slowly. Of course, I can not say for sure, but I have seen people drown plants/roses by doing this. Roses like a lot of water, but they need good drainage.

I would dig the hole as deep as the root ball on the rose, so it is planted at about the same level as it was growing in the pot. Dig the hole twice as wide as the root ball. Mix the dirt that you took out of the hole with a good compost or composted manure (Black Kow works well.) So that you end up with 50% native dirt, 50% compost. Put half the soil around the rose and water it in well. Put the other half around rose and water in well. Mulch with 2 inches of mulch. I like pine bark.

You might bury the union (assuming they are grafted and not on their own roots) a little deeper if you are worried about freezing, but with the winter protection you described, I would not think that that would be necessary.

Keep in mind that I am further south than you in zone 7b. But our growing environment are probably very similar. Good luck!

Hi Ed. Use the search feature at the bottom of this page. Tons of start to finish info. Stored on this site. Have fun and welcome to the addiction.

I posted in your other thread, but I have a slightly different take on the holes in red clay. Done properly, Dr. Huey may actually prefer red clay than other soils. ;-) In my experience, deep is better than wide - may have to do with what's already been mentioned about roses needing to drain. I actually put a few small pebbles at the bottoms of my holes just to ensure that there's some drainage below the roots - but my holes are deep - 2 feet minimum, sometimes more. I also don't mix as much other stuff in with the clay as others do - about 30% peat moss with a cup of Mills Mix and that's it. If the rose roots can drain well, they'll like the red clay just fine and have no trouble growing through it, around it, and all over. The last thing I do is mulch - mulch, mulch, mulch. Shredded pine bark is best. It holds its shape pretty well. I mound it up in the center (no issue with shredded pine bark touching the canes) and then create large, 3-foot donut drip rings. When it breaks down, it forms organics that the roses love. I think they even love the smell. ;-)

Others are right, though, if you completely replace the soil in the red clay hole, you're doing little more than creating an in-ground clay pot.