If it was any other rose, I'd say move it (if it wasn't dead by then). But I have two rugosas that are in a very wet area that floods a bit this time of year when the snow melts and we get a lot of rain. They look downright awful and are slow to break dormancy, but by the time they start leafing out the water is drained and they do fine. If the rose seems to suffer later, I would move it to a drier location.

My Roseraie de l"Hay has just about died after being flooded last year along my fence. It got some sort of fungal problem? At first it looked like blackspot, but the the leaves turned greyish-black and the canes started to die from the tips down. I cut off a sucker and potted it up, but the same black spots have appeared on that. I wish I knew what this problem was called. It is huge, was a real specimen, so I am dreading having to yank it out of the ground.

My neighbors expanded their basement and spread the dirt throughout their backyard, and now I have to do something about my grading because all the water runs under the fence and straight for my basement!

Roses don't seem to mind cold water--it is common for folks in our rose club to let them soak a long time when the Spring weather is cold.

But they DO mind poor drainage. That said, rugosas seem quite a bit tougher than most roses and might be able to live in such a location as long as it's not long-term.

I know that rugosas are very tough. But since they originate from from sandy areas in Japan, I thought the one thing they can't tolerate is poor drainage?

Thanks for the replies. Procrastination wins again. Today most of the surface water has moved on. I think the problem was the volume of melt water from large snow banks. The rose is planted on a relatively high spot and gets bone dry in the summer.

I have one corner where the water drains and I have roses in the corner. Last year they were in water a lot. No problems at all. They are fine!