When you create your own bed with different mixtures of soil etc. a professional soil test should be done as this will tell you if your lacking anything or have too much of something etc.

There are online stores that sell roses...

And those peat pots should be cut off before planting as
they degrade a lot slower then what you think.
Best of luck!

Hi Amy, I don't think its you... I personally have never seen a healthy, happy Blue Girl. I think its a sickly hybrid. Perhaps some of our forum friends in the midwest can recommend a better lavendar hybrid tea for you and you could order one from a catalog to get a really healthy plant. Good luck!

Did they die over winter?

If not and they died during the growing season, the most likely cause is too much or too little water. Next guess would be too much fertilizer or too much of some other stuff added to the soil.

OR, maybe, those peat pots are the culprit.

They don't break down under ground, so they may have bound the poor roots like the binding on the feet of Chinese girls children, in the bad old days. The girls couldn't walk, and your roses couldn't take up water and nutrients.

We did use some of those, years ago, but you need to take a box cutter and slash the pots to ribbons, and pull most of it off.

Jeri

Going to be hard to say Dogperson; I'd recommend asking someone knowledgeable in your area; an Extension Agent at the county office or contact a nearby rose group...if you want to PM me where you are in Kansas, I can help with that.

In general terms, the most common cause of plant death is overwatering new plants. But here in Kansas, if you put out roses past May 1st in most years, they have a hard time getting established before the hot weather sits in and then you have a heck of a time keeping them watered enough, this year especially since we were so dry through April and May.

Blue Skies, a Griffith Buck rose, is a nice lavender hybrid ta that I think will do well in this area.

Here is a link that might be useful: Blog about Blue Skies.

Take the peat pots off! I remove any and all types of containers before planting. I know they say those pots will decompose but it takes years for them to do that! In the mean time the rose is root bound like crazy and can't get enough water or nutrients to survive. For the ones that are still alive I'd dig them out and take off the pots and replant them right away. They could die from transplant shock but they WILL die for sure if you leave them in those pots. Carefully spread the roots out when you replant them and then back fill. Keep them damp but not soggy until you see new growth start and then you can feed them and go back to a regular watering schedule.

I don't have any experience with Blue Girl but I do know she doesn't have a great reputation for vigor. If you really love lavender roses look for Paradise or Neptune. They're usually stronger growers. And if you can't find them locally try one of the online nurseries. They carry a much bigger variety of roses and usually a much better quality plant. Yes, they're a little more expensive and there's shipping costs too but you'll get a better, healthier plant and stand a better chance of actually getting the variety on the label!