You have more guts than I do putting that thing in the ground at that size. Those are older yellowing leaves and the newer leaf looks decent. It could be the plant is recycling the older ones in order to put out a flush of new growth (read an inch or so). If the newer leaf looked like the older ones, I would tell you to call your local exorcist.

You might take a stick and poke it into the ground around the plant, but far enough away not to damage its roots, then smell the stick to make sure the soil smells like "soil" and not like a soured pot which has stopped draining. Make it something long enough to push into the soil a foot or a bit more, so you can determine if the drainage is decent or not. As long as it smells as you'd expect, that isn't an issue. If it stinks, smells bad, as if it's soured, you have too much organic material in the ground for the amount of water being held. In that case, you want to gently move the plant from there ASAP and put it in a pot of the potting soil of your choice.

IF you feed it anything, I would make it inorganic, like a Miracle Gro All Purpose water soluble at half strength. Instead of the table spoon per gallon, I would use half a table spoon per gallon and use what seems appropriate for the level of drainage you have. If I suggest half a gallon and your drainage is too slow, you could ruin your progress. Remember, you can always add more. You can't remove any already applied.

Then, just light candles, say your prayers, pay the preacher and keep those weeds back from the rose to eliminate competition and shading. Good luck. You will need it. I have two budded Grey Pearl plants (you can never call this a "bush" as it never is) I have nursed for far too many years. I seldom let them flower to push them to hold as much growth as possible. A couple of times a year they appear on the verge of committing suicide. I then go into emergency mode with more food, more water, more threats and screaming and they slightly rebound. Both are in ground to avoid the soil overheating in my climate and exposure. One of these days, I will deliberately push them over the edge in a kill or cure (hopefully kill, I need the space for GOOD plants) when they start holding the knives to their wrists.... Kim

What Kim Said. :-)

Jeri

Sounds like a plan. It stopped raining long enough for me to yank up the weeds and the dirt smells like well... dirt is supposed to smell (And I have a Rook planted a few feet away that is doing great, so I doubt its the soil quality.)

...I guess I'll try to feed it. I really don't want her to turn into a fussy girl and freak out over too much food.

It wasn't that small when I planted it unfortunately, but that hail man, that hail was brutal... The poor thing had a bit of a rough spot.

But, as Kim said -- Very much reduced strength, if you feed.

More is not better.
Too much can kill a rose in this sort of delicate condition.

Jeri

The thread title is like a headline in the Onion--"Local Man Ogles Woman" or "New Yorkers Dissatisfied with Weather."