Starting with the basics, how much water is it getting?

The irrigation system waters every second day. On the day the system waters it looks fine. On the in between day, as soon as the day heats up, it wilts so I give it a soak with the hose and it perks up. The puzzling thing is that the ground still appears damp under the mulch when it is looking wilty.

I wonder if it could have a damaged graft? Can you give it some shade & see if that helps it over come whatever is stressing it?

Did you stick your finger in the ground next to it to see if it's really getting enough water? I wasn't sure if you have drip or overhead water. If it's drip, could it have a clogged emitter? That happened to my Shopshire Lad this year, and he looked pretty wilty until I fixed his emitter.

You've answered your own question. It isn't getting enough water. Sounds like it isn't getting watered deeply enough.

Because all the other roses near it aren't wilting as well, I don't think water is the problem per se. Were they potted roses? I once had a problem similar to yours, so I carefully dug it up. Much to my surprise, there was a huge gap in the soil around the roots in the middle of the root ball. I didn't notice it when I planted it because there was soil on all sides and also on the bottom. I replanted it, being careful to make sure that the gap was remedied, and the rose did fine. From then on, I always poke at the root ball with a screwdriver before planting a potted rose to make sure the soil goes all the way through.

That's a thought rose nutty. It was a potted rose not a bare root. Maybe there is an air pocket in the middle. To check, I think I will just keep watering everyday and wait until the cooler weather to dig. I don't know if digging in 89F temp would do more harm than good.
Thanks all.

I would dig it, replant it, shade it, water it. If the problem is an air pocket, it will be much happier with the problem resolved. You will also be able to check out the soil conditions for too wet/too dry. It will be really useful.

Well, mexicanhat, I took your advice and dug up the poor little rose. It wasn't an air pocket that was causing the problem. When I dug it up there was one of those horrible big fat white grubs chowing down on the roots. Removed him and replanted but there aren't an awful lot of roots left. Plus I pulled apart the soil all around the root to make sure there were no more which of course, made all the soil fall away from the roots. I had to replant a basically bare root rose. I don't know if it will survive or not. Replanted in a different spot with bone meal, epsom salts and alfalfa pellets (just a few).
Now I'll just have to wait and see.

Eeew! I didn't expect that! :-( I wonder if they are rose chafer grubs??? Those might be worth taking into your extension agent to find out.

Now I'm wondering if the burgandy iceberg I had might have been infected with those. It was also kind of wilty now that I think back on it, and I finally pulled it out this Spring because it completely failed to thrive. Hmmmmm.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rose chafer info

EW Gross. I was going to say that many potted plants get so root bound that they can't survive. I've taken to soaking the root balls of potted plants for hours to loosen them up before planting. Otherwise they never adapt to the new home.

This was the biggest white grub I've seen. Probably over an inch long. I think it was a May Beetle grub. We do get those around here.
Now I'm wondering about my Ebb Tide which isn't doing so well....Grrrrr.

Here is a link that might be useful: May Beetle information

Buford, I like that idea of soaking the rootball to get the roots untangled and spread out. I have been shaking most of the soil off this year and chopping off any girdled roots and they seem to do better... Will try soaking as well.

Gilli, good luck on killing those grubs. They look horrible! BLECH!!

The latest on the White Grub problem....

I talked to one of our customers today. He is the owner of a landscape business in town and a "3rd Generation Japanese Gardener". He told me to take a hose and just trickle water right on the bush roots and leave it trickling for about 2 days. He said the grubs will either come upwards out of the water, go downwards and keep on going to try to get out of the water, or will drown. He says it works much better than any chemical insecticide.

I have another rose which is starting to wilt a bit so I'm going to give this method a try. What's the worst that could happen??? I may loose a few leaves to overwatering but if it gets rid of the grubs - who cares?

I'll keep you all posted as to the results.

Just thought I'd post the results if anyone is interested.

I soaked the rose that was getting wilty as suggested by my customer. I pulled the mulch back from around the rose to about the rose drip line and mounded it to make like a little berm. I put the hose on trickle just so the water level inside the berm stayed about 1/2 inch deep and I left it like that for 48 hours. No grubs came up. Had to rescue a couple of earthworms. However, since Thursday, there have been no more wilting leaves. The ones that were wilting have dried up at the ends. Everything looks healthy and happy. Hopefully, that has cured the problem.

My original damaged rose is looking very sad. Wilted and its leaves have turned yellow. I have it shaded and watered and have trimmed it back but it looks awful. I'm just waiting to see if it completely dies or if it will perk up. The weather is so hot right now that even my established roses are stressed.

Gilli