Hi Chilipete

I wouldn't plant the rose in pure compost or store bought soil, since there's no telling what is actually in the additives in the topsoil most places sell. The best way to improve your soil would be to dig the holes for the roses now and mix in some compost, top soil, and other organic material to enrich the soil and the area around the roses now. What the garden manager says has some merit, in that if you create a "sink" of good soil the rose might not put out roots into the rest of your soil and it's a broad root system that makes a rose stronger in the long run. Making that area of the bed better soil benefits your roses and everything else around it. If you can't mix in compost etc. around an existing rose, you can lay organic material on top of the soil and let the worms mix it in over time.

There are other reasons why a rose might still be a twig and wimpy after two years. One is that roses take a good 3 years to settle in and do their thing in most zones, so there's still another year of settling in possible. Another consideration is that some roses are just wimps in any zone. For instance, if you were to plant Grey Pearl in almost any zone you'd get a wimpy twig like you describe and be enthusiastic if it bloomed at all. In my cold zone 5, I get a lot of twig hybrid tea roses because they die to the ground over the winter, and some roses don't like that and come back weakly though they survive. In zone 7, you're less prone to that but you could get less enthusiastic regrowth if you have a rose that doesn't like the cold.

One other thing to consider is how much sun the rose gets. If you have partial shade in the day where this rose is, that alone might account for limited growth in that spot. Also, some roses just have an upright growth pattern even if they are relatively strong. In my zone, Veteran's Honor or Papa Meilland shoot up one 5' cane with maybe 3 or 4 lovely blooms at a time with long rest periods, but each plant is only about a foot wide so they fit in around other roses and plants. Sometimes there are roses that flourish and bush out on grafted plants but don't do as much on own root plants (like those Heirloom sells). I plant a lot of own root roses because of winter die-off in my zone, but that's less of an issue for you.

If you want a rose that will bush out and bloom better in your soil, zone, sun and situation, we're around to provide advice (we call it "enabling"). Mixing some organic material into your soil now before the roses arrive and trimming back some tree branches if there's some part shade affecting the roses would be good steps to take for whatever it is you have coming from Heirloom.

Don't give up on roses - there will be something you and your wife like without too much work if you keep asking and trying things.

Cynthia

Whether you are growing small compact roses, hybrid teas or big shrubs like KnockOuts it is best to prepare the entire bed. Several inches of compost and several more inches of cow manure would be ideal. Dig the amendments in thoroughly and let the bed settle for at least couple weeks. If it doesn't rain, you can water it which helps this process.

Later when you water your roses, water the entire bed. I run a soaker hose on mine, leaving it in place under the mulch. This encourages them to spread out and grow big strong root systems.

Once the new roses are established and putting out new growth, you can give them a light feeding. I use a liquid fertilizer for the first year; typically fish emulsion or seaweed. To encourage root growth you pour this all the way around the drip line of the rose; that's where the feeder roots are. So rather than pouring it directly on the base of the plant you apply it in a big circle. You'll find your roses gain size quickly this way.

Meanwhile, you can move the newly received roses up into larger pots and let them adjust to being outdoors in your climate. You'll know they're growing lots more roots when new growth appears all over them.

My new roses arrive in quarts and gallons but they will still spend the entire summer in their pots getting bigger and stronger before I put them in the ground.

The above advice is great. Just to add in my experience. When I plant anything I try and make sure it's the right plant for the right place. For example a rose will do better in a good sunny location. I'm in a cooler climate than you so my roses need minimum 6-8 hours of sun, 10-14 is even better. Your area, 6 is probably enough. Some roses do better with afternoon shade in hotter areas. I also pay attention to the soil conditions of the area. I have one corner of my yard that is too damp for certain plants. It's a runoff area from the yards. A rose would not do well there. The soil there has more of a sandy clay like consistency. Does your clay soil hold too much water in general? Maybe the area is a bit too wet & the rose is struggling. There's a method of testing a wet area by digging a 1 foot hole, pouring water in and see how long it takes for the water to drain out. Google - how to check soil drainage, for the time it takes.

I don't add anything in my planting hole when I plant. I'm lucky in that I don't have clay in 90% of my yard for the first 3 feet of soil. I know clay can be tough to deal with. However, I have some areas with very sandy soil, it dries out quick & is not high in nutrients.

So once I plant, firm it in & water; I then do a ring of compost/manure around the area and then I heap a layer of wood chip mulch on. This helps with moisture retention. I do add in lots of organics overall in my garden. I spread a couple inches of compost & manure annually throughout my beds. I also used wood mulch to dress it up & help retain moisture. I have a very healthy worm population here and they do the work of mixing it in. I've noticed a soil improvement in the last 2 years & my plants are growing well. Good luck with it, don't give up & there is always a solution to improve your garden.

Curious as to what roses you have on order? That may also help with further advice.

Now if you want a single rose in a certain spot, dig a circle 42" around and 24" deep and follow the same procedure as above. It works great for me. This bush of Scepter d' Isle was the very first rose I planted when I moved into my home in the early fall of 08. Still going strong.

Thanks for everyone's detailed comments. All of your advice is greatly appreciated. The 2 roses I'm getting are Veilchenblau and Beverly. Now I just need the wife to decide where she wants to put them, so I can start prepping the beds!

What is your soil PH? Veilchenblau is a multiflora hybrid that grows like a weed in the acid soils of Connecticut. But, multiflora doesn't like alkaline soils so replacing the soil may be a good idea if your soil PH is high.

I don't remember the exact pH when I had it tested but I do remember they recommended I add like, so I guess it's at least on the acidic side.

Chilipete - both of those roses are typically hardy and healthy and shouldn't need much fussing. Veilchenblau mostly blooms in the spring with lovely purple blooms and it gets BIG. My picture below is when it was only two years old and it's nearly double that size while I'm waiting for it to bloom this year. Give it space, particularly in zone 7 - she's probably about 6-8' wide already here.

Beverly is also healthy and gets tall, but not as wide. In my zone 5, she tops out at about 5' so far. As she starts to bush out more coming into her third year, I think she'll bloom more frequently. This one has more traditional cutting type flowers that people expect from roses, and it's supposed to have some scent. Anything on the east coast is liable to get some blackspot, but this rose is more resistant to it than most HTs. What's notable about her blooms for me is how BIG they are individually, as you can see with my hand next to this one.

Good choices for roses and I expect they'll do well for you without too much fussing. They'll probably appreciate a little cleaning up pruning in the spring and maybe some shaping in the growing season, but they should be roses you don't have to pamper particularly in your yard.

Cynthia

Removing clay from a hole and replacing it with good soil can be a really bad idea. Your clay soil probably drains slowly so when it rains you might be creating a big bowl made from clay that is full water and very soggy potting soil.

I'm for amending the top 4-6 inches of the bed with organic material. The added material will mound the bed and help with drainage.

There are studies that show what your garden center sales person said is correct. Amending just the hole in clay soil can keep the roots from leaving the planting hole and circling instead.

It is unusual for a knockout to stay the same size for 2 years. I know that you said that you fertilized, but roses in nutrient poor soil need frequent feedings. That's one of the advantages of adding organics to the soil, higher fertility and higher capacity to hold nutrients.

Hope you have fantastic success with you roses.

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I planted 3 of them last year in a clay soil with some amendment with compost and cow manure. the area is in part shade (4 hours of sun); I never watered them last year as the area is constantly moist because of the clay/rains.

I never fertilized them

They are flourishing and growing nicely with beautiful blooms; I find them plant and forget type of roses !

highly recommended