Ben - whew thank goodness! since I'm still so new (only three years), I still panic when those bright red new basal canes come up haha. Never hurts to double check :)

I wish my DJ would do that. It just sits there.

Sheila oh no that's too bad!
I do have to say it's the first time it's had any significant growth, it was pretty useless all summer lol. Just got it this season as a body bag, maybe yours just needs some time to perk up?

Would have expected a lot denser thorn growth with RRD. This looks like end of season first year new growth, tbh.

dont recall.. and cant see where you are ... unless it is kc.. and then duh on me.. lol ...

in my MI ... this type of new late soft growth .. is NOT good .. going into ground freeze winter ... it simply might not harden off enough.. to survive the winter ... this shoot i mean .. not the plant ...

i learned all about heavy late fert'ing ... causing such.. and had massive losses one year ... afterwards.. i never fert'd my hybrid Ts after about mid-august ...

if your plant just sat there all year.. and is just now taking off.. lets hope it is finally getting established ... and will take off next year ...

btw .. some of its droopiness ... could be related to cold ... have you had frost or freeze.. or come close to such????

what did you mean.. that it came as a body bag???

ken

"what did you mean.. that it came as a body bag???"

That term is used to describe bare root roses that are sold with roots stuffed into plastic sleeves.......the "body bag" :-)

Ken I'm in central/western MA , zone 5b/6a
so we have had a couple of frosts over night. I haven't fertilized since early August. it's definitely been cold here so that's probably why it's Droopy.
by body bag I mean I bought it from a big box stores and it was wrapped as a typical body bag rose, no pot and dirt, just roots and some short canes wrapped in a bag with damp medium

The big problem with modern roses in this part of the world is that most of them have a much stronger reaction to water than anything else. So they grow in response to the fall rains instead of getting ready to go dormant. The new growth isn't ready for much of anything, but the roses put it out anyway.

IME, RRD spreads slowly in this part of the world. I've had it on several roses over the years, and have yet to have it transmit from one rose to its neighbor, even though we haven't been quick to rogue out the infected plants, but try to save them instead.

boy.. i havent seen a plastic sleeve plant in 20 years ... i used to get mine bare root in the mail ... ken

Kali, your DJ looks fine but unfortunately you will probably lose that lovely basal break over the winter. Unless it has several more weeks to harden off before you get hard freeze the soft tissue in that cane will freeze and die. Not to worry though, it looks like your DJ is ready to climb and will put out new canes next spring!

Ken, I'm really surprised you haven't seen any bagged roses around there. They are every where here in Metro Detroit. All the big box stores (HD, Lowes, Menards and Tractor Supply) get them in in early March. Places like Walmart and Meijers have them too. I've even seen them in fruit markets and Krogers! They're very cheap, both in price and quality, but I have gotten some great roses out of them. Just go in knowing that at least half of the time they are mislabeled and you can end up with a lot of mystery roses on your hands.

thank you seil!
yes probably the frost will end up killing the cane you're right, but I'm glad it's doing well :)
I'm surprised you haven't seen them either Ken, they're everywhere here in Mass as well. Even our grocery stores. I usually expect that 50% of what I buy is mislabeled and/or will die due to the poor quality. though I do have to say over the years I've gotten pretty good at rescuing rides from the brink of death lol

well ... i quit looking.. lol ...

i went all hosta.. all the time.. and mail ordered most of those ... so i quit visiting the stores ... saved a lot of money that way .. .lol ...

also did conifers.. same as above ...

ken

Ken, had 3 new hostas and they became the backyard smorgasbord. Next year need to be more pro active with the Sluggo

Kali, I hope mine does something next season. Sometimes I just don't know. Maybe tree roots are coming in to steal all the nourishment. Here's hoping.