You ordered your bare root rose in late Winter or early Spring. Or maybe you caught an end of the season sale in late Spring or early Summer. You planted your new rose with exuberance, but now it looks like it is dying. What happened?!
It is common to receive bare root roses that either:
- Have some brown to black cane dieback starting from the top of the canes and progressing downwards.
- Have pale pinkish to yellowish shoots beginning to push out from the buds along the canes.
If the nursery you purchased from is reputable and accommodating, they’ll likely share some info with you about caring for your new bare root rose. And yet, after planting, you still feel worried. Those new shoots are dying and the brown dieback is just spreading further down the cane.
My first thing I will say is this:
Do not fear! Roses are tougher than you think. Your plant is likely still very much alive and ready to grow.
Plants are stressed when they are dug up and shipped to you.
It is absolutely amazing that we can rip a plant’s roots away from the soil and everything it knows, store them in a cooler for an indefinite amount of time, and then ship them across a country or overseas and they will still remain alive. Let’s take a second to acknowledge that feat of survivability and endurance.
When you order a plant from a nursery and have it shipped to you, understand this feat. No matter whether the plant is bare root or potted, shipping causes stress. Plants are exposed to variations in temperature, humidity, and light during shipping. And let’s not forget that even though the nursery slaps stickers and writing on the box like, “Keep this end up!” or “Fragile” that it is very likely that box was NOT handled in the way it was indicated. It’s just the nature of the beast that is shipping.
It is normal to see some dieback or lack of growth in the first few weeks after planting a bare root rose.
Nearly every time I have planted a bare root rose that already has buds that have “woken up” (i.e. the pale pinkish or fleshy colored initiation of leaf growth), the growth has shriveled up and died. It doesn’t matter how much I’ve watered or fertilized it. It doesn’t matter how quickly I planted it after receiving the rose.
While your plant may look like it is dying up top, it is actually doing something very important in those first few weeks after planting. Your rose is growing new roots.
This happens all the time with seedling transplants as well. Often I will plant a zinnia, basil, or tomato plant and pull my hair out with anxiety as it stays exactly the same size for days. I wonder if it will ever grow. Sometimes it starts to look pale or yellow. I fret about starting new seeds.
But then, after several days or maybe a few weeks, something magical happens. The seedling seems to double over night in size.
That’s because the whole time I was looking at the aboveground growth, the plant was actually doing all of its work belowground. Once the root system was established, nutrient and water transport was able to ramp up. Some of the energy starts funneling up towards the shoots, and we see that energy manifest into more tissues–more stems, leaves, branches, and so on.
Bare root roses or perennials work in exactly the same way. Most of the time they are a little bit slower to recover than a small seedling (think about how big they are; it is going to take some time).
All of the dying shoots on your rose will be replaced with new growth in 2 to 4 weeks, give or take. Continue to make sure your rose has an adequate amount of water and sunshine. Do not flood the rose every day, hoping that water will be the source of life and growth. Remember, plants need oxygen in the root zone as well. Roses don’t grow in swamps, after all (except maybe the swamp rose, Rosa palustris).
If your rose has experienced some brown or blackening of some of the canes, do not fear. The browning will either eventually stop at some point on the cane and the buds below that will begin to grow OR it may extend down the cane so far that buds will initiate from the crown or base of the plant.
A note on new rose shoots from the base of the plant:
The only time we worry about buds that initiate from the base of the plant is if you have a grafted or budded rose.
Sometimes all of the “shoot” buds of a rose will die off, causing the root system to throw up a stem. We call this a sucker. This sucker is NOT the same variety as the rose you purchased, so you can either let it grow for fun or dig the rose out and order a new one.
Make sure to let your nursery know if this happened within the first growing season. Many nurseries have a guarantee on their plants (it doesn’t hurt to ask about a refund, but don’t expect them to give you one; there are so many factors involved with plant survival that a nursery cannot guarantee everything).
When to become concerned that your bare root rose is dying:
If all of the canes have turned black and the plant feels “loose” in the soil, your rose may be dead. The loose feeling (i.e. the ability to rock the plant back and forth with little effort) indicates that the rose hasn’t put out any root growth. That’s why the canes have all died.
If you do not see signs of growth after planting within 4 weeks, it is likely that the rose may not make it. I would advise waiting at least 2 more weeks if you are able to (just in case; I’ve seen it happen before). Keep in mind the time of year you are planting. If it is still early in the Spring, then maybe the rose needs a little bit more time (I find this happens a lot on the roses that love warmer zones, like hybrid teas).
When I say “new growth”, I mean that, at the very least, you should be seeing the buds along the cane start to swell or a tiny shoot poking up from the base of the plant. Get down on the ground and observe your plant.
Your absolute last resort should be to dig up the plant and see if there’s any new growth from the roots. I have done this before and been pleasantly surprised, so make sure you are making a wide circle around the plant when you dig and gently remove the soil, just in case.
If your rose is for sure not coming back to the land of the living, then it’s time to say a few expletives, complain about wasting hard-earned money like Mr. Scrooge, and then get out the shovel to toss it. You can contact the nursery you ordered your rose from, but also understand (again) that nurseries cannot control these things as much as they’d like to. Be honest and kind when you speak with them. As long as YOU took the appropriate steps to plant and care for your rose, you may be compensated for your loss.
Let’s recap:
- Shipping causes a lot of stress on bare root roses.
- It is normal to see some damage like broken canes, some cane dieback, and pale shoots that wither after planting.
- Give your rose some time to establish its roots. Usually about 4 to 6 weeks will do.
- If your rose appears dead (i.e. no green canes, it feels loose within the soil, and there’s no signs of life whatsoever), then dig up the rose carefully to see if there’s any signs of life around the roots.
- If your rose is dead, either shrug your shoulders and carry on (understanding that this is sometimes the nature of the beast) or contact the nursery to see if they have any suggestions or may be able to compensate you for your loss.
I know it may be a bummer if you lose your brand new rose. But as people in the livestock industry joke–“If you’ve got livestock, you’ve got deadstock”–such is the case in the plant world, too. If you garden a lot, you’ll know dying or sick plants is just a part of gardening unfortunately. Our plant losses just give us an opportunity to find a better suited plant for our climate or a hardier specimen overall!
Are you new to growing roses?
You may enjoy our free rose guide, then! In the rose guide, you’ll learn about the different classes of roses like hybrid teas, floribundas, grandifloras, etc. We also share some tips for caring for each type of rose, too.
Have any more questions about your bare root rose?
Drop a comment below or contact us. We love to chat all things roses!
