My iceberg someone at church gave me anonymously after on our first Mother's Day after our stillbirth isn't blooming. (granted I need to deadhead it) My neighbors roses are still blooming across the street and all of my bushes are done. I could care less about the ones I inherited;but, the white iceberg rose will probably not be pretty if I lost. Its not all brown....just the flowers there looks like maybe a branch is but the rest is green so I'm thinking its ok....my neighbor isn't organic and I have seen big bags of the Miracle Grow soil so maybe that's what it is? I kept holding out hearing the weather forecast rain one week and it never happened so I ended up lugging out the hose and watering everything! Also, I thought a fellow gardener friend was talking about the care of the bush and needing food? I had been meaning to ask yall about that and had never gotten around to it before I purchased some to get the right thing. I reaaaaaaaaaaaally don't want to lose this bush!

Roses require lots and lots of water...especially new/transplanted ones.

Really? Is there anything that could be done?

You could try a thick mulching too. I lost All my roses when I moved Best of luck. Hope someone else has advice.

Try not to panic, blessed. I know that's easy for me to say and hard for you to do considering what that rose bush means to you.

It seems your rose is showing all signs of dehydration. When it starts dropping leaves (and there's no other sign of disease) it's trying to lessen its need for water. You'll sometimes see plants leaves drooping when it's hot. They're just trying to conserve water by decreasing the leaves need for moisture plus those leaves are transpiring or 'sweating' whatever moisture they do have left and the plant's not drawing up any more. But as a last resort the plant will pull whatever sap it can from the canes as a form of moisture. That's why the canes will brown and even die back. Sometimes the entire top will die back. But that doesn't mean the roots aren't still alive.
That's where Jems suggestion of heavy mulching is critical.

Lug as much water as you can out to it - consistently. Not just every other day. But every day and maybe twice a day depending on the weather. If you're short on hose water or you've got watering restrictions, you can use wash water, bath water or any other kind of water as long as it doesn't have any harsh, chemical detergents in it.

Don't give up hope! Plants have this almost miraculous way of surprising you with their desire to live. Maybe that's why those who garden tend to be a bit more hopeful than those who don't.

Well, thankfully we are getting remnants of Fay and its been raining since Tuesday or was it Monday? So just keep watering? Do I need to give it any food? Its still in the pot....I had to clear a spot for it. I inherited a *lot* of landscaping!

Oooh, that could be another problem: still being in the pot. It could also be rootbound. That'd only add to its problems, unfortunately.

Since you're being gifted w/rain (which we need here, too), as soon as you can get outside while the ground is nice and wet, plant that puppy! If you have some compost, pile it in there. Right now, especially w/it having been under stress, you really just want it to push new strong roots and get established. So easy on any nitrogen, like blood meal. If you can get your hands on some kelp emulsion or kelp meal, that'd be great to add. Otherwise, if you can get out to Home Depot or Lowes, both have OMRI, organic approved granular, time-release fertilizers. Add some of that according to directions. A little bone meal wouldn't hurt, but that usually takes awhile to break down and be effective. Compost (even if you have to buy a bag of some good stuff) is probably the single best thing you can add to help it along.

Oooooooh....I had to get it out of that pot huh?

I need to get out there and get my garden ready for broccoli too and I was going to take advantage of the soft ground. I don't have compost....that was another purchase I plan to get from the town they just started selling them for a good price. There is a place up the street that has compost, I think in a big pile and I saw that Whole Foods is composting and selling there so I can get a bag of that. Allright then-make a definitive plan for where to put that bush and get compost *and kelp and bone meal or just compost? I probably should add that to the entire garden while I'm out buying it shouldn't it? (compost)

"Yes" to adding as much compost to the entire garden as you can get. You might have some difficulty in getting the kelp meal locally. I buy mine through Gardens Alive! Pricey, but it lasts almost forever because a little goes a really, long way.

Depending on how long that rose has been in the pot, it's probably quite rootbound. Which would make it even more prone to being hard to water. When you remove it from the pot make sure to "tease" the roots or break the root ball open enough so that it's not so strangled. Don't worry if it seems like you're slashing and ripping the roots to death. You're not. You're actually helping the plant to establish itself better once it's planted. Then the new roots can spread out much easier.

Rather than go into a list of instructions about how to plant a rose (and there's others here w/more expertise about that than I) I think it might be better for you to Google the correct way to plant your rose so it gets off to the best start possible.

BTW: It's wonderful that you'll be able to get some bulk compost. Go for it!

I got it on Mother's Day I never thought that I needed to go ahead and get it out of the pot. My church youth helper cleared out a lot in my backyard (because its fenced back there and the deer would eat it up front) and I needed to figure out where I would be able to see it from the deck and where the sunniest spot was. Its cleared up today so I guess I better get myself out there and get to digging!

Yeah, right at the edge of town there a place for mulch and compost and the master gardeners say that a bit out of town there's another place they prefer.