In article .com,
John Edgar wrote:

Thanks for this. There was nothing odd about the roots, they were just
dead. If it means anything, the rose had always looked odd and had
always behaved strangely. tending to bolt, and the leaves never looked
right. I don't think it had reverted to root stock, because it looked
like the rose on the label.

It was quite possibly a bacterial infection that carried it off, then.
What the original cause was, I can't guess.

As with animals, sickly plants are prone to picking up everything that
is going, and often dropping dead as a consequence. I would still
avoid planting one of the Rosaceae there, but it is sometimes worth
a second go if you particularly want a particular plant. If a second
plant of the same species dies, give it up for some years.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.