On 18/6/06 23:46, in article , "June
Hughes" wrote:

In message , Sacha
writes
snip

It sounds incredibly obvious, I know, but keep it watered in the meantime!

Thanks Sacha. I am doing that. (believe it or not, at times I have no
common sense to speak of but watering it has been of the essence these
last few days However, the ground where it is situated is very heavy
clay and the compost I used at the time (can't remember what it was)
seems to have disappeared into the North London clay. I suspect that
may have been the problem in the first place. Perhaps you or Ray may
have a tip or two on that subject. Clay is a huge problem here,
although roses seem to thrive in it.

I doubt there's anything we could tell you about dealing with clay that you
don't know and that hasn't been on here umpteen times - e.g. the digging in
of organic matter etc.
I do remember reading absolutely years ago that roses do indeed thrive on
clay though why they do, I have no idea. And apparently, they used always
to do well in London in the days of awful smog etc. Apparently the
pollution killed off the ills that roses are prone to! I know that down
here in the warm west country, they get just about every darned thing that's
going, which may be one of the reasons we don't have a rose garden!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(email address on website)