Planted Bareroot Roses...Need Advice
 

Hi,
I'm not new to roses but this has been a humbling experience. I planted
25 bareroot plant in a raised bed alongside the southside of my house. I
hauled away the old dirt that was in there and replaced it with a mixture
50/50 of topsoil and nutribrew . I then planted my bare root roses in
early May. Prior to my planting I kept the roses with roots submerged in a
large barrel of water for 4-5 days. All showed sprouts by the time I
planted them. When I planted them, I wrongly planted them too deep with 3-
4 inches of dirt covering the crown and on top of that I put down a layer
of cocoa mulch. Fast forward 4 weeks: I raised my plants but they all
appear to be doing poorly. The canes not the leaves have black spots on
them and the sprouts/buds seem to not look very robust. Much of the new
growth looks wilted. I haven't fertilized but my soil is quite organic.
Could the cocoa mulch had an adverse effect on the roses? Any ideas??

Thanks,

Bob Lyons
Penfield, NY