Planting Roses

It is best to plant your roses between spring and early summer so that they have time to develop a root system before winter sets in.
Roses don’t like to be crowded, so give them enough room. Hybrid teas, grandifloras, and floribundas should be planted 18 to 30 inches apart.
Climbers should be planted 8 to 12 feet apart. Miniatures can be planted approximately 12 to 15 inches apart.
If you have container roses, make sure they have been watered and keep them wet while working. Dig holes for your roses that are 2 ½ times the size of the root ball. It is a good idea to put some well composted organic matter in the bottom of the hole. Mix more composted matter with the soil that you removed, but are planning to put back in the hole.
If you don’t have composted matter available, you can substitute a good quality planting mix. It is best to use planting mix that doesn’t contain chemical fertilizers, although it is sometimes difficult to find.
Take the rose plant out of the container and put the rose plant in the hole.
Pack the prepared dirt under and around the rose, making sure that the dirt on the top of the rose root-ball is level with the ground. It is a good idea to put a straight stick across the hole to make sure the dirt level of the rose is the same as the ground level. If your rose is planted above or below ground level, it may have a difficult time growing properly.
Planting bare-root roses is the same process, except that you must gently pack the dirt around the roots. If you have a grafted rose, you need to make sure that the graft union is a little bit below ground level.
Purchasing organic rose fertilizer will insure that you have fertilizer to add during the growing season, if you don't already have it on hand at home.
Mulch
Mulching will help your roses after they are planted. Mulching is the practice of adding plant material, such as leaves, dead grass, or shredded bark on top of the soil. The plant material will eventually be broken down and pulled into the soil by soil denizens. It will become humus. Mulching also helps to retain moisture in the soil. In a natural environment, leaves fall to the ground and stay there. They act as mulch. For more information on mulching, see the linked article at Clean Air Gardening