Question
This year I bought 6 rose bushes from a local store. They were the ones which had their roots wrapped in a plastic bag. I picked the ones with the best looking leaves; all green and none wilted. When I planted them this past spring, all the roots looked very well. On all but one of the bushes, the main stems lost all their leaves and have seemingly died. I had asked my grandmother about it because some of the different flower buds I planted did not come up either. She said just to leave it in the ground and wait till next year. One of those 6 bushes has grown some this year. I thought it was going to end up like the others, but it has one stem growing while the others are brown and dried. That bush has even produced a couple of blooms. I need help. I am not a green thumb. Also, I have a bush that is 3 years old. I wanted to know how I could root some cuttlings from that bush to grow new plants. Thank you.

Answer
Your grandmother was right in telling you to wait and see what happens to the roses. They might have been okay. Those roses in what we rosarians call "rose body bags" are usually too dried out by the time the store gets them to survive in a persons garden. So don't blame yourself as it is the store's fault not yours. Try and get rose bushes from your local nursery and when selecting them, just make sure the canes at the base of the plant are nice and green with no brown dead bits on them.
Here is a good website that explains how to takings and make them into a new rose bush. Hope this helps.
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/southerngarden/roseprop.html