plant a climbing root rose soaked the root for a day planted it leaves came out quickly. now after a month the leaves on one are wilted and now the other side is starting

If you soaked the root, and it didn't have leaves when you planted it in mid-June it sounds like it may have been a packaged bare-root rose from a retail store? If so, with the hot weather it may be losing more water from the leaves than it can take up from the limited roots. Is there any way you can shade it temporarily? I assume you are still watering it?

it wasn't in the direct sun. and it had plenty of water. when I dug around the rose it was like a hard mud so I loosened the soil and cut off the wilted leaves.the next leaves in line have a yellow circle on them now

"Hard mud"sounds awful. It sounds like that would drown the roots, cut of any air from reaching them. Drown, then die, then rot. Not good. The roots need to be in soil that drains, so water can flow down and out. Then air can flow in. Roots need to breath.

One way to get drainage is to RAISE the root ball. Make a raised bed with some kind of walls (or even just mounded up soil). The soil in the bed should be somewhat loose, at least enough to drain and be aerated. For example, add compost and something coarse and gritty, to improve drainage, if you have clay now.

Another way, if you have some slope to work with, is to LOWER the "water table", or at least lower the level that water can rise to after a heavy rain.

Approach the bed from BELOW it, making a slit trench between your bed and some lower part of the yard. The floor of that trench has to go in a little lower than the floor of your bed. Now water can drain from the bed into the trench, until the water level in the bed is as low as the floor of the trench. That lets air into the bed.

thanks rick that makes sense

I always obsess about drainage, maybe because I like digging around and "engineering" my beds.

But also because I garden on the rock-hard clay, no-drainage-clay that was left behind by the bulldozers after they 'dozed the park. I wonder where all that topsoil was moved to?

>> when I dug around the rose it was like a hard mud so I loosened the soil

Adding compost on TOP of clay will gradually soften and loosen the clay beneath. Like, over a few years.

That will be speeded up if you can arrange for the clay to DRAIN, which lets air into it, which allows roots and worms to penetrate it sooner.

Sometimes people plant into clay and then wonder why the plant can't take up water: it's sitting in a big puddle of water! The extra water excludes air from the soil, so the roots they just planted drown, die and rot.

The leaves wilt since there are few LIVING roots or root hairs to take up water.
People think "wilting means it needs more water", and pour more water on top of the drowning roots.

Sometimes a plant dieing of thirst means that the root zone has TOO MUCH water.

Attaboy Rick! Great info! May I add that roses are infamous for loving water, but like dry feet? Another way to say drainage...

And thank you for the acorn!