Hi Cotton Texas, I'm in Clovis, NM, about 2 hours away, and have the same dirt as you. I'm also planting a bunch of roses. Mostly gotten from Tractor Supply, so Hybrid Tea Roses. The ones I have are yellow, but I want to get some of those carpet roses and put them at their feet. Pink or red, whatever I can get. I had no problem at all -- last year I got a Red and a Peach knock out rose, and my brother planted mini roses -- like the kind you get on valentines day. I planted one this valentines day as well, a kind of orange/yellow color. In my experience out here is that the way to kill a rose is put it in a planter and forget about it. The ground is way better. Yeah, drainage is a bummer.
Might I suggest you think of a living mulch? I use lambs' ears, but there are other plants, like sedums.
