I would love to see what you did w/30 of them! I have 2 and they are filling the side of my house! Have you discovered the thorns on those lil' mamas yet? LOL - I'm scarred for life!
Re: your question, I am by no means an expert. Here are my thoughts on it - they came from dif. stores, probably dif. growers, they maybe dif. ages. The HD ones may have some kinda problem that will delay them a while. As long as they are living and doing pretty much what they should be, I would be happy w/the first year blooms.

Thank you for the comforting words. They are actually starting to look a little better already with the slightly cooler temps. As for the number of roses I planted, you are not the first to question that. It has been suggested that I may have created a monster! I have a rather large front yard and had visions of an old fashioned "rose garden". Since I have indeed discovered the razer sharp thorns, it remains to be seen if we will be prevented from entering our house through the front door in the future...I noticed a squirrel the other day that that changed his mind about cutting through the yard when he encountered the wall of roses! ( Hmmmm... how about carpet roses as a security measure......)

I planted 5 shrub roses along my fence, not as a security measure, but to deter my two dogs from prowling and barking and every passer-by.

It was a beautiful idea. The thinking was that the dogs would get pricked a few times, learn a painful lesson, and then stay away. Wrong. Never underestimate the willpower of a dumb dog.

They trampled all of the shrubs to death. I had to pluck thorns out of their skin daily. They learned nothing. They bark more vigorously now.

Maybe I should plant barbed wire next.

ROLMAO! Poor doggies and poor you! I can't believe they would go near those evil things!