It's hard to diagnose the problem without pictures but it sounds like you have mites. Try spraying your roses every other day with a very hard water spray from the hose from the bottom upwards for at least a week. Then do so once a week after that to keep them away. There are also miticides available but until you are sure that is what you have I wouldn't recommend them.

There are a couple of ways to ID your bugs. You can go to the American Rose Society web site and find a local Consulting Rosarian to contact and ask for help or to find a local rose society you can contact. There's also a great site for IDing rose pests that I've put the link for below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Baldo Villegas' Bugs and Roses

And it's not the best time of year for them right now anyway. Wait until April.

Also, you may have bought roses that were really "pumped up" by the grower, "pumped up" with regulated temperatures and a lot of fertilizer in a protected shade or greenhouse. Give them time to settle in and get used to outdoor living in your garden, and their beauty will likely return.

I agree that it'd be best to post a picture.I also agree that it's quite likely what hoovb says; i.e., that the plants are in the process of adjusting to "real life" and their present peaky appearance is just a result of that. Remember,most bug attacks often are only somewhat dangerous for a weak, stressed-out plant. If you planted good-quality, healthy plants properly, in good garden soil, with lots of organic matter,there's a very good chance that they will bounce back,and that the bugs will not kill them at all. However,it's a different story if the original plants as bought from the nursery were fundamentally unhealthy duds, in which case,the bugs would just be giving the coup de grace.Good luck and regards, bart

We live very close to a wholesale supplier who grows roses up in 5-G, and sells them on to nurseries around Southern California.

If the Original Poster moved recently, and planted leafed-out container-grown roses, the plants may well have spent the past year in pots.

They may take a whole year in the ground to re-adjust, and rid their systems of the high-nitrogen fertilizers they've been fed. I'd suggest giving them plenty of water, wash them regularly, and don't give them any more fertilizer for the next few months.

Jeri -- Coastal Southern California

Reading the original post again .. a couple of thoughts. --

As a new gardener, even in SoCal, you need to know that even modern roses stop to rest.

EVEN in a ridiculous winter like this, plants do slow down. Many stop blooming entirely. Mature rose bushes are pruned in this season. (Visit Descanso Gardens International Rosarium, and see).

Pull old leaves off your roses. If they're trying to rest, let them do that. Make sure they have lots of water, as we have insufficient rain, and wait for them to recycle, and bloom again, in a month or two.

Jeri in SoCal