Tilly, you need to give more information, such as where you live ( State), how long have you had the orchids? Tag names. Condition of the leaves. Temperatures and so on. Link to FAQ about Bud Blast below. Also, Do a search of past posts looking for bud drop or similar Here is a link that might be useful: FAQ on Bud Blast

lilacs are deciduous ... so they are supposed to drop their leaves in winter ... like the rest of the trees ... mildews are a white to gray powdery substance on the leaves ... you WILL KNOW when you have it .. usually caused by night wetness and high night temps ... with lack of air movement at night ... there is at least one organic cure.. if and when you get it ... curling leaves.. is probably indicative of drought ... my lilacs.. which are normally care free and bullet proof [since we see them free range at abandoned home sites from 100 years ago .. with no help from any gardener] .... i suspect improper watering ... take a small trowel and dig a small hole.. and see if your watering regimen is getting water deep enough into the root zone in your clay soil .. i suspect not .... put the hose on trickle.. and give them a good long drink if its dry in there ... and watch them bounce back ... do not water with a sprinkler in the evening.. causing them to go into darkness with wet leaves.. or soon enough you will be learning about PMildew .... i went through 6 weeks of drought with 2 weeks near 100F ... they were all curling.. first time i ever noticed that.. because they are normally so carefree that i don't need to pay attention to them, except in flower ... watered them twice.. and they returned to normal .. with perhaps a free yellow leaves ... this week i got 3 inches of rain .. and they look like their normal selves .... readying themselves to swallow the driveway .... i suspect you might be new to clay ... that's a whole new problem that i don't know about first hand ... as i have sand ... good luck ken

As others have said, it is normal to lose any growth buds on new bare-roots, so that's not a concern. The rose has to grow hair roots before it can take up enough moisture to support growth. This may take 3 or 4 weeks. It's a good idea to mound soil over the cane stubs or spray them with anti-transpirant to reduce moisture loss. 50% manure and alfalfa is too rich a mix. I don't know whether this will have bad consequences or not, but the danger is not heat so much as excessive nitrogen that can burn hair roots and foliage, or excessive salts that can inhibit water uptake.

Thank you so much for responding! FYI the rose is a Firefighter Rose. The rose has been in the soil for about 2 years. Last year after winter, it bloomed beautifully with red lush petals. This year seems to be different. The temperature has been around 75-85 F - not terribly hot. The soil is moist but not soaking wet or overly damp. The weather has not been really wet (by MI standards). Thus far, there has been an occasional passing rain every 2 days out of 7. No different from the previous year. But the morning sun is always quite strong: i.e. why I thought it's perhaps heat. Should I be watering more often? There are no visible insects as far as I can see. I've inspected the flowers, canes, and leaves closely and there is no sign of any. I wonder if there is some sort of other infection or parasite because the plant overall doesn't look very healthy. There are yellow leaves without an abundant amount of green leaves to begin with. I googled "balling blooms" and the rose buds look like the pictures which show up but they continue to bloom and produce dull poor quality flowers. I took some pictures. URL: http://hennadesign.shutterfly.com/pictures/8 Please let me know what you think! I really appreciate all the input! Here is a link that might be useful: Rose Pictures