I had a number of them this year and some are starting to come back, but not good! I did the alfalfa, cottonseed meal, fish etc etc. The sunshine helps. Do you have the budheads exposed? how is the weather. I am warmer than you, but it seems like it is taking forever. Guess I will just have to be patient. Don't know what else to do! Good luck!

Try Epsom Salts. Mix 1/2 cup in soil around the bush and water well.

http://gardening.about.com/od/organicgardenin1/f/Epsom_Salts.htm

Epsom Salt for Roses
Rose growers, in particular, are strong advocates for using Epsom salts. They claim it not only makes the foliage greener and more lush, it produces more canes and more roses. To apply to existing rose bushes, either mix ½ cup of Epsom salts into the soil around the rose bush and water well or dissolve ½ cup of the salts in water and use to water the rose bush. Do this in the spring, just as the bids are beginning to open.

For ongoing rose care, mix 1 T. of Epsom salts per gallon of water and apply as a foliar spray. You may need several gallons of water for larger rose bushes and climbers.

Use alfalfa (pellets, meal, or tea). It has "growth hormones" that encourage the production of new canes. For the pellets or mean, make sure you water them in well.

Also make sure that the roses are getting sufficient water.

When you did your spring pruning, did you check to make sure the single canes had white pith in the center of the cane? If not, keep pruning back (nearly to the ground, if necessary) until you arrive at white pith.

I had a rose I was going to spade this spring. I cut her back nearly to the ground, but was too busy to finish the project. So what did she do--threw out all sorts of new canes. She is doing so well that I do not have the heart to spade her now. (Where am I going to find space for the new rose that should be arriving any day now?)

Hopefully one or more of those choices will help your one-cane wonders. Good luck.

Kate

First you need to know if you have roots aplenty, enough to support more than one cane.
Do you have vole/mole/gopher problems in your gardens? IF so, your one-caners may only have enough roots to support one cane well.
First you grow the good support system (roots) and then the canes will come.
I will guess that most of your roses are grafted onto a different rose rootstock. You'll find a big, knobby mass where the two roses are joined together. Is that knob healthy or is it dead on one side. IF one side is dead, all the fertilizer in the world won't restore it to life.

And there is also the problem that some roses are weaker than others and do appear to become weaker from year to year.

Years ago, I wasn't happy with my modern roses. So I decided to give up on blooms for a year and grow below ground instead. I dosed the roses with cottonseed meal and Soybean meal (several cups per plant) and kept them well watered. By fall, the roses were better looking above ground and I had blooms that I had been willing to wait for.

Ann is right--a rose adds canes to match the root system. If you want a lot of canes you need a big root system. One trick is to angle the cane, so it produces a lot of laterals. You don't necessarily want to pin it--some roses, such as VH, don't like it when the tip is below the rest of the cane. Another technique is to remove the flower buds, so it doesn't expend energy producing flowers--you just want lots of top growth. Finally, you need to control pests and disease, to have as many healthy leaves as possible.

Thank you all for the encouragement. Predfern, If you are using Epsom salts can you also use Rose Tone? Dublinbay ( I have that red rose) I looked high and low for Alfalfa pellets last season with no luck, will Rose tone do? Anntn, they are all own root roses. In my zone I thought it best not to risk grafted roses. Charleney, patience is going to have to be practiced. Zack, I have pegged roses with good results but it is too early to do it to these babies I think. Pinching out the flower buds are a possibility for most but I have to have at least one flower from each. Charleney, I was afraid to put down the Rose Tone or other food now to encourage new grow that might be damaged with a hard frost. Our last frost date here is May 20.

ARGH! May 20th?

You could also put a cold frame over them to extend the growing season--this will also protect them to some extent from early frosts.

But, with a short growing season, you may need to start off with either larger plants, plants that don't suffer winter die back, or extremely vigorous varieties. Grafted plants are well suited for colder climates because they start off with a bigger root system, forcing more top growth to begin with. A newly budded HT planted in early Spring will often have three good canes by the end of the season.

wren-garden ,

If you have a local feed mill in your area, they should have alfalfa pellets. Epsom salts should only be used if a soil test says Magnesium is lacking in your soil.
But, alot of people use it regardless, so, that's your decision to make.
I also agree about having a larger root system in order to support more canes.

Best of luck!

Just prune the one cane to the ground. It will soon produce more. If not, you have a weak plant. It happens sometimes. Pull it out and replace it.

Wren--Rose Tone (and the other Tones) are terrific. It doesn't have a lot of alfalfa in it, but it does have some--plus other goodies! For additional alfalfa, go to your local grain feed store.

Also remember to water that one cane wonder enough. Newbies often underestimate how much water roses want--though don't let it stand around in ankle-deep water or anything like that.

Good luck,

Kate

Pet stores sell smaller bags of 100% alfalfa in compressed chunks. I only have about 50 roses and use about 8 bags a season.

Again thank you all, Zack, All my roses are own root. I don't zone push so they all make it alright. Would it help to put a dome over them in the spring when they are leafing out?
Morden, Ouch! Susan, Haven't tried a pet store because I was warned that bunny alfalfa pellets have additives and salt.I will have to check it out and just read the ingredient list.

I wouldn't use a dome made out of pop bottles--they filter the light, so some roses won't produce their normal colors. Gemini, for instance, needs lots of sunlight.

My alflafa is 100% compressed alfalfa...not Timothy Hay, etc.