I think the OP is referring to the bud eyes at the bases of the leaves swelling and producing new growth. Florist roses are grown in ideal conditions with perfectly controlled levels of temperature, light, most always massive amounts of pesticides and fungicides, and they are pumped full of nutrients to incredible levels--pumped so full the dormant bud eyes at the base of the leaves will start growing before the flower is finished. You may be able to root the stems of those roses--one method is to get a clear plastic cup, add damp (not wet) potting soil, cut off the spent flower and put the stem in--then put the cup and stem into a large clear plastic bag and seal it up, and put the bag in a brightly lit (not direct sun) area kept at a comfortable temperature (72F or so). That's one way to root--there are many ways. The stem may root or it may not. The reason for using a clear plastic cup is so you can see roots if they form. How the rose plants will perform in the garden is another story--they might be great, or they may be awful. Florist roses are specially bred to be florist roses, to live in a shade house or glass house and be sprayed with chemicals. There is a difference between a florist rose and a garden rose--one is intended for the florist trade and the other for gardeners. The flower will likely be a slightly different color because outside in the garden the conditions are not the same as they would be in a shade house or green house where most florist roses are grown.

It could have been any of a number of things that killed your bush. Newly planted shrubs that have not yet become established - not only roses - HAVE been killed by being severely cut back (say by an errant mower or weed whacker). I assume the same thing could happen from animal destruction.. But the blackening of the new foliage that you mentioned leads me to believe something else happened. Maybe you could expand a bit on that description - perhaps describe what the canes/stems looked like. This post was edited by nickl on Tue, Aug 13, 13 at 11:07

Carol, you are such a Precious Rose of a lady! and just like the young girl in the video you are living in the NOW, what courage and bravery! I will be keeping tons of prayers for you and also Karen's Ray who is at Stage 3b cancer. Ray is now undergoing another operation to stop fluids from leaking all over his lungs. Both you and Karen need tons of hugs right now! Yes, I can understand ABSOLUTELY about the eyes and the fear of blindness. That would be an artist's absolute nightmare. So much identity, our whole life's vocation and work is based on our eyesight. And a gardener is Nature's artist as well (smiley face). Carol, I took a photo this morning of my young Climbing America as thoughts for you, Karen and Ray. Of course we got plastered with rains again (same-old, same-old), but I got a break between the drenches, so to speak. I wanted to get better photos especially knowing what a gorgeous thread Boxo had already compiled so I worry about about adding my lopsided Lumps. But Boxo is such a sweetie, and I'm sure he'd smile and say, it's the thought that counts, KG! Hehe, well, let's say pretend that these lopsided cabbages, are Boxo's Abraham D'Arby wish-they-weres, hee-hee! Jim too sends his prayers, Carol!

I see a lot of both types of the black cane Ann talks about, but usually under different circumstances. The black canes at the end of winter is just something we in cold zones put up with, and I do fairly ruthless pruning in late March to get rid of any suspect canes. This sounds like what you have JJ, and it doesn't have to be anything special to cause this blackening, just normal winter damage. This means a lot of my roses get pruned to the ground, and it can take until now or even early June for new growth to pop up from the roots (presuming an own-root plant). If you need the space, you can shovel prune, but I don't assume any rose is dead till I do the official "death march" some time in June and pull their tags. There shouldn't be any problem with the soil and replanting there, at least in the US, since this is a function of the canes themselves. The other type of rapid moving canker is obviously more vicious, and I see it mostly in bare root or potted roses in their first year. If they come in with the slightest bit of black on the ends, that black seems to grow till the entire cane dies no matter what I do, and the survival depends on if it can grow its own canes to replace these or not. This is a particularly bad year for what I call "the Black Finger of Death", since both Regans and Edmunds roses came with pretty extensive canker to start with, though both companies have said they'll replace what dies, particularly nicely stated from Regans. Michael has speculated this might be a form of verticilium wilt, among other possibilities, but the solution is the same. Prune below the canker, sterilize the pruners, and be very very vigilant throughout the summer. BTW, the epsom salts were a good idea but didn't seem to make a difference, particularly if they start at such a disadvantage. Cynthia