Looks like a bad case of rose slugs. A quick spray of Orthene will take care of it.

I suspect the decaying bloom petals make it look worse than it is.

Try deadheading the old, finished blooms--they won't hurt anything, but they look awful. Most rose gardeners do not leave them on the plant to decay.

Normally, for rose slugs (tiny green "worms" underneath the leaves, sometime along the edge of the leaf), all you have to do is first learn how to spot the tiny critters. Then pluck them off the leaves every morning and if you are too squeamish to squish them, then toss them out on the lawn (they probably won't find their way back to the rose). After a few weeks, the good bugs usually come along and devour the rose slugs and your problem is solved. As much damage as there is on your roses, I'm not sure what to say. The good bugs could already have arrived and the damage is from earlier when the rose slugs were going at it-- or NOT. Rosetom's advice is another possible solution. Either way, those leaves will look bad while you wait for the rose to form new leaves.

Hang in there--the problem is solvable. Just takes time.

Kate

Thanks for the quick follow up. I'll try the Orthene and try to nurse them back!

Ugh. I had the same thing happen last month. I cut my roses back since most of the leaves looked like swiss cheese and gave them a good dose of greensand fertilizer and started a weekly neem oil spray. All three have come back full force with very healthy leaves and so far no sign of fungus or insects. They should bloom this week, can't wait! Good luck!

You don't need to cut them down and really shouldn't. Even with the holes in them those leaves are still feeding the plant and it will recover quicker with more foliage than without. As new healthy leaves emerge the old ones will drop on their own. Dead heading the spent blooms will keep them looking much neater and will also encourage growth and rebloom.

Both and what Rosetom said I agree with. But for myself I would trim off the badly eated leaves..just to make myself feel better.

I strongly recommend that you use an insecticide containing spinosad rather than the much more hazardous Orthene. Spinosad is also much easier on the beneficial insects. Use a web search to get brand names or order online. It won't be at Home Depot.

If you have something(s) chewing on your roses, perhaps a silicate added to your watering procedure will discourage them.

Here is a link that might be useful: example silicate article