Also check for gophers. If they are eating the roots, you will get the same results.

Interesting. We do have a lot of gophers out here, but I haven't seen holes near the new 3rd one to wilt - doesn't mean they aren't under there though. A little more info. Our ground is sand - very well draining. About 2 weeks ago I did do a 2nd mulch with horse manure - had been composting about 6 months, but balls still had form. Is this reaction possible from too hot a mulch? Then, also about 2 weeks ago started watering daily. Can this be the result of too much water, or unlikely due to the good soil drainage. Last Thursday we did suddenly hit 94 degrees after averages of high 70's. Could it be a response from the sudden heat? Anyway - 50 roses, three roses in different locations suddenly coming up with this droop within a couple day period. 2 of the 3 roses are over 1 year old. The only thing that seems consistent amongst the group is 1. me, 2. the weather. ?

I have two out of about 150 that do this when the temps get over 90. Mr Lincoln and Broadway. No idea why they do it but watering DEEP seems to help. PS it is only new growth in my case as well and nowhere near all the roses.

I live in northern California and get this same thing EVERY year. If you look closely, you will see a little bump on the stem below the bud. Something lays eggs in there and it kills the bud. I always called it a borer. I just cut off the wilted bud and try to chop the place where the thing is laid. If you wait too long, it travels down the stem and you will find a worm-like critter. I try to destroy these. They get several of my buds every year at this time (it is happening right now!) and I have never found how to avoid it. It can kill the cane or much of the stem, I believe. I am going out right now to cut off the most recent batch of wilted buds.

How fascinating! Being a little neurotic, I already cut off and disposed of each of the wilts so have nothing to look at right now. But next one I find - I will go on a scavenger hunt. If it's as managable as you make it sound, I will be a lot less worried! Thanks much.

Here are some photos I just took. It shows the wound, the stem girdling, the narrowing of the stem above, the "stuff" in the stem, but no worms currently. I did find wormy things in the past. I would like to know what the insect is that does this. Anyone?
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Kathy - this is just my 2nd year of rose growing. Does this last all season, or just for a specific and hopefully SHORT period? I know I sure was delighted to find the postings on this forum to be spot on with the aphids - which are all gone now.

Harmony -- Contact Baldo Villegas at his Bugs And Roses website. I am pretty sure this is a pest, but one we don't have down here in SoCal.

Jeri

I just came home, walked in the front gate and saw that my Magenta looks just like Harmony described. Yesterday she looked fine, today all of her blooms and buds are nodding their heads. Very weird. I have never seen this before. I definitely have gophers, but this rose was dug up and replanted in a gopher basket last year, so I really don't think that's what's happening. I'm going to be very curious what Harmony or anyone else susses out about this situation. And I'm going to go out in a few minutes and look to see if I see any of the damage Kathy mentioned, although it really doesn't look like insect damage to me.

Poor rose....
Susan

I haven't contacted Baldo Villegas yet, but I did surgery on a few stems, and found exactly what Kathy's photos show. One or more small brown spots that look like a burrow spot, and a brownish trail inside the stem. Can't find an actual insect, but it does look like an insect or wormish critter of some sort. I now have about 10 victims - but have just lost 1 - 3 top stem/bud combos on each. Hoping this ends soon.

Although Susan, the "all blooms and buds" sounds like something else, and something systemic. For this weird thing Kathy and I are going through, it's just hitting one or two small new growth areas on a plant at a time.

Contact Baldo.
I'm pretty sure there is an insect pest that does this, but not down here.

Jeri

You are exactly right. Mine was something that affected the whole rose, and I think it was that the season got ahead of me and it needed water. Just three hours later, when it is cooler and the rose got a good thorough watering, it looks better already. I'm amazed: I've been growing roses now for 15 years, I have more than 200 roses, and I have never ever before seen a rose do a water-related wilt. Roses and GardenWeb will never stop teaching me things.

harmony-do you have rose midge in your area? (I hope you don't!)

I believe I've read that wilting growth can be a sign of midge. We do have awful trouble with midge and I've gotten some wilting like that early in the season before I typically start to see the more typical "burned tips" damage that is the hallmark of midge.

I've never been positive whether the wilting I see (this year I got it on just two roses out of ~50 as they were setting buds) is just some late frost damage or a symptom of midge.

I like the photos at this link a lot, they helped me identify the larvae infesting the tips. I'm not an expert-just a midge sufferer-and again, I hope you don't have it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rose Midge Photos

Jerijen - thank you so much for suggesting I contact Baldo. He was kind enough to respond immediately to my inquiry.

His words:

"the culprit is a stemboring sawfly in the sawfly family "Cephidae". This group of stemboring sawflies has about seven species distributed throughout the United States. In California, the most common species is called the rose stemboring sawfly and goes by the species Hartigia cressonii...These sawflies usually emerged from overwintering pupae in infested stems of roses, raspberries, and blackberries about this time of the year generally between late April thru early June which coicides with new stems being produced on roses for the second bloom cycle...Unfortunately there are no good controls available...I only prune off those stems that show the symptoms that you described"