Yes, that looks dire.

I would clear away whatever is growing around it and investigate further. Is it getting enough water? Has a vole or gopher attacked the roots? Are the roots from that shrub or groundcover or whatever those green leaves are competing with the rose and winning?

Do that and describe to us what it looks like at the base. Another photo would help. Also your general climate zone. We don't want to invade your privacy but we need a general idea of your climate/state, because climate matters in diagnosing issues.

After I had cleaned out a foot or two around the base of the rose, I would prune off any and all parts of the rose that are brown and non-producing (no leaves or growth on them)--they are dead. Then I would give the rose a good feeding of one of the --Tones (Plant-Tone or Holly-Tone or Rose-Tone) and water that in well. This rose food has lots of good stuff in it, including some alfalfa which is good for stimulating the growth of some new canes. Then I would leave it to do its thing for about a month--and see if it had begun to snap out of its funk at that time.

I'm assuming that the rose is getting at least 6 hrs. sun a day.

I'm not sure if any other pruning is needed or even good for the plant at this point. I might contemplate trimming back that tall part of the cane a bit--back to a green growing leaf, for instance. On the other hand, it needs all the green leaves its has to get "food" from the sun, so maybe it would be better to leave the bush to grow rather awkwardly and unevenly at this point and worry later about shaping up the bush, as a whole, later on.

Good luck--and let us see the results when it blooms!

Kate

From the look of the bush, it appears that this is a rose that survives in your zone but only just, and the branches that are dying are related to winter kill. I don't see too many signs of the black canes spreading lower on the plant yet, so what I'd do is prune out the dead wood on that upper right cane and spots on that left hand cane in the second picture.

You want to prune the canes and check the stubs that are left for the "good" wood sections. "Bad" wood has dark brown or tan centers and is going to die if it hasn't already even if there happen to be leaves on those sections. Keep cutting lower if you still see dark centers in what appears to be good wood, or you'll just get more canes dying down to the good wood parts. "Good" wood has a creamy center (a little tannish tinge can be OK) and will sprout new leaves if the weak wood above it is trimmed out. Use sharp pruners and it's a good precaution to wipe your pruners with disinfectant wipes after cuts from this wood that may be cankered. May not be necessary, but it can't hurt.

In the future, you usually do this kind of pruning in the spring as soon as the roses start to leaf out and you can tell what canes are alive. I always do another pass or two later in the season to pick up canes I thought were alive but weren't. Sometimes in cold zones like ours this may mean pruning the rose nearly if not all the way to the ground, but as long as there is good cane left above the graft it'll come back. A graft is a knobby section of the rose where the rose you want is attached to a stronger rootstock that you don't want. Usually in cold zones we bury the graft at least 2 inches in case we do have to prune things to the ground, so that the rose we want will be the one growing and not the rootstock. I can't tell from the photo if this is a grafted rose but odds are it is, so keep an eye out for that knobby bit as you prune and don't prune below it or you cut off all the good rose you want.

Bottom line is that this doesn't look like the whole bush is dying, but you have some canes that are dead that need pruning out.
Cynthia

I think the rose developed rose canker. I have had several roses with this problem. The solution is to prune back to where you see only green canes and then treat with lime and sulfur solution. That has worked for me - it is sold at Ace Hardware store or Home Depot.
Make sure you sterilize the pruner after use. Good luck!

I think the rose developed rose canker. I have had several roses with this problem. The solution is to prune back to where you see only green canes and then treat with lime and sulfur solution. That has worked for me - it is sold at Ace Hardware store or Home Depot.
Make sure you sterilize the pruner after use. Good luck!

I don't see canker, just some dead wood that needs to be removed. There looks like quite a bit of green healthy wood left. I would do what dublinbay and nipstress suggest, maybe even up the living growth just a bit. Keep the pachysandra a foot or so away from the rose. Roses don't compete well.

Also make sure it's not getting too much water. I'm not disagreeing at all with what folks have mentioned, but a lot of times in my soils die-back of any kind is helped along by soil that is too wet for too long.

Thanks everyone. I've cleared out the pachysandra, but left the alium. I cut all of the canes just below where it's brown, above the lowest node. I used sharp cutters and cleaned them with part 1 bleach/9 water between cuts. I'll watch it closely and hopefully it rebounds. I'd hate to think I killed a rose that's been around for so long.

I appreciate all of your help. Thanks again.

Looks good, Becifer - I can already hear the rose breathing a sigh of relief and getting ready to stretch its arms out to bloom. In this latest photo, it does look like you have a grafted rose with the graft about 2" above the soil. At least by wintertime, you'll want to protect that graft by adding soil around the base of the plant. You can certainly build up the soil around the base of the plant to cover the graft now if you wish, as opposed to trying to rebury the rose with graft deeper (which is wa-a-a-a-y too much work for the likes of me). I figure that roses are survivors, and if this rose has been through many of your winters it's liable to handle itself regardless of too many details of what you do with it. You're off to a great start regardless.

If you want to encourage it to put out some new branches ("basal breaks") from the base of the plant, it's useful to work some alfalfa into the soil near the rose. I'm pretty lazy and just sprinkle on some alfalfa hay and rustle it into the top layer of soil or mulch near the rose. Alfalfa is usually sold as animal feed, and you can see small bags of it sold in the guinea pig/hamster section if you have the one rose and don't want to buy the 50 lb. horse bales like me! Just avoid the ones that have added salts if you can.

Have fun and post us pictures of the rose when it blooms for you!

Cynthia

Hi Becifer!

I believe I have the same problem with my new climbing rose... Would you mind to let us know if you succeeded with your treatment...

Thanks in advance!

Annie&Antonio

Is my rose bushes dead or sick? I just bought it in early April so what happened?

Looks bad. Did not break dormancy. Return for your money back.

Thanks I will dig up a d take back.

I wondered why it turned completely black.

So that's what happens when it doesn't break dormancy?

Yes, it basically was too long in storage before you got it and it dried out and died. A fresher healthier rose "comes out of dormancy" when it starts growing, but sadly yours went the other way. I think they should give you your money back.

Try and buy roses with those little red bumps along the canes-- that is where the plant starts to break dormancy. On the 1st photo of the OP rose, its best to cut out any dead as soon as you see it so the rose will focus on putting out new growth vs. trying to maintain the dead or browned canes.

Thank you

Do you have a picture Jazzmom of what the red bumps look like?

Google "rose cane growth buds" Jackie. There are some images.

Look at the lower part of the cane-- those red bumps are the emerging leaf buds:

https://c8.alamy.com/comp/F89T65/new-rose-leaves-and-buds-emerging-from-the-branch-of-a-rose-bush-in-F89T65.jpg

I also have a rose bush that doesn't look good at all. (I didn't mean to hijack someone else's post. I just really need some help. The rose bush was my mom's and she passed away a few years ago and I really want to save it ). I'll try to attach a picture. Thanks for any help I can get.

How much water is it receiving? Looks healthy fo me. Look on underside of yellowing leaves for any black dots, which could indicate the start of a fungal disease called black spot. You can remove those leaves & any fallen leaves below the rose. to prevent the spores from reinfecting the plant. Also apply mulch around your roses. This helps prevent fungal spores found naturally in the soil from splashing upward when it rains or you water. The mulch also acts as a weed block and decreases watering requirements by keeping the soil below moist. Use about a 3” layer. Don’t pile the mulch against the canes either.