THey should be ok. I had a few that were defoliated from black spot and are now coming back with new leaves. I'd make sure they are well watered and give some mild fertilizer, miracle gro other other type to get them started.

If completely defoliated year after year, every year? No, they won't survive that. Sooner or later you'll have a harsh winter and that will be that. However, since JB populations can fluctuate somewhat the more likely result is that you'll have years where the roses are badly hit and years where the beetles mostly just wipe out your flowers........

Make sure your roses stay properly fertilized and they should put out another set of leaves before the frost. That will help them prepare for winter.

I give the Baltimore Belle a good layer of compost in the spring along with a shot of Espomas's Rosetone and then mulch. I then fertilize about once a month with Rosetone and alfalfa tea. Because BB was hit sooo hard this year, I gave her another layer of compost along with the Rosetone and tea.

I do this with all my roses throughout the season save the compost. I do not generate enough to give each and every one their own shot of compost but they get every thing else plus shredded leaves and coffee grounds in the fall.

My duchesse de Marcella and Clotilde Soupert (spelling on both?) were totally defoliated too. I just buried a whole banana and uncooked shrimp shells at their roots yesterday. I try to give the roses hit the hardest a little extra TLC.

I hope everyone recovers and they won't be hit so hard next year. Especially Baltimore Belle. In my yard she is one of those roses that is absolutley beautiful even without a bloom on her. But I can't say that about her right now!

that would be Marchesa Boccella. I get this one and Duchesse de Montebello mixed up all the time namewise.

The risk would be to roses that are marginally hardy, so given your climate zone, almost all roses should be OK, and certainly Baltimore Belle.

Judging from a study that has been discussed here, you might be able to protect foliage against severe JB damage without doing a lot of environmental harm. (Protecting the flowers is much harder because untreated petals are opening every day.) This would entail removing the open flowers first, then spraying with cyfluthrin, Pyola, or azadirachtin. The latter two are organic products.

Cyfluthrin is the most effective. You can find a Bayer spray concentrate with cyfluthrin only (not cyfluthrin + Merit-- imidacloprid-- which will cause spider mite problems). Pyola is available from GardensAlive. Azadirachtin is the insecticidal fraction of neem oil which has been removed from the commonly available neem oil products, probably including whatever you are using. Read neem labels on garden counters until you find azadirachtin as an active ingredient. Pyola was more effective in the study, though. The organic products would need to be applied weekly, cyfluthrin every two weeks.

Mike, which Bayer product has the cyfluthrin? I have one, soil and turf, but it has imidacloprid. I guess I'll have to bring my reading glasses next time I go to look at the bottles.

Buford, I can't keep up with the naming system, but I know it exists. I got some to try, but haven't had enough beetles to bother the foliage for the past three years. In the study, cyfluthrin repelled JBs from linden foliage for 19 days.

Well, of course they survive it! The JBs are only here for a short period of time as compared to the rest of the blooming season. We have to put up with them, and although we are generally not happy with them, we do get through it, along with our roses.

Roses survive defoliation from JBs just fine. I don't agree with Roseman that they have a short period. They can be short in GA but not in Mid Atlantic. Here they can keep roses leafless for approx 8-9 weeks. However roses always recover nicely for me. JBs usually last here until fourth week of August. By mid September roses will have leaves and by end of September you will not even remember all the defoliation. Of course I am talking about roses that are resistant to BS or get sprayed. Defoliation by JBs followed by defoliation by BS is completely another story.
JBs are not as bad this year here, I have several bushes defoliated but not as many as I am used to.
Olga

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the reassurance. I know JB are bad around here but this was my first really bad dealings with them. Guess they finally found me!

I'm with you Olga, the JB last for about 8 or 9 weeks here. They arrive about mid June and last well into August but July, around the 4th seems to be their worst. I've noticed a decline in their numbers but I've noticed a decline in my foliage too! So maybe they moved on.

I did use Pyola but not until the damage was pretty much done. I sprayed for 3 weeks in a row.

Those little boogers moved on to my strawberry plants and a yellow marigold I had planted around the yard. I'd hit the marigolds and they came flying out like something from a horror flick.

I'll keep the roses as long as I'm not in for watching them die a slow death...the roses I mean. I can handle watching a JB die slooooowwwwwllllllyyyyy!

Even in the worst years of severe JB infestation my roses have pulled through. There are usually enough leaves left on the bush to continue to keep the bush alive. Unsightly, but alive.

I fear Blackspot more than JB's since that can completely defoliate a rose bush.

Betty

I'm surprised that your Baltimore Belle got his so hard as mine was barely touched. Of course flowering was over by the time JB's arrived which could have something to do with it. But then the were all over the Apothecary which had also finished blooming. They are hard to figure.

Many of my roses with hard glossy foliage were JB free.

The cyfluthrin product is "Bayer Advanced Triple Action Insect Killer for Lawns & Gardens", I have some. It is now the only insect killer from Bayer that is available in concentrate form--unfortunately they discontinued selling the imidacloprid concentrate, unless it's 3-in-1 or 2-in-1.

I still have most of a bottle of the imadacloprid concentrate (Bayer Rose & Flower Insect Killer) but I have been trying the cyfluthrin as it is possibly less toxic, says you can use it on vegetables (not that I would). What I do is spot-spray beetles, and the imadacloprid seems to kill them faster than the cyfluthrin. I haven't used the cyfluthrin as a repellent as the beetles in my yard mostly go for flowers vs. foliage.