I am the original poster of this message. I haven't had a chance to take photos yet but I will do that soon. I remember when I looked on the ground around the base of my roses, it was as if the leaves had just disintegrated. The leaves weren't even in big enough pieces to see what happened to them. As I said before, I had been distracted with houseguests and other things for awhile so I didn't notice this problem until it was way too late to look at the leaves and try to diagnose what happened. The leaves just seemed to have ended up on the ground as a sawdust-like material. I will look tonight to see if there are any new signs of leaves. They have been without leaves for a long time now. I did think of one thing that I did differently this spring. In addition to an extremely steamy, humid and wet spring and early summer, I put down a heavy layer of shredded wood mulch from Southern States. Not sure exactly what it was comprised of. I usually use a thin layer of pine chips.

there is a rose forum.. if you fail to get the answer here .... i doubt they died from black spot.....mildews are a function of hot humid nights... when the plant goes into darkness with water on its leaves .... when its ma natures fault ... there isn't much you can do .. except attempt prevention ... there are organic preventions.. i am sure someone will chime in ... i think its just baking soda .... increasing air movement.. and making sure you don't get water on the leaves late in the evening [from a sprinkler] ... all that said... if you are new to gardening... let me tell you this... you will not be considered a REAL gardener.. until you have killed each plant THREE times ... you are going to have to come to grips with the fact that stuff happens.. plants die.. and the garden evolves .... consider such losses to be part of the circle of life.. and a new opportunity to plant something else ... if the canes are still green.. there is a chance the roses might come back .... maybe not ... good luck ken PS: start getting pix of all your plants... so you can start getting ID's ... so that you can start learning about your garden .... something you can do all winter... so you can feel more at ease in the garden ....

Your plant should look healthier as soon as you have found what it needs to be 'happy' - it should put out new leaves first thing. If you have some kind of light that you can put a flourescent bulb in, the plant would appreciate ~15 hours of light a day. For a single plant, you could just put a flourescent bulb in a desk light or some other small portable light, and then either use a timer just give it extra light each evening. I would plan to water daily. Hopefully the plant is in a nice light potting mix that does not stay heavy and boggy? The mix I am using stays moist due to the peat and coir content, but it's light (does that make sense?). It does NOT contain any soil - it's a soilless mix which the plants seems to like. DH got me some minis from Nor'East for Valentine's Day and they were repotted within a few days of receipt, sulked for a few days, and are actively growing now. I am setting them outside every day that it's above 40 degrees and inside during day. My windowsills in the sunroom are full with other roses, so these two have to go out to get some extra sunshine. Just keep them watered and don't forget them outside if it's really cold or super windy. :-) Cheers, Michelle

The good news is that this is most likely a warm climate rose, so you live in the perfect place for it. The bad news is that ROSES ARE NOT HOUSE PLANTS, period. However, the bad news is easy to solve! Put it outside in filtered sun immediately!. The air in our homes is WAY too dry for roses, they don't get enough light, and many other problems. It will die if you leave it indoors. After it is outside in filtered light (it should remain outdoors forever), wait a couple of weeks so that it can get used to being outside, and used to getting some light. Then you can move it into full sun. DO NOT feed it, do not spray it with anything - just make sure it gets enough water. Right now it is trying to grow roots. Oh, I just had a thought - is it in a plastic pot? I have had baby roses die in plastic pots in full sun in the hot summer simply because the pot got too hot and they literally cooked. If that is a plastic pot, I would leave the rose in filtered light for a bit longer, and then get a much much bigger clay pot and put it in that. Then you could put it into full sun. Then just leave it alone for 1-2 months. When it recuperates and starts growing, you can feed it according to the instructions. Nip off any flower buds you see while it is still tiny - it will grow better faster without having to support flowers. When it gets maybe three times as big as it is now, I would plant it in the ground (in full sun) - sounds as if you have other roses outside, and know how to do that. Good luck! When it blooms please please post pictures of it on here, and we can try and figure out "who" it is. Jackie