That Daphne looks like it is suffering from a nutrient deficiency. What did you last soil test tell you about your soil nutrient load. Contact your local Washington State University USDA Cooperative Extension office about having a good, reliable soil test done. You also want to know what the level of organic matter in the soil is, what the tilth of your soil is, what your soil smells like, how much life is in that soil and you can find those things out with these simple soil tests, 1) Structure. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in a clear 1 quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24 hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight. A good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top. 2) Drainage. Dig a hole 1 foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that with water. After that water drains away refill the hole with more water and time how long it takes that to drain away. Anything less than 2 hours and your soil drains too quickly and needs more organic matter to slow that drainage down. Anything over 6 hours and the soil drains too slowly and needs lots of organic matter to speed it up. 3) Tilth. Take a handful of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a finger that clump should fall apart. 4) Smell. What does your soil smell like? A pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria will be and the nicer you soil will smell. 5) Life. How many earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that is not healthy. Since this is an organic gardening forum no one should suggest adding a fertilizer to soil as a first step in solving any problem. Here is a link that might be useful: WSU CES

Thanks, I sometimes think what I'd do if I moved back to the Great North, and couldn't grow 'Mermaid' or my Tea roses, I think I'd grow more Scotch Burnet and Alba roses probably. Two more roses I love, Marie Curie' the older one from the 1940's, and 'Dr. Brownell' 1964 A note about Pernetiana roses, since we're discussing yellow roses for cold climates. This will be old news to many of you but I thought I'd add it . Some gardeners today, take yellow remontant roses of a strong hue, for granted. But until 1900 there were no deep yellow remontant roses that could be grown in a cold climate until 1900, when Monsieur Pernet-Ducher introduced "Soliel d'Or', a golden orange cold hardy, remontant rose. He had intended to breed a yellow Hybrid Perpetual, by using R. foetida 'Persiana' crossed with a garden rose hybrid. His rose became the primogeniture rose of an entirely new class of rose, named Pernetiana after him, a group of cold hardy flame and yellow roses. That class is now subsumed into Hybrid Tea, but I'd like it to remain for historical reasons. I recently wandered through a Pernetiana collection and saw planted near it 'Marie Curie' syn Quebec , which was introduced about a decade after the Pernetiana era, it is a wonderfully clear yellow and has semi-glossy green foliage which makes it more disease resistant than most flame and yellow hued roses. Because that gorgeous wild rose, 'Persiana' introduced the tendency for modern roses to get blackspot in a really big way. I was amazed and pleased to see that a very pretty clear medium yellow rose named 'Marie Curie' was being sold this month by the largest Canadian nursery, but darn and darn again, it is a new cultivar given the same name. I hate it when two roses have the same name. The very pretty yellow rose I love named 'Marie Curie' has the synonym of 'Quebec' and it is more disease resistant to p.m, b.s. and rust, than 90% of the more than 250 rose cultivars in a local public no-spray garden in Oakland, California. I have a letter of permission to take cuttings there and I intend to take some this summer. Hortico.com just added "Dr. Brownell" to their catalog and I'm pleased to see it, of all the buff-apricot modern roses, it is one of my 3 favorites, because the blooms are so large and hefty, with rounded bases and a more relaxed bloom style than the typical post-Peace H.T.. The bush is very attractive; a wide and spreading plant, here c. 4 and 1/2 feet tall by 5 and 1/2 feet wide, with lots of dark green leaves, with big rounded leaflets. It is also in my list of the top 10% of the most disease resistant roses, grown locally, where powdery mildew is the main culprit and blackspot a runner up. Lux.

I looked at the picture and noted that your upper leaves show signs of salt build-up (brown crispy tips) and that you've got a rock/gravel mulch around your roses. Hottest part of the day, reflection of sunlight off rock, possibly had powdery mildew and aphids a few weeks ago and increased heat/winds are causing your roses to transpire faster. It looks like typical heat-stress to me. Some roses are more susceptible than others, especially if the bush is already stressed or that cane is at the end of its natural life-cycle. I would advise pulling the gravel back away from the rose and using a forest-based mulch instead. It will cool the roots much more effectively and won't reflect the sunlight up into the canes and leaves. It's also an easier way to work around your roses than moving gravel every time you want to feed the roses. Although today is cooler, we've had some days in the 90's already and humidity level has plummeted again. If your roses are on drip irrigation, I would increase the water to 3x per week with an average of 5-gallons per time. The pattern sprayers are much more effective at getting the roots watered than a single emitter if you aren't already using them, a bubbler or in-ground irrigation system. Salts in our alkaline water and alkaline soil build up when they aren't leached below the rootzone. The West Valley Rose Society meets at 7pm, 2nd Tuesday of each month at LandscapeMart, 8028 W Thunderbird, Peoria. Their website is www.westvalleyrose.org. The other west-side group is the Rose Society of Glendale, which meets at the Glendale Public Library, 5959 W Brown, Glendale, on the 1st Thursday of each month at 7pm. Their website is www.roseglenaz.com. Neither group has July or August meetings, though. If you want a Consulting Rosarian (or a panel) to look at these leaves and get a definitive opinion, cut a small length of cane, complete with leaves, the day of the meeting, keep the stem in water and take it to them. They'll also need that picture you posted so they can see the growing environment. This is free of charge and you'll meet several rose enthusiasts of varying levels, including neighbors. Many of the WVRS members live in Sun City, Surprise, Goodyear, Avondale, etc.

Ok, here's what I do (I LOVE roses) to overwinter my tender *zone 6* rose :)... 1) It's bound to be a grafted rose, mound it past the graft (it'll look like kind of a bumpy bit on the main stem) in good soil or compost - so roughly half to 2/3 up. 2) Make a cylinder of chicken wire or screening about 8-12 inches all around wider and about 2-3 feet taller than the rose. Stake this around the rose so it doesn't get blown over. 3) Pack with leaves. You want it tight enough to insulate but just loose enough to breathe. 4) Think *SNOW* - though it's not necessary with this. In spring when things start to warm and thaw a bit, remove the cage. As it warms up a little more, remove the leaves. Bet you the compost is still frosty around the base of the rose! (this is good!), when it thaws out, pull it away just a bit. Roses love to be mulched here anyway, you just don't want to smother the new growth too much. This hasn't failed me yet, and as I said I have one zone 6 rose in my collection that should NOT grow here at all by rights. I cosset it so because my Dad brought it to me from WA State before they moved overseas and it is now considered a very rare rose: "Red Pinocchio" -Marie