My first guess is chlorosis (the plant version of anemia) caused by a soil pH that is out of the best range for roses to absorb nutrients.

What part of the country do you live in? In my area the soil & water tend to be a bit too alkaline, but in many other parts of the US, acid soil is more common and people add lime to counteract this.

Sometimes yellowing leaves indicate a lack of drainage, so that's something else to consider.

If you can find a rose expert in your local area and test to find out your soil pH, those would be two big steps toward correcting your problem.

Here is a link that might be useful: district websites for rose clubs

I would have to agree that my top two guesses would be chlorosis (insufficient iron) or overwatering/poor drainage.

Hi,

I live close to Phily in PA, these roses are sits in 2x2 or 2x3 feet holes, it was originally all clay, but I replaced the hole with new soil in there, topsoil, sand and mushroom compost a bit peat moss, I also add some bone meal and a bit of Dr. earth rose tone when I first plant them. and this is the first time in 5 month something like this happened. normally every month I feed these plants with fish emulsion but recently I feed the rose some fish emulsoion plus a little bit of Dr. Earth rose tone, I did too much?

Yes looks like your roses needs iron and nitrogen, though deficiency symptoms tend to be a difficult to diagnose when there is minimum of all nutrients. Have you fertilized with anything? You could try giving them something containing all the macro and micro nutrients and see what happens.

It is not overwatering.

It is a nutrient deficiency, perhaps manganese, probably related to soil pH as Petaloid says. The spiky pattern with small veins (as well as main veins) staying green is compatible with manganese deficiency. Manganese, iron, and some other trace elements become less available when the spoil is too alkaline. But some soils are deficient in Mn regardless of pH.

Do you know anything about your soil chemistry so far? Are the roses planted in soil, or something unnatural like mushroom compost? Did you add a lot of lime without checking the pH?

I'd get a soil test. Contact the county ag extension (or "cooperative extension") office.

Depending on what you did at planting, you might need to change the soil. Or if this condition reflects your native soil, garden sulfur can be used to reduce pH (takes a year) and trace minerals can be applied.

Other deficiencies that result in paling between green veins are iron (on the newest growth) and magnesium (on the oldest bottom leaves).

Sorry, I didn't see the OP's response when writing my post. Often mushroom compost is too alkaline for roses, and who knows what the bagged "topsoil" is. It isn't soil.

Clay with 20% organic matter dug in makes good soil for roses. Just don't mess with clay except when it is semi-dry or you ruin it.

I planted a rose much the way you did and same thing except way brighter yellow. And it was/ is my Sombreuil! :-( It was a lone rose in this area.
After reading posts and realizing it was next to a rain downspout (like we only get what an 1/8th inch of rain a year..) I thought okay I am going to make some alfalfa tea and dose it. Then after a bit I made a batch of compost tea and dosed it.
It worked! The leaves never fell off and they are purty green now! And new growth. So at least for now it likes the soil. :-)
So in other words, I gave up trying figure out what exactly it was and mixed up some witches brew. lol

Allison

ok guys you are dealing with a super newbie here, I know nothing of nothing when it comes to take care of rose until I found this website. What I try to say is, I know nothing about soil chemistry nor the truth about mushroom compost. although I did put some of my own compost tea before (diluted with water) I never add any lime, also my house is on a slope so these roses planted at the down downspout, but I do have drainage ditch to help out minimize the water overflow. I guess I will follow up with a soil test first. I did read at about the soil test before from one of the thread here but I got lazy now it came back and bite me. sigh. Thanks you guys. I guess I have to find out where is the county ag. office?!!

Melted, obviously you went to a lot of trouble to do a good job-- props for that-- and maybe you overdid on the basis of suggestions you read. Many rose growers tend to overdo and some of them make suggestions that won't work in other soils and climates.

If you want to stick with the soil mix you created, do get a soil test for it. You can look online for your state's cooperative extension service, which may have instructions for submitting a test and perhaps the address of your county agent. You could also take some leaves by the agent's office. You should be prepared to tell them whether new leaves look OK as they first open (which seems to be the case) or whether they show symptoms. New leaves opening with interveinal chlorosis suggest iron deficiency.

If your rose holes are on a downslope, there may be problems with waterlogging, as the retentive organic mix will take in water readily and fill up the hole that is lined with clay. So do something to prevent that, and monitor the amount of water you apply (1" or 3-5 gal/week if no rain). Since your holes are filled with manure, don't fertilize this year unless the soil test indicates it.

You might apply a trace mineral supplement as a foliar feed. I've had experience with these burning leaves at the labeled concentration, so I now dilute it more. I wouldn't apply to the soil without a soil test.

what is a trace mineral supplement and where can I find it? I am feeling very dizzy now! lol... I wish I know where you live so I can use some bribery and get you over to my house and take a professional look... but of course since that's not going to happen, I can always take your advice and look for state's cooperative extension service and get a soil test first.
I must express myself at this point --> Why roses are so uhhhh temperamental?!!!
Anyway, I am still lovin' this learning process and not ready to give up yet.

A trace mineral supplement is a liquid or powder containing available iron, copper, zinc, manganese, etc. There should be a section in a large garden center with various products bearing the name Green-something or Iron-something. Look there. Choose one labeled for foliar application. Be sure it contains manganese, which is my guess as to what the plant needs. Ironite is a well-known trace mineral supplement designed for soil application. (There is some concern about it being hazardous with heavy or long term use.)

As to roses being temperamental, the big general factor is that garden centers stock and people plant rose varieties that are not winter-hardy or disease resistant in their climates. In this case, though, my guess is that you overdid soil preparation and created an environment in which many plants, not just roses, might struggle owing to excesses/imbalances of nutrients and water. When you plant more roses, try preparing a wide area where you just loosen the clay (when it's semi-dry) and mix in 2-3" of organic matter.

You need at minimum to check the pH of your soil mix and adjust if needed, but I'd recommend a complete soil test. There's little doubt that the leaves show signs of a trace/minor nutrient deficiency in the plant. Often these are caused by too much of something else (such as lime) in the soil.

I've been having a similar issue with almost all my Austins and romantica's. With that said, I do have some of them planted in heavy clay. For example, Graham Thomas is in nearly pure black clay from top to bottom. Somehow he is still blooming alright and putting out decent new growth as a 1st year plant purchased from the nursery. He is about 3 ft now, but sending up longer canes as we speak. His blooms do however have a crisping and pink tinge to them and seemingly burn. This may be due to the sun, but it occurs with some of my other rose blooms and foilage as well. The leaves tend to get crisps and brown around the tips of the edges just so slightly. I thought they may have been burned by fertilizer as first, but it doesn't seem to be the case. It's not a huge issue as most of my roses just grow right through it and out of it, but the blooms crisping gets a little irritating. It may just be due to the sun though burning the blooms.

Would it be possible to take a human multi-vitamin and just grind it up and mix it in with some rose tone?

Roses like clay. It's humans who don't. Clay tends to have a lot of minerals, and broken up and amended, holds a lot of water.

Jeffcat,

The minerals in a multivitamin pill appear to supply generous amounts of some plant micronutrients, including manganese. But that's not to say they would become available to the plant after being added to the soil. Again, deficiency in the plant often doesn't mean the element is absent from the soil, but rather it may be unavailable owing to soil chemistry (high pH, excess of phosphate, etc.).

Trace mineral supplements and soluble fertilizers such as Miracle Gro contain the materials in available forms such as chelated.

Ahhh, I see. Welp all should be fairly well then. It may just be the intense Ohio sun and the leaf rollers.

If you have yellowing patterns in contrast to green veins, it isn't the sunshine, it's a nutrient deficiency or imbalance (or in some cases, spider mites).

Jing, my guess is that you needed to buffer the pH at the time of planting. Your soil could very well have all the nutrients a rose needs, but the nutrients are not in a form rose roots can absorb because the pH is too low or too high. The soil looks rather nice by my local standards. I suggest you resist the temptation to throw chemicals at your roses until you understand the basic soil type. Less is more when it comes to the earth. Good luck with your soil analysis.

Wow guys thanks so much for all the info. I have been busy with school for the past 2 days and just logged in tonight.

I actually went to our county township office asked them about the soil test, they don't have it and they don't know who can do it for me either, they told me try a landscape company... I think maybe I can buy one of those soil test meter and do it myself?? I know it wouldn't be a complete soil test but at least it's something.

Michael you are right about how I plant my roses, most of my roses are from HR and other internet venders, and most of them are hardy to 5 or even 4. I think I will get some of the supplement ready just in case.

Thanks a again everyone

Jing.

Every state has an "agricultural extension" or "cooperative extension" service that is a partnership between the state Dept. of Agriculture and the land-grant university. These have an office in every county but they are not part of county government. They may be in the phone book under the county, or check the state agency's web page for local contact info. They all do soil tests, and in most states (not in CA though), homeowners can get soil tests very cheaply or free.

The receptionist at the county courthouse ought to have heard about the county ag extension agent, but yours hasn't.

You need a soil test.

A Google search of 'Penn State cooperative extension' provides a bunch of useful looking links. One gives information on soil tests, and another gives a link to a map about individual county offices.

Actually, this is going to take two soil tests. One for the native soil, and one for the mix the roses are planted in. I can give guesstimates on the native soil, but the planting mix may be just about anything known to man. Southeastern Pennsylvania soil is a fairly well established, known quantity. To the point where my biggest problem by far in gardening here versus there has been the enormous difference in soil pH. So much there takes acidic soil as a given, and is already adjusted for it that not having it has been a shock.