Mysterious dying rose bushes

15 years ago

I have 12 Lavender Simplicity Hedge Roses along the edges of my property line, 4 on one side, and 8 on the other.

In the last three weeks or so, I have had 2 of the 8 bushes die suddenly. At first, my husband and I thought the first bush died of lack of water, as it looked completely dried out and was brittle - but none of the plants around it were dry in any way.

Then, just this last week, I noticed another bush in the line, beginning to look the same way. I watered it well, just to make sure that it wasn't a factor. The plant is still dying, and dying quickly.

The plants are only taking a few days to die, with no signs of spider mites, or other unusual pests that I can see. Does anyone have any idea of what could be causing this? I am worried that if it is a disease that it will spread to all of my roses.

I did recently add some iron to the soil in this area, in a water soluble form, but I mixed it as per the instructions, and have not had problems with other plants that I watered with the same solution.

Any ideas would be very helpful.

thanks!!!

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Comments (15)

anntn6b
15 years ago
Are the roses dieing that are next to each other or is the pattern random?

Do county extension agents in Utah have a diagnostician at the state land grant university?

Are you near the big fresh water lake south of SLC?
petaloid
15 years ago
Also, check the roots to see if gophers might have eaten them.
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Ok wow! So many different ideas! Thank you! I live in the willamette valley zone 7B. I'm not planning on investing too much more time and energy into saving these 2 plants if it will be a challenge like it is starting to sound. I'm not a gardener and although I don't mind feeding, watering, and pruning them, I'm not interested in heavily involved life saving measures for them.. If the third one is doing really well, I'm not sure if it is my soil or my type of care. I don't have knots in the bud union. It rains a lot here in winter/spring and in the hot summers I usually water for 45 minutes 2-3 times/week. I turn the hose on low and place it at the base of each bush. I would post photos but am having difficulty from my phone.
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You may have damaged the root ball a bit when planting, as part of the plant looks fine. If you put fertilizer in the soil when you planted that could result in burning as well, although to me it doesn't look like a fertilizer burn. Seil gave you great advice, and I'm sure if you follow that your plant will recover nicely. Some rose growers here don't even use fertilizer the first year at all. If you choose to, definitly wait for some good growth on the rose, and only liquid, and half strength the first year, unless you use fish fertilizer, you can use full strength. No worries, I had a rose with stress much worse than yours after a planting and it recovered nicely.
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gilli2007
15 years ago
I would dig up the dead one and check the roots. I just got rid of a huge, ugly, white grub chowing down on my rose roots. My rose started wilting all of a sudden with no other symptoms.

You don't have a problem with your neighbour do you? He isn't quietly spraying with roundup or something is he??? There are some very weird people out there.
greenhaven
15 years ago
It seems to me that when other post about similiar troubles it ends up being a critter attacking the roots, like gilli's grub, petaloids gopher suggestion, and others have had voles kill their roses by means of the root systems.

If it were me in a similiar situation, and the plants were well and truly dead, I would dig them up and check the roots.
anntn6b
15 years ago
But it's not always critters, it could be a verticillium wilt. It could be a disease spread plant to plant by root to root graft (underground and it happens fast when the roses are all the same cultivars or on the same rootstock.) Which is why I asked about the pattern of disease appearance.
accentmusictherapy
Original Author
15 years ago
Those are all great suggestions. I will check the roots of the dead one. They are random in situation, not next to each other. Also, our ground is so clayey (is that a word?) that I have not heard of voles or gopher problems, but I will check for smaller grubs or other critters eating the roots.

How can I tell if the roots have been attacked if it has been done by a small bug?
accentmusictherapy
Original Author
15 years ago
I've uploaded some photos that may be helpful in decoding this mystery.

http://picasaweb.google.com/accentmusictherapy/NewAlbum71808432PM?authkey=xrG5uPUDRPc&pli=1

Here is a link that might be useful: Picasa Web Album
anntn6b
15 years ago
I don't know if crown gall is a problem in Utah, but is there a dark brown corky-like growth where the canes come out of the ground?
Crown galls can 'strangle' a rose.
sunnync
15 years ago
Am so sorry to hear about your rose losses. Here are some thoughts that occurred to me: Have you sent in a soil sample for testing? In North Carolina it is free. Take several soil samples from top of ground to about 6 inches deep, mix in a clean container, and take about a cup and a half to your county agriculture agent to send in to be tested. This would give you a clear picture of your soil condition.

Don't know what you deal with in Utah, but here we would have to suspect either root knot nematodes, voles, or something in the soil since you have ruled out spider mites. Also you may want to consult with the Master Gardeners in you area if you have them. In the Master Gardener course that I just completed, I learned that Round-Up vaporises when sprayed at temperatures above 90 degrees. Therefore it can travel to other plants rather than what they are intended for. It would seem unlikely that that many roses would be killed so quickly by Roundup. Are you near a place where agriculture chemicals are being sprayed? Another suggestion, check with American Rose Society to see if there is a Rosarian Consultant in your area. They would know local conditions and may be of help. Hope that your next rose venture will turn out better.

Lynn
accentmusictherapy
Original Author
15 years ago
I wonder if my problem is root rot. There seems to be no evidence of any critters eating the roots, or disease or the roots, but the roots are black.
dan_keil_cr Keil
15 years ago
The one picture you had showed the roots to be ok. If you had root rot you wouldn't have any roots, just nubs. I see a power transformer, is there a gas line running thru that bed? The plants behind the roses look healthy and not affected, so I thought I would suggest this.
It's not Roundup. What did you use to get your planting bed bare?
accentmusictherapy
Original Author
15 years ago
The gas line runs below the whole line of roses, along the property line. I also emailed you with more details. Thanks for the input.
anntn6b
15 years ago
Also re root rot: when there's rot, there's a distinctive and very unpleasant smell when drainage goes bad. So I'd suggest stopping and smelling the other end of the roses.
If it's wrong, you'll know.
accentmusictherapy
Original Author
15 years ago
That's good to know about the smell.
hoovb zone 9 sunset 23
15 years ago
Round Up?