I forgot to mention it gets sprayed weekly with rotated fungicides, miticides, and pesticides.

The first picture in the first post, the orange substance appears brown but in person it looks orange. Hope someone can identify what could be causing this rose to be in a state of decline like this.

I noticed last week the one side of the rose, the leaves yellowed and all dropped off. About a year ago a similar situation happened with the leaves being defoliated and was sprayed heavily for mites, and it recovered. This seems different.

Whats the rootstock?

It's Fortuniana rootstock.

You won't have rose rust in Florida, certainly not in the summer. I don't see anything wrong with the bark, but maybe it doesn't come across in the photo. There might be some kind of physical damage to the cane at its base that has killed it. I would clip it back some and look for a thin ring of green inner bark in the cross section that would indicate the cane section is alive. One cause of random dieback of certain canes is verticillium wilt disease. Roses can survive and possibly outgrow this. Is there any chance the defoliation was caused by excessive spraying?

I can't tell from your picture-whats near it.Morning glories and other plants can kill roses by having an even shallower root system which steals the water and nutrients from the rose.Sure thats just not orange sap from ant captives[slaves]?

Thanks for the suggestions so far. I will give more details. The rose is in a pot and there are no other plants nearby like morning glories. It is in a screened in area and no traces of ants at all. As for excessive spraying I don't think that would be the cause as all the roses get the same regimen of once a week spraying. There was a new basal break on the side that looks healthy. It's just strange one side looks like it is dying off while the other side looks healthy.

When the leaves fell off the 2nd time were they wilted before they fell off? What Michaelg says rings a bell. I had a rose that I think died of Verticillum wilt over the space of 3 years(didn't have it tested officially, but that was my conclusion). I can't remember all the details now, but there was something red/orangey going on. Just can't remember whether it was the leaves or bark. Are you using a commercial potting mix?

The leaves turned yellow and got limp and were rubbery with crisp edges.

Crisp leaf margins can be caused by fertilizer burn.

If it's in a potting mix, verticillium wilt is less likely. With VW, leaves on one or more canes yellow gradually from the bottom up, while the new growth may wilt while it's still green.

The symptoms she describes is very like what I experienced. This was a climber and I kept cutting off the infected canes, but after 3 years the whole thing succumbed. I'd had shrubs/plants die "mysteriously" in this same spot before I planted the rose, so knew something might be wrong with the soil itself..... Are you using a soiless potting mix or have you used your own dirt in the pot? How's the drainage?

Could you explain about cleaning the scales off the bark? Were there small brown blobs (looks like a thorn until you look closer)? If so, sounds like scale insects. I have lost around 100 roses to scale and I continue to battle it. Hort. oil will kill them but I get them back due to neighbor having hundreds of rhodies and azaleas. It always starts by killing one cane and then the others unless you kill them off before it spreads. Hope you don't have it as it is a pain to eradicate.

Maryl, I am a he, and the roses were planted years ago when the landscapers potted them. It's not a soiless mix, but a blended soil with sand mixed in. The mix has good drainage as well.

Perpetual Roses, I scrubbed off the scales or dead scales with alcohol + water with a toothbrush a couple of months ago. Cleaned up pretty good and was rinsed to get the scales off the canes. They haven't returned since then. I added alfalfa tea so promote new growth and there was a new basal break right above the graft so that was promising. I took more pictures with my cell phone so forgive the low quality pictures.

graft

dead cane

dead cane / graft

dead cane 2

defoliated cane

new basal

new growth

new growth 2

flower

Chrysler Imperial full picture

Notice how the right side looks normal while the left side looks dead.

Would you share with us your watering and feeding routine?

Also, how many hours a day is it in direct sunlight?

MichaelAT

It looks like there are areas of bark missing from the dying cane and also on the shank under the graft-- maybe from canker in the past. Perhaps this plant is worn out.

Watering: 2 x a day for 30 mins.

Feeding: every 1-1/2 to 2 months

Michael, the bottom bark is missing but it's been that way for as long as I can remember. I noticed the older roses like this one have similar bark missing or breaks along the base.

michaelat, Forgot to mention with the watering it's on drip irrigation. As for the hours of sunlight I would say from 10am to 5 or 6pm

I can't put a finger on any specific thing insofar as you say you're spraying regularly.

In general, I think the rose is probably dehydrating or dehydrated despite regular water.

That blue pot is very pretty but it is absorbing tremendous amounts of heat by itself and from the surrounding brickwork.

I would try the following things because I think the roots are probably "cooking" in the heat.

1) Mulch the pot all the way to the surface and even mound it a little higher.

2) Elevate the blue pot off the brick patio so that air flows underneath it.

3) Surround the blue pot with smaller, more heat resistant plants that will insulate it and keep the direct sunshine off of it. Some of the ornamental grasses are ideal for that purpose.

4) Increase the fertilizer schedule to once a month.

5) Make sure the emitters are fully saturating the plant at least once a day.

MichaelAT

MichaelAT, you may be right about a few things, especially the brick and pot retaining heat, but there are several of these pots with roses doing great with the same amount or more direct sun than this Chrysler Imperial. This has been in the same pot and location for at least 2 years.

I'm more apt to thinking the rose is past it's prime age wise. I've always been curious if roses will live indefinately or will die even if they are healthy plants.

1) I may add more mulch to see if there is any improvement.

2) I will have to check but the next time I am there I will see if there are blocks underneath that pot. I know there used to be small feet the pot say on, but I think they were removed when the brick was layed down.

3) Not sure my customers would like a pot surrounded with a cluster of smaller plants.

4) May try this as well. I've been using organic mix for fertilizer, and will be using Mill's Magic this week.

5) It gets a good watering but not super saturated. I was concerned it was getting too much water as the shank and graft area and lower trunk were covered with a green film a while ago that I removed when I removed the scales.

This is a picture of a different rose, but the same substance was on the Imperial a couple of months ago. That was why I was thinking it was staying way to saturated. It still gets plenty of water especially with the shrubbler emitters variable gph setting.

MichaelAT, I forgot to mention the screened in area has special screening that filters/blocks 33% of the sunlight, so the direct light isn't as strong as if it were planted in the ground somewhere.

Roses that are on their own roots can live indefinitely, but with the shank and graft up in the air, something will eventually go wrong with the base of the plant. That plant is so gnarly, I would have guessed it is 6 or 10 years old. You have bark missing from at least a third of the bud union, which reduces water and nutrient flow by that much, then the defoliated cane appears to be missing bark from a third or half of its diameter. I remove such canes, myself.

Michael AT is right about that being a very hot-looking location. A white pot would be much better for the rose.

Then it's possible that something is wrong with the soil. It might have excessive salts, or a buildup of phosphorus and potassium, or a very acid pH. Conscientious pot-growers repot, root-prune, and replace half the soil every couple of years. But in this case I think I'd start a new plant with an undamaged base.

(I'm not preaching at you about pot care-- I tend to let mine go too long and don't do real well with them.)

I may have to talk to my customers, and replace the soil with pro mix for their rose. I would think it may be the soil composition rather than the temperature.

So you would just cut off the dead cane right at the bud union, and hope for a new basal on that side? My main concern is the plant will look unbalanced with growth on only one side and a stump on the other.

What I would do is take a cutting (if you have a healthy bit about 6" long), root it, and throw the old plant out (after the new one is well rooted). That way you have a fresh start, but you still have the plant. CI is long out of patent.

The guy down the hill who was a very sucessful rose exhibitor grew a lot of roses in pots, but he would put the pot in a white box or casing of some sort with air space between the box and the pot. He said it reduced the soil temperature in the pots by quite a bit and his roses grew and produced better. Since he grew stunning roses, I assume he knew what he was talking about.

I've heard in Florida you can't get cuttings to root this time of year due to the heat. I've been successful with rooting only during the fall and winter months. If it was possible to do indoors without having to run extra lights and such I would try it.

Hey pkapeckopickldpepprz! I dont know if it might help since Ive never noticed the orange substance on my roses but last year I had a few roses of fortuniana with the graft above the ground and did not do well for me, I have all my roses' graft under the soil and are huge!! maybe it gets tooo toasty for the graft and causes dieback. . .