What root stock do you have?

And can you tell if the canes that have the white roses are coming from the root stock or the graft?

Welcome to the Roses Forum!

If this is only on one cane (branch) it could be a color "sport" (mutation). I've had this happen on several rose bushes over the years.

Are the blooms a pure, clear white, or are they perhaps more of a very pale pinkish color? I've had VERY pale blooms on my plant, but never one that I would call white.

Is the bloom form similar to Sterling Silver? It's unlikely that a root stock would produce blooms having Hybrid Tea form. And what about the fragrance -- is it as pronounced as Sterling Silver's?

Nutrient deficiencies can affect color. I've found SS to be very soil sensitive and a fairly heavy feeder. I grow this difficult rose in a heavily amended bed, & I'm careful to augment my regular fertilizer program with regular doses of organics (manure, when I can get it, and fish emulsion/liquid seaweed).

buford:

I don't know the rootstock. The tag states it is a hybird tea, but I don't believe that helps with the rootstock info. Upon further looking at the base of the plant, the base (area just above the ground area) appears as a large (perhaps 6" wide) " bulbous" knobby base. From this knot is one rather large cane (coming from the side) and it is producing white roses. In addition, there are other smaller canes coming off from other side areas and producing white roses. There are also definite new canes that come from the surrounding soil area and appear to me to be from the root stock for sure. I have been trimming these off, so they have not produced roses. My husband took a look with me and feels that we might have lost he graft and that perhaps what we are getting are roses from the rootstock. By the way, you can see where I have pruned off dead canes in the past when you look at this bulbous knotty base. We are thinking that we should just replace this rose. I recently visited Butchart gardens and have a small list of roses that interested me, one in particular called "Sweetness", which is a lavender rose.

jaxondel:

The blossoms are pure, clear, white. I am far from a rose expert, but from what I can recall from the past, these white roses are very similar in bloom form to the SS. As far as the fragrance goes, I would say it is not as pronounced as the SS's. I do use fish emulsion and have used Maxsea for the first time this year-although perhaps I don't offer these to my roses as often as they would like me to - work and school keep me very busy and sometimes the garden suffers :( .

Even if it were healthy, you will like Sweetness MUCH better than Sterling Silver anyway. Get that shovel out. Sterling Silver is a prima donna, blooms infrequently and most of the old ones were virused anyway. Sweetness is a good replacment, or perhaps take a look at Neptune.

Kathy

ecinaj -- Where are you located?

If the weather in your area has been HOT, it's not impossible that your blooms are just bleached.
And Lord knows, much of California has been experiencing very high temperatures. (With more to come.)
Heat and dry conditions may also affect the fragrance of the blooms.

Can you get photos of the blooms your rose is producing?

Jeri