Tammy -- You'll have to tell us a little more.
Is this a rose you planted? Or was it already planted when you came to the house?
Has it EVER bloomed? How big is it? How long are the canes?

Jeri

Also, did you prune it hard in winter?

Perhaps to expedite things--

A rose that grows but doesn't bloom at all would likely be

--a spring-only bloomer that has been cut down before the blooming season,
--a northern once-bloomer that doesn't get enough winter chill to bloom there,
--the notorious Climbing Queen Elizabeth,
--a rose growing in deepest shade.

On top of the good questions above..,

- how old is it? A young climber might take its sweet time making blooms; and
- do you have a photo? plus
- I'm presuming it is disease free? If the rose is not as healthy as you like that could be a factor.

Hope this helps.

Kate

OK, here are the pics. If anyone can identify what kind of rose this is (rambler, climber, etc.), I'd much appreciate it:

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tammypie, we still need you to answer the questions, please. Photos of the plant can help some once we get the answers. Sorry if it seems like an inquisition.

One additional question: does it not set buds at all and stay green at the tops or do the tips get brown/black and crispy at the ends?

It could be the rootstock, 'Dr. Huey'. If it blooms next spring with red blooms, it is 'Dr. Huey'.

Here is a link that might be useful: Dr Huey at Help Me Find Roses

Hoovb beat me to it.
I suspect this may be 'Dr. Huey.'
The foliage appears to be a match.
But before saying so, I'd love to have answers to the questions above.

Jeri

OK Tammy -- Here's my GUESS, based on incomplete information.

You have a group of modern Hybrid Tea Roses, planted together, and probably at the same time.
It is likely that this plant was one of a group -- A Yaller 'un, a Purple 'un, etc.
It is also likely that all of them were purchased at a local nursery or a home supply store such as
Home Depot, or Lowe's.

It then follows that these plants, like the greater percentage of roses sold at retail, are BUDDED roses.
That means that their roots are a vigorous rose (probably in this case 'Dr. Huey.'
The plant is produced by budding the desired "scion" onto the Huey roots.
Most of the time, this works fine.
SOMETIMES, the scion dies, and you then end up with a plant of 'Dr. Huey.'
'Dr. Huey' is a ONCE-BLOOMING Rambler rose, which produces a mass of dark red blooms in the spring,
and does not repeat.
It blooms on MATURE WOOD.
If you pruned it in January, you removed all of the mature wood.
To see it bloom, you would have to find a trellis, and grow up the current canes, so that it could bloom
in the spring of 2008.

You probably don't want to do that. It's not a rose that will fit into your garden of modern Hybrid Teas.
I suggest that you remove it.
Get the hole ready for a new plant.
Wait until Bare Root plants appear in December or January, and pick a new rose that you really like.

Jeri Jennings
Consulting Rosarian

Here is a link that might be useful: Dr. Huey At HelpMe Find

Thank you Jeri. I live in a house that belongs to my inlaws. I don't want to uproot their rose bushes. I'd love to, and purchase hybrid tea roses, they are my favorite. The other roses I believe are Hybrid Teas. I can always ask them. Anyways, thank you all for your advice. I'm very ignorant of rose care! I plan to learn a lot here.

Hey you also have Powdery Mildew

It may also need fertilizer. I have a rose that didn't bloom at all last summer and then maybe one or two blooms in June. I always feed with a rose fertilizer but that wasn't enough for this plant. I used tomato fertilizer for a couple of weeks and now it's blooming its head off.

Some people do grow Dr. Huey on purpose, they like the color of the blooms. Don't prune it again until after it blooms.

the rose in the pics looks to me like it has a good amount of thorns..dr. huey is supposed to be thornless, or nearly thornless??? do you all still think it's dr. huey?? donna

Donna, I really do think this is rootstock, and the leaves really do look like Huey to me.

But Tammy -- If removal is not an option, I would buy it a big tall trellis, and start tying the long canes to that. Come spring, if it is a once-bloomer, you should have blooms for a few weeks.
If it is staying, you will want to feed it along with the other roses.
Do not prune it in January. Once-bloomers should be pruned AFTER their flush of bloom has come and gone.

Jeri

I'm feeding my roses MicraGro rose plant food. 1 Tablespoon to 1 gallon water. Every week. I also bought anti fungal spray for the mildew and bugs eating at the leaves.

I won't prune it in January. That is another topic - how to prune roses properly! thanks again, TammyPie

Pruning roses encourages new growth and bloom.not only does this remove the dead wood,but it increases air circulation and shape the plant.Timing is determined by the class of the rose plant and the zone in which it is growing. Most rose pruning is done in the spring, with the blooming of the forsythia as a signal to get moving. If you don't have forsythia, watch for when the leaf buds begin to swell on your rose plants, meaning the bumps on the canes get larger and reddish in color.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.bigleagueplayersclub.com/3clicks/published/9907/16436/

Sorry, cmlhome, but as I posted on the other thread, commercial activities are not allowed on GW forums.

I agree with your pruning advice. Everyone should have a forsythia bush--not just to tell us when to prune, but also to herald that the cold winter will, indeed, pass and spring arrive!

Kate

Everyone should have a forsythia bush

*** Everyone who lives where forsythia grows should perhaps have one. Not everyone does. :-)

Jeri

Kate, a forsythia bush can grow in So. California, and where are they purchased?

tammypie--I bought my forsythia at my local nursery/garden center. I assume the same should be true for your area. Certainly, any online nursery that sells a variety of shrubs, perennials, etc., should carry forsythia.

You might check and see if it needs some winter cold in order to bloom. I don't know about that--since I get winter cold whether I want it or not. Otherwise, they are the easiest things in the world to grow, but give them space and in a somewhat out-of-the-way place. They can get big; unfortunately, they don't do much after they finish their early, early spring bloom--but when all the world is clothed in winter drab, they are a welcome spot of yellow sunshine promising us spring will follow.

Full-sun bush, by the way.

Kate