Does it look like this?

{{gwi:331482}}

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(ignore the holes in that one leaf--that's pre-existing roseslug damage)

This damage happened here on Monday when it was 107F. Prior to Monday the foliage was just fine.

Rose foliage does get sunburnt. It is not likely you get much in the way of disease in Arizona due to heat and low humidity. You also have a concrete wall behind your rose reflecting back additional heat onto the plant. I would say the rose is doing pretty well, considering!

You may need to rig up shade cloth to protect the foliage on your roses every summer. Look at the plants native to your area: cactus--plants that have evolved over millions of years to handle extreme heat.

If you want to grow roses well in your climate, you have to adjust your care to accept that they need some sun protection in your climate in the summer. A 25-50% shade cloth cover may be the way to get beautiful foliage year round.

I have 'Top Notch' and it's very disease resistant, a very good rose, but it's not a cactus.

Kinda looks like the second picture, but definately not the first one. Hmmm, I had a white sheet over it for the summer until about 3 weeks ago when it blew over the wall and into a cholla cactus. lol I decided there's no way I'm gonna pick that out! It gets afternoon shade, though, so I thought it would be ok. Will see if I can rig something else up for it until temps get below 90.

Thanks for your imput, and hopefully it isn't some dreaded disease from all the rain we recieved over the monsoons.

Just wondering hotzona_2007 if you have sprayed any type of product that has oil in it on your rose bush?
In your first pic, the leaf in the far right center that's has black marks. I've seen some damage here just like that after spraying a product that contained oil.
So, just wondering.

Too much chemical fertilizer in advance of a heat wave can also do this. The chemical fertilizers are VERY temperature sensitive, and in a good blast of heat, they will release all their nitrogen in a single dose that burns the plant. Are you using chemical-type fertilizers or organics?

I think the shade cloth is a excellent idea also. And maybe do something to that wall that keeps too much heat from being absorbed into that wall, thus raising the temperature around that plant. An insulated paint or something light colored?

In your second pic, the little leaf in the background with the white edges on it... looks like maybe fertilizer burn to me. Have you fertilized recently?

Jim: Have not sprayed any type of oil on the rosebush ever.

kstrong & kentstar: I use both chemical and organics, kind of alternate. I used a long acting about 2 months ago, 1 month ago some fish emulsion and magnesium, then recently a light dose of miracle grow (water soluable). I only use about half as much as what is recommended of everything in the summer. And no folier feeding. So do ya think I over fertilized? This bush usually looks crudy after the hot summer, but never has been this bad, and never affected the new growth that is coming out now. Hmmmmm

Just an addendum....This has been going on for maybe a month. Thought it was just sun burn, but when new growth showed browing on leaves I was stumped.

Too much hot sun, root disturbance such as transplanting, too little water, too much fertilizer, or an excess of other salts in the soil can all contribute to burning by causing the plant to be unable to maintain a healthy moisture level in the leaves.

Fertilizer is the easiest of these things to control. It's good practice to reduce fertilizing during very hot weather.

Thanks, michael, that helps. Definately too much hot sun. lol No transplanting, but maybe root disturbance from a dumb critter that has decided to burrow into the rose soil.
Will give it a super deep watering to try to leach salts and excess fertilizer, and maybe the dumb critter. LOL

And yeah, next year I will quit fertilizing during June July, August.

Thanks again, and happy rose growing!

Most Arizona rosarians will recommend against fertilizing during hot weather. Some of us will recommend a light feeding of an organic rose food - maybe 1/3 or 1/4 strength Mills Magic or Millers once during the June/July/ August cycle. Miracle Grow and any liquid fertilizers aren't used except during the fall and spring active growth cycles. We deal with long-term heat exposure (4 months of 90+), searing sunlight (few cloudy days), alkaline soils, alkaline water (and lack of) and rock, whether gravelscape or block walls all impact the overall health of rose bushes. Leaves show the damage first.

During summer, leave the leaves on the bush. Even a dead leaf casts shade. Pulling them off exposes the tender cane to sunburn.