Thrips. If you want to do something about it, welcome to the world of spraying. I've tried a number of things through the years, but nothing seems to work as well as a two-punch combination of Conserve (spinosad) sprayed all over, along with finishing up with spraying Avid on the buds. This is done weekly. More often might work better, but I simply can't manage the task of spraying during the week. The Conserve helps to keep the general population down, but it's not enough to keep the buds/blooms clean. The Avid is important. Its action is trans-laminar, meaning that it will penetrate through the multiple layers of the bud. That's the only way you'll get the thrips once they're in the buds. I've tried everything else - imidacloprid, orthene, Conserve by itself, Avid by itself and even some other combinations of insecticide. Nothing works as well for me (and does less damage to beneficials) than the two-punch combination. Rosemania has some new stuff called Naturalis, but I haven't had a chance to use it yet.

Pic of typical roses with thrips. I still think yours might have some thrips, but they have something else eatting them up and the leaves. No one is commenting on the bites in the leaves. The thrips damage is cosmetic on the petals of the roses. The rose I have, Moonstone, that the leaves looked like yours had several pests, one was thips when it bloomed. It also had rose slugs and sawflies. Other than that I couldn't find any other pest on it to account for the leaves looking like this. If your roses are young and this Bayer you got is the soil drench I'd look up the thread Redsox created and see her pics of how her young roses burned using it. I believe it killed the pests but it burned the roses. I think the foliar app is a safer app than the soil on young roses. If you do use it, make sure you water deeply first. One other thing that maybe totally unrelated and probably is, how early in the am do you water? The water needs to be evaporated off the roses by the time the sun is hot enough to burn the roses or the blooms can sunburn. I noticed the water on the leaves and you asked that.

There is a shock from relocating out of warm humid greenhouse by the way of semi trucks to the store and to your much drier house. Can cause blossom drop. Or this bud stem was someway damaged on the way. None of these are a problem. AV will adjust and give you more blossoms in time. Congratulations with your very pretty purchase. i.

To add to the written above: no, do not buy a specialized AV pot - it requires a different technique and if you are not familiar with it - it will kill your plant dead. I am of the opinion that your plant was grown in a greenhouse with high humidity and controlled temeperature and light - and the relocation from there to your place by the way of semi truck in boxes, shock from dry air here etc. - just put your plant into survival mode - and instead of blooming - it is taking all energy to survive and adjust to the new environment. It will be easier for it if you remove spent flowers and dead buds (when they are dead - that's it - they won't wake up) and let it be. If the conditions are right - and seems that they are - the plant will set up new buds soon and you will have it blooming again in 2-3 months. Regarding the soil - yes, it would be much better if you repot it in lighter soil. It is hard to keep the store soil evenly most - it either dries and cracks - or gets way too soggy. Make sure that you remove all flowers and buds - to save plant's energy to use to regrow roots. Seems that you already know what soil to use (1:1:1), but if there more questions - please post them. Wendy - you already show a good beginning of a successful AV grower. You are trying to make your plant happy, you observe its needs - you are on your way of having great plants with full heads of flowers all over the place. There is always a learning curve - but for you it will be short. Good Luck Irina