Zack -- BS is a serious problem for about half of the roses in my coastal Carolina garden. I succeed in keeping the disease at bay by spraying Honor Guard once every three weeks. Every spring I mark my spray days on the calendar for the entire season and keep rigorously to that 21-day schedule -- adjusting it only if rain is predicted. Honor Guard has the the same formulation and active ingredient (propiconazole) as Banner Maxx, but is less expensive. A very little amount goes a long way (1/3 teaspoon of Honor Guard to a gallon of water). Gardeners in other zones tell me that it's also very effective in controlling PM, anthracnose & rust -- altho rust control apparently requires a slightly stronger solution. ND1964 -- Re your comment, **might spray again this week but don't really see any BS yet**. IMO, if you're going to resort to spraying your roses, it's very important to establish a rigid schedule. Often leaves are hopelessly infected BEFORE you see the evidence. Most spray products are preventatives, not cures, and spraying those products will not stop already-infected foliage from exhibiting the tell-tale spots you're hoping to avoid. Michaelg -- FWIW: I know we've all been told time and time again that 'Gruss an Aachen' is a Floribunda -- in fact, that its arrival on the scene heralded the advent of the Floribunda class. Not so, say Gregg Lowery (Vintage Gardens), Brent C Dickerson, and several European authorities. They insist that GaA is rightly classified as a Hybrid Tea. So, according to them, that rose of yours that totally defoliated is an HT afterall . . . ;-)

Joe, I rarely do... but when I do it's to get a larger bloom than you would if you allowed the small buds on the sides to develop. The energy goes into that one single big bloom, instead of a few smaller blooms per stem. It's a matter of personal preference. Also, disbudding is best done when the buds are just starting to form so the energy isn't wasted forming them only to pinch them off later. Hubby likes to disbud, I don't, because I want more blooms overall. I think disbudding is done for exhibition to get that nice big fat bud that results in the biggest bloom possible. I hope I explained that well.... I'm not a rosarian. :-) Jen

yes, i removed some of the mulch and most are leafing out nice. i did lose a gypsy carnival i believe and got credit on my account. so all is well. i also have 10 more to plant....wanna help?? mic

Being a Grandiflora or Hybrid Tea has nothing to do with whether or not they sucker. It has to do with what type of root system they have. Most modern roses are grafted on to a root stock to make them grow bigger, faster. It's that vigorous root stock that is sending up suckers. You need to get rid of those suckers as soon as you see them to protect your rose. If allowed to grow the root stock can take over and kill the grafted variety off. don't just cut the sucker off at ground level. You need to dig down to where it's coming from the roots and tear it off. This should damage the node so it doesn't grow back again in that spot. Own root roses, which many Old Garden Roses are, can sucker because they are not grafted and the roots will send out new shoots if it can. There is a bigger push now days for more types of roses to be grown on their own roots but if they are the seller will note this in their advertising. If it doesn't say own root then it's grafted. Most packaged roses and a lot of what is available at big box stores are grafted because they're cheaper to grow so they can sell them as those low prices. Own root plants are more expensive to produce so the seller will note that they are own root as a selling point. They're usually smaller plants and more expensive too. Without seeing your plants or knowing what roses they are it's hard to say what is happening but to me it sounds like root stock coming up.