Where are you.... how hot is it there... does this rose get full sun.... Do you know if it has been fertilized lately.... if it hasn't been fertilized lately... I would get some alfafa meal and some cotton meat.... Gently pull back the mulch and GENTLY scratch it into the soil.... Cover it back with mulch. Then I would trim back the bush. I would take off the twiggy growth, that has no leaves. and slightly cut the tops. I use Elmers White Glue to seal out cane bores (big problems where I live). Then I water using a kelp and fish fertilizer.... probably 1/2 strength.... Next day I would use Superthive and water.... Then WAIT till the plant needs to be watered again. When it is dry enough to water it, use the kelp fish fertilizer half strength again ( I think there is a saying WEAKLY WEEKLY) I don't know too much about neem oil because BEFORE this forum I KILLED several bushes using the oil.... since I have learned NOT to spray in the heat of the day with ANY oil base. However, I now use Organcide (which is also an oil base) but it is for insects as WELL as fungus....

Thanks for the information. I’ve never participated in a rose auction before and couldn’t make it so I put in my silent bid last night - I hope! No expectations of success as I’d rather be happily surprised than disappointed but it was fun anyway. Loved all the unusual roses not usually available or even heard of.

How much rain do you have right now? If there is more than 1 inch of rain per week, roses in pots will blackspot since there's not enough buffer to neutralize acidic rain. Rain pH here is 4.5, same with the East coast. To raise the pH by 1 point for a square foot (the surface of a pot), one needs 2 TBS of Garden lime (dolomite lime with 22% calcium and 12% magnesium). So to raise the pH from 4.5 by 2 points to 6.5, one needs 4 TBS of Garden lime per pot. Calcium is best applied in small doses frequently (prior to a heavy rain), rather than a bunch at once. When the pH drops, all the major nutrients are NOT available, so no matter how much nitrogen is given, it won't be available. Granular Espoma products (Rose Tone, Tomato Tone, Plant Tone) are more alkaline fertilizers than SOLUBLE fertilizer. I always apply a few TBS of organic fertilizer with a few TBS of garden lime prior to a heavy rain. See below chart on how all the major nutrients are less available below pH 5. Click on pic. to enlarge:

Melissa, my suspicion is that this climbing sport of JC might just be a stupid plant! the sort of rose which puts all its' vigour into growing long canes and many of them, and then just doesn't have enough energy left to flower well.Maybe with a lot of attention and spoiling it could be nice, but I don't have the time, resources, energy or inclination for that. It would be different if the colour was special,or if at any point in its' residence in my garden it had given me a moment of joy, but no, nothing. I'm glad to be rid of it, though someday I can imagine myself trying a normal JC... Seaside, I hope you're right .However, SPS might just be getting too much competition. There's a huge General Stefanik next to it,plus a wild white hawthorn that I am trying to keep pruned so it grows as a tree. Last year I added a Cercis siliquastrum to the area and this fall, a weeping cherry. So it might also be too many Rosacaes in too small of a space. So I may move something in the fall,or remove the hawthorn, though it'd be a shame. Also, I want to see what Ariside B looks like; in the past I can't remember seeing it in bloom. So if it doesn't impress me, I may sp that. SPS HAS been great in the past, and therefore has earned my respect.