Jeri - thanks so much! What a relief that you think this is due to weather...

BTW, Lamarque is putting out nice new growth and it also has several buds. It certainly has been enjoying the many warm days we have had this year!

Cheers,

Jo

Yup. Tea-Noisettes do seem to love warm weather!

My Mel's Heritage, btw, is covered with buds just now. This is the first spring it's really becoming mature. Love its fragrance!

i am so jealous of your buds on it Jeri, but some day mine will bloom too

Jeri - you will have to share pics when your Mel's Heritage is blooming so I can enjoy vicariously !

Kippy - my Mel's Heritage started to bloom profusely only in its 5th year (last year), although it started giving me a few blooms when it was a one-year band. Don't be surprised if you get some buds later this year!

Jo

Sigh. My Mel's Heritage last year

Just saying, I concur with Jeri.

Temperatures can do peculiar things. My early day lilies and irises all had unusually short flowering stalks this year. I am sure this was due to the temperatures manipulating the growth hormones in the plants. This can be done artificially in commercial greenhouses, but it seems as though nature is doing this kind of thing all on its own this year.

Rosefolly

Jo - your Mel's Heritage is so extraordinarily beautiful in those photos from last year, I can see why you've been so anxious for its welfare. I do hope it will be back to its full glory before too long. I also hope to see some pics from you, Jeri, should you have the opportunity.

:¬)

What kind of structures if any do you grow Mel on?

I have it over that front arbor. You've stood under it. :-) But honest to God, I really believe it would rather sprawl, somehow.

This morning, I broke off a terminal bloom (which was fully open) so the rest of the spray could open evenly. I walked down to the mailbox with a dog leash in my left hand, and that wonderful apple-scented bloom in my other hand.

Kippy - I have Mel's Heritage espaliered against a fence. It's 30 feet in one direction, and I cut back the other side to 12 feet (from 30 feet of snaked and coiled canes). It does indeed want to sprawl, as Jeri notes, but I find it extremely easy to lift up the canes and tie them against a fence. I wear my gauntlets when I do that :-)

Rosefolly - thanks for your input. I would have thought Mel's Heritage would have enjoyed the warm weather (low to mid 70s) like so many of my other roses are doing. But, you are right - things are unusual this year. I had cymbidiums blooming well before their usual time and a daylily which blooms in mid-summer has just sent up some scapes. And, some roses are finishing their spring flush while others are still in bud with several weeks still to go before they bloom.

Comtesse - thanks for your wishes. I cringe each time I go out and look at Mel. Doing nothing and just waiting is difficult !

Jeri - Hm.. I need to plan a trip southwards this year :-) so I can come stand under your front arbor !!

Jo -- I think it will be most spectacular in another two years. :-) But I'm beginning to see it, now.
I don't think it's whether they like hot or cold weather, as much as it is that they are terminally confused by the lightning-quick changes from hot, to cold, to hot, to cold . . . over and over.
I've seen this before, but few years have been this bad. ALAS! I fear we will see such things over and over in coming years. :-(

OH -- I think we should note that this is a really wonderful Paul Barden rose!

Update: I came back from a few days vacation to find that Mel's Heritage is drying up. All of the old lateral growth and some of the thinner canes have shriveled and turned brown. There is no new growth that is alive. I plan to prune down to 5 feet of main canes.

I am completely puzzled as to what is happening, but don't think this is weather related.

Jo

Did some searches using words like scorched and drying and came up with fire blight. I don't want to jump to any conclusions. I just noticed that the bottlebrush bush nearby has branches that have turned brown....this is scary.

Here are some pics from yesterday. Any clues to what could be happening?

Appreciate any insight and guidance.

Thanks,

Jo

The pics didn't post.. trying again.

Lots of the thin canes are brown and dead. Some of the thicker ones seem to be shriveling.

Think some one could have used a root killer in their sewer line and it leak to your plant? Those bottle brush are hard to kill maybe some one did not like theirs and used something strong on it

Kippy - thanks much for chiming in with your thoughts. The bottlebrush is also in my yard upwind of the rose. No chemicals from my side, but I plan on gently asking my neighbor if they sprayed anything. The damage is top down, and all shorter canes and twiggy growth are brown and dry.

Just wanted to update folks. I heard back from my local Dept. of Agriculture - I had sent in soil, root, leaf and stem samples. They came back with a negative on wilt, which is what they had suspected when I described the problem. No signs of any pests or insects either.

I had cut back Mel's Heritage to 3 main canes of 5 feet soon after my last post. These canes have now all dried up. I continue to water in hopes that I will see some signs of life.

My mind keeps going back to fire blight as a likely cause....

Jo

I am so very sorry. Losing roses is one thing. Losing them in such an inexplicable manner is -- quite another, and far worse.