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Buds turn brown, fall off ... why?

SylviaWW 9a Hot dry SoCal

9 years ago

Th Hi all,

On quite a few of my roses this year i've noticed that new buds form, start to grow -- then suddenly there's nothing there but brown shreds. The shape of the bud is still there, but it's as if it's crumbled away and left nothing but these ugly brown threads. Seems to happen overnight.

Why?? They are getting plenty of water, and have just been fed.

This isn't affecting all of my roses, but so far I've had it on Molineux (which recovered), Alnwick Rose, Belinda's Dream, somewhat on Queen of Sweden (which is now blooming successfully) and now Tranquility. The last two are new for me this year: BD came as a band last year, and Tranq was bare-root this winter. Tranquillity's failure is a real heartbreak for me, since I have no pure white and was really looking forward to my first bloom.

My HTs and florbiundas (which get more sun and heat) aren't doing this. What gives?

Thanks,

Sylvia

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Comments (7)

nikthegreek
9 years ago
How has the weather been lately? Any wild swings?
stillanntn6b
9 years ago
Midge? Which is a terrible thing.
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michaelg
9 years ago
Sylvia, we need to know where you garden. Rose midge, for example, has a limited distribution. Everything about roses varies with the climate.
SylviaWW 9a Hot dry SoCal
Original Author
9 years ago
Sorry, I didn't realize that with the new system zone is not included. I'm in zone 10b - southern California - San Fernando Valley - hot and dry. We've probably seen the last of rain for this year :(. Not much low cloudiness or fog here. Daytime temps at this time of year are 70s-80s, nighttime low 50s-60s. These roses get afternoon shade.
michaelg
9 years ago
Not likely to be rose midge, then. Perhaps some other kind of insect. If you have been inspecting the garden regularly and not seen anything on the buds, you could try looking at night with a flashlight. If you have pictures, that might help someone on the West Coast recognize the pattern.
SylviaWW 9a Hot dry SoCal
Original Author
9 years ago
Nik, we seldom get wild weather swings. At this time of year, if we don't break 70 degrees F, it's a "cold snap," but we haven't had one of those in about 10 days. We have had intense winds, though -- hot dry santa Ana winds -- could that be a factor?
nikthegreek
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
In my experience weather can affect the blooms to the point of them dying before having a chance to mature.. A very dry wind should be able to dry them out before opening. My MIP suffers from such events a lot. It might be a reaction from the rose itself conserving humidity or energy under adverse conditions. Less established / mature roses tend to suffer more. But it would better if somebody more accustomed to your kind of weather chimes in.

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