Probably the same thing thats wrong with mine. It looks exactly the same. First may I say that all Easy Elegance roses are not created equal. Some are really really good and some are definitely not. I've been growing Ping Lims roses since they were introduced. Have tried growing Paint The Town in at least 1/3rd of those years. Why, because the flowers are to die for.

Paint The Town is very susceptible to anthracnose. I have three pathetic looking PTTs sitting out there right now. I have finally accepted the fact that PTT is a wimpy specimen. That it hates winter and no matter how great a rose grower that I may become this rose will never grow well here.

I don't wish to dash your hopes so may I ask what zone you are in. If by chance your weather has been likes our in Illinois then that is anthracnose. Which is worse than black spot as far as I'm concerned. At least black spot leaves turn yellow and fall off.Anthracnose leaves hang on the plant forever. If you wish to no more please just ask

Uhm, this happens to my roses all the time. It looks like a case of blackspot. The bush will thin out its core leaves and new growth will take its place. The new growth will be taller and farther from spores that rest closer to the ground.

Spray your bush for black spot, pick off the infected leaves, and clear away debris from around the base of the plant. These cycles are normal and end up building a stronger plant.

Shacute

kublakan is probably correct but PTT is supposed to be very black spot resistant. However it can happen anyway. You can check your leaves when they first spot as black spot stays on the upper surface and anthracnose spots will go all the way thru the leaf.

I still don't know your environment but here I'm sorry to say that it's a terrible rose. It can't be grown no spray. Plus I believe it's not a good winter rose or perhaps a week rose since each time I have removed it from the garden The roots have not established at all even after three years.

I was going to ask on hear many times how other people in the north do with this rose. I have 2 out there now that I'll take a photo of for you. I have already told the rose that it can look as sick as it wants. It shall stay until it dies or turns into a Ping Lim worthy introduction.

There are many excellent Easy Elegance Roses (Ping Lim) that do very well as no spray roses. Just let me know and I'd be happy to share the information. Is their anyone out with healthy good looking PTT. Please lets us know.

As an own root rose, you need to find out what kind of soil it likes. This is pretty easy for me--if it doesn't like acid soil, I can just add lime to raise the PH. I can also add lots of compost if it doesn't like clay soil. I'd also clear the center of the rose to improve the airflow through the plant so the leaves can dry out quickly. The new growth with buds is a good sign.

It's black spot. Not fatal just annoying. You can take off any leaves that are brown or yellowed but leave anything that's still green to feed the plant. Pick up all the debris on the soil too. There are sprays for it but usually a change in the weather will get rid of it too.

You don't say where you live but you do mention it getting cold so I'm also going to say that as fall comes on and the days get shorter and colder the roses will start to slow down and leaves will also yellow and drop as the plant no longer needs them.

As Patty said, not all Easy Elegance roses are created equal and location plays a major roll in how a rose performs. There are MANY forms of black spot and the EE roses weren't tested everywhere so they may be resistant to one strain and not another. Also as very young own root plants it may take them a few years to build up a healthy immune system to fight off fungal infections. So I wouldn't be too concerned about it just yet.

Hi everyone...thank you so much for responding. I truly hope it's blackspot, but will prepare for the worst :( I'm in central Iowa (zone 5). I bought a spray for blackspot, but a horticulture professor at Iowa State University who answered their "hortline" suggested spraying a mixture of 2/3 water and 1/3 cow's milk, weekly, on the top and bottom of leaves, and also pick up fallen leaves.

I wish I had known about the variation in the Easy Elegance roses. No surprise, the owner of the greenhouse where I bought it, assured me that it was truly carefree and very easy to care for. He also said I wouldn't get blackspot and yet, here I am. Lesson learnt. It is a beautiful plant and I hope I can save it. I've been thinking about covering it in the winter with frost protection fabric. Has anyone used frost protection fabric?

Looks like blackspot to me also...

Otherwise how did this rose bush do for you this season?

Most modern roses will have some form of susceptibility to BS. We can thank the introduction of the color yellow from dessert roses that established this susceptibility in future generations.

Milk!?! That's a first. I wouldn't waste good milk on this. Just spray with the Bayer Advanced or Ortho stuff until it clears up.

I've never had to winter over my roses, so I'm not sure if the fabric works. I've always read that cheap soil and mulch work well for wintering roses.

@jim1961 Zone 6a Central Pa., It's growing very well and bloomed consistently and beautifully until a week ago.

I've heard of a home remedy for powdery mildew that used milk but not as a black spot remedy. I suppose it's the same principle though. The milk is supposed to smother the spores so they can't grow. Eh, maybe, but I wouldn't hold your breath, lol.

What ever you spray be prepared for them to look a little worse before they get better. The thing is the spray will not cure any leaves that are already infected. It will only prevent further infections. Any leaves that have already been infected, even if they have no spots or symptoms, will continue to spot, yellow and die off. So it will take some time for the plants appearance to improve.

As I said earlier, this is a baby plant. It needs time to mature before you can make any judgments on it's health issues. I would give it at least 3 years to grow and mature and then see how resistant it really is.

I've never heard of the frost fabric so I can't say how that would work. If it's porous it should be OK. You need to have air circulation and water or the rose could rot or be susceptible to canker. That's why I never recommend those rose cones. They're fairly air tight and they create a perfect petri dish for things to grow in. Particularly in the spring when things start to warm up. If the fabric prevents wind burn that may help with cane die back but you actually do want them to go dormant and stay that way until it really is spring. You don't want them to wake up and try to grow every time there is a few days spike in the temperature and then a plummet back to freezing. That freeze/thaw cycle in the very early spring is what kills most roses over winter.

shacute Wrote:

@jim1961 Zone 6a Central Pa., It's growing very well and bloomed consistently and beautifully until a week ago.

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That's great to hear shacute! I'd let it mature more before worrying to much about it. Plus this time of the year fungal problems can be worse...

I'll be back gotta go unload soil.

La Marne in spring flush

Another of Calypso with buds open

Easter Basket poking up in spring

Flower Carpet Pink Supreme in spring

Campfire - Think this one is going to be a world class for the north. Don't have good photo I moved it where I could see it every day

Pomponella- Lost 3 this spring as they were grafted and this area rotted away. Found some good root belonging to Pomponella planted it and it's coming back. Only flower photo

Flower Carpet Roses do very well here. I have The Pink, Pink Supreme, Red, Coral and Scarlet. Of these the Red needs time to establish and sun before showing the rich deep red color and best health. I also have Amber but in 4 years it seems she only blooms well in spring and fall. I've been checking others around town theirs seem to do the same thing. Maybe it's not just me. Be back later it's time for food.

Great looking roses Patty!

Thank you Patty! The Calypso is a stunner. I gotta get one in the Spring. Beautiful roses. I'm a new gardener so just venturing into roses. My home is historic (built 1902) and looks great with roses.

To me, carefree roses can and do get fungal diseases--but that they can still grow and bloom well despite the disease. A number of once blooming roses don't look so great in the summer after they have bloomed in a no-spray garden, but they bloom wonderfully in the Spring, year after year, despite hard winters.

http://kansasgardenmusings.blogspot.com/2012/06/buck-rose-blackspot-review.html

Here is a page talks about BS on the Buck roses that are commonly grown in no-spray gardens.

Pruning the infected cane in the center of the plant will not only allow better airflow, but remove infected leaves that have spores that will spread the infection.

http://www.rose.org/blackspot-the-hows-and-whys-of-control/

Patty W thank you for sharing your lovely pictures. I am not the one to ask about blackspot because I am just learning. Though I wanted to mention that the soils in Iowa and Illinois are closely matched.... Ijust wanted to add that might be, but for any newbies like me in the rose world that all soil isn't quite the same. I grew up on a relatively small farm in Missouri and our soil on different parts of the farm was quite different. People talk about micro climates in different zones I would go as far as to suggest that soil has the many different aspects. I remember digging post holes with my father and in some places we had to dig with jobbers by hand because the tractor auger would even touch the hard clay, but 10 feet away at the next post hole it would be easier digging.

We also grew crops and you could tell a difference in the ground as you looked across it by how well the plants were growing.

As a newbie on learning about roses, I thought I would share some of my experiences.

Schaute, I am not an expert by any means. So take this with a grain of salt and you might want to have your soil tested if you continue to have problems with plants. But for the problems that you are currently experiencing on your rose bush I think the above suggestions will help you to fix the immediate situation.

Thank you

I must make a correction the yellow shrub rose above is not limoncello. It is Lemon Fizz from the Kordes Kolorscape collection. Even thou newflora has it as having no scent thats not right. LF is very scented and wafts in the air for quite aways.

Schaute heres my little PaintThe Town in its second year. Own root and no spray garden.

I really love the color of the paint the town roses..I hope I can save it. My mom, brave gardener that she is...has hers in a planter which she plans to wrap in burlap over the winter. She's having no problems/issues with hers thus far.

Ah, Thats the answer I need to grow it in a pot. Not a bad idea that way she can have her lousy roots. In a pot she'll get the right amount of water and the roots don't have to grow much. Other than that I've had this rose here and there and just about every where in the garden. Others do well not Paint The Town. Shecute if you end up having good luck with this rose will you please come back and share how you did it.

Just want to say that your roses bushes are just gorgeous, Patty! Thank you for sharing their pics.

Thanks Karen. I just saw your post on LoS and I did not even notice the foliage. My first thought was oh my goodness yours has buds. Wish I could get mine to bloom.

I am sorry. I wish I know what is causing your LoS not to bloom. It is strange that it bloomed well for you the first year and then just stopped blooming in subsequent years. Mine is in its second year so I don't have enough experience with it to know its growing habit.

That is black spot and you should toss it because it will be a pain and spread to other roses. Knockout roses are much better.