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Arizona Gardening

Why is my rose bush dying?

8 years ago

My previously healthy 5 year old rose bush is dying cane by cane. In the past, it has bloomed profusely - up to 25 huge flowers/buds at a time. I know the summer was particularly brutal in Arizona and it gets full sun. It was watered by drip 90 minutes 3 times a day every 3 days (which seemed to serve it well in previous summers). Plus I gave it additional water on extra hot (112 degree + ) days. The only thing I've done different was add used coffee grounds at the base a couple of times. I'd heard that was healthy for them. It has not bounced back this Fall. Although I've had some new blooms, they are small.

Any thoughts?

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Comments (5)

meyerk9
8 years ago
Any pictures or leaves, flowers and stalks? Pick a flower and slice it open. Do this on white paper. See anything?
dreamindecor
Original Author
8 years ago
Here are a few pics. Usually this time of year I have lots of buds/blossoms. I have no flowers to open, but have seen no evidence of bugs, although one old cane shows evidence of a borer (see last pic).
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Some suggestions for zone 5: Don't cut roses back in the Fall; cut them back to perfectly healthy wood (white centers on the cut surface of the cane) just before growth begins in the spring. Not doing this is one major cause of failure with roses in cold climates. Second cause of failure is planting on low ground where water collects from melting snow in the winter. Are your roses planted on the higher parts of a sloping site? If you don't think either improper pruning or poor drainage is the problem, then you might try more winter hardy roses, such as any of the Canadian Explorer series (see link). Here is a link that might be useful: Canadian Hardy Roses
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If there's still life (the canes still haven't gone all wrinkly) there is hope. Place the rose in full shade until it shows signs of recovery and new growth. You can water with half strength solution of liquid fertilzer now and then, the organic ones with seaweed extracts stimulate root development. Some have added mycorrhial fungi, a type of beneficial micro organism that support root growth and will speed up recovery. Best of luck :-)
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You may have damaged the root ball a bit when planting, as part of the plant looks fine. If you put fertilizer in the soil when you planted that could result in burning as well, although to me it doesn't look like a fertilizer burn. Seil gave you great advice, and I'm sure if you follow that your plant will recover nicely. Some rose growers here don't even use fertilizer the first year at all. If you choose to, definitly wait for some good growth on the rose, and only liquid, and half strength the first year, unless you use fish fertilizer, you can use full strength. No worries, I had a rose with stress much worse than yours after a planting and it recovered nicely.
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Not much you can do about Japanese Beetles. They are a plague in many rose gardens across the country. If you want to be overwhelmed with laments and advice about Japanese Beetles, just type Japanese Beetles into the search box at the top of the page. You'll get more threads on the topic than you will ever want to read--but helpful suggestions also. Basically, one either endures and waits til they go away (2 months later) or one goes utterly manic and conducts daily Japanese Beetle killing runs through he gardens (drowning them in a bucket of soapy water--New Dawn soap) every morning. Or you could move to a state like Kansas which is not overly troubled by them. Kate
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campv 8b AZ
8 years ago
The damage to the cane above(hole in cane) was caused by a borer. When you see this you need to cut the cane off until you no longer see the hole. If you look inside there is a larvae. Cane borers will go all the way to the base and continue hollowing out the cane. Some put will- hold glue over open cuts to prevent this kind of thing, not sure if it works. You need to post this on the Roses site and I am sure you will get the help you need.
dreamindecor thanked campv 8b AZ
Jeannie Cochell
8 years ago
I've looked at the pictures and see some things you can change to improve the health of the rose bush, besides taking care of the borer damage. This rose is sitting in a rock mulch. Roses should be mulched with a forest-based product which neither reflects sunlight nor retains heat. Most of that damage is sunburn. I see another plant nearby. Roots from both the rose and that plant will compete for the same water and nutrients.

Did you fertilize your rose over the summer? Fertilizers should be applied full-strength only during the active fall and spring growing seasons. Using 1/2 or 1/4 strength in the summer is advisable.

Cut out the dead canes clean to the graft, no stumpy things or nubs. Some of those pruning cuts have aged out the cane. A rose will only grow three canes from the same spot before it kills off that bud eye. As always, there may be an exception to that rule but most of the time, you'll find a cane trying to grow out of 1/4 nub.

You can contact me if you have any questions. Jeannie Cochell, Master Consulting Rosarian, Phoenix Rose Society
dreamindecor thanked Jeannie Cochell
dreamindecor
Original Author
8 years ago
Jeannie - thank you so much for your suggestions. I'll get right on it!

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