Well, I'm suspecting the heat at this point. I have three crookneck ladies that matured and bloomed yesterday, so hopefully they were pollinated. There were several males on other squash plants, so I hope it works out. If they fall off, I will figure it's lack of pollination. But it looks like it's stopped aborting buds, for now anyway. One of the pattypans has a female developing. Looks like it might bloom in a day or two. Crossing fingers! I have never had this happen before, so I was certainly puzzled. Hope it's a thing of the past. I have noticed ants on my squash plants--on the summer squash, and on my spaghetti squash (which is planted elsewhere). Could this be a contributing factor? Would soap spray kill ants? This post was edited by jemsister on Sat, Jul 19, 14 at 14:38

Thank you all for your replies! Bebemarie, I guess I'm not the only one that's not getting blooms from this rose. One thing is certain though - no lack of winter chill up here! Patricia, my other Alba, Felicite Parmentier, has a few buds here and there that turn yellow and fall off, but not enough to put even a dent in the show. And when I talked to the vendor, I had my doubts that his diagnosis of midge was correct as I had seen photos of it on this forum and my problem didn't resemble those pictures at all. I have never seen damage as severe as this with thrips, which I do have on my other light coloured roses in the first flush. So, still a mystery. Paparoseman, we have had a coolish start to spring, with normal rainfall, but nothing out of the ordinary. I guess I will do the 'thrips over white paper' test tomorrow, but boy, this rose must have it really bad! Lucretia, I would be very interested to see if this happens again to you next year. Our weather was completely different, and yet the same thing occurred with both our roses. Since normally the PNW is cool and rainy (right?), this might help with the diagnosis. And Eric, yes, it's very discouraging! You wait a whole year for this spectacular show that everyone talks about with once-bloomers, and....nothing! Lord knows after 4 or 5 years, I've certainly been patient. Maybe you're right, and I should replace it. It's something that's very difficult for me, I'm still fairly new to this. And the three blooms I DID get were just beautiful, so fragrant and delicate.....I suppose I have a big decision to make. Thank you all so much. Judith

Hi - thank you all for your help and advice. So I've checked the soil under the surface and it's very damp. Initially when the leaves started turning yellow I mistakenly thought that they weren't getting enough water so made the problem worse. I'm going to try not watering them for a while (I'll try a couple of weeks as suggested). I've also loosened some of the soil up a bit to make it easier for the water to evaporate. The window is facing South-East so not ideal but the best one in the Apartment. I'm thinking of getting a grow lamp of some sort to help them out. How many hours of direct sunlight do they need? Or is the answer "as much as possible"? We're in Virginia and so they peppers are pretty warm through the day particularly when in direct sunlight. I guess it's fingers crossed now and see how they recover. I've been checking out a few of the pepper pictures on the board and am jealous - hopefully I'll be able to followup with some decent pepper pics of my own. Thank you again.

I am 99% sure they are the FJ grootendorst, but if those are supposed to have an odor, then that isn't it I suppose. Ugly?! You're crazy! I love the little carnation hot pink blooms and the wrinkled green leaves. They are so great. I have 12 of these or so along the driveway and more in back...they have been here for years and I doubt I could get them out without a huge struggle. They stay!