jerijen I'm just saying that soil & water pH may not be the problem, it might be the type of rugosa that she has. I was commenting about the heat only because of what you said you had experienced recently. I love many things about KS, but the heat plus humidity in summer is not one of them. Not having to use A/C sounds wonderful. I think michaelg is right. Get rid of the plant. There are others (other rugosa hybrids or other types of roses) that should do much better for her. Wal-Mart isn't the best of places to get roses. As you found out bug_girl deals are not necessarily all they're cracked up to be. So what kind of rugosa did you buy or did it just say 'Rugosa' and you don't really know exactly what it is? We're all here trying to help. Spraying it might not be doing it any good either. Rugosa don't do well with spraying. Shovel pruning the rose is a good suggestion. I'd listen especially to the advice given by those who live in CA.

michaelg, in my case it is the opposite, lol! foxy bloom much more than dagmar. I have 3 dagmars: 1 is larger than foxy, one smaller and one is as large as, so I really can't say. But I have dozens of pavement rugosas, they all do well with rebloom, none of them is taller than 120cm = 4 feet after 3-4 years. I do not trim them. The flowers of the white ones often look bad after they have bloomed, they become brownish, maybe it's because of the sun. The pink, red and purple ones do not have this problem. They all make a lot of beautiful large red hips.I love the hips! In a zone 4-5-6-7 I would have no doubt, and grow even more of them. In a z8, I mix them with china roses and roses for landscaping. They do not like too much sun, here.

I don't grow any of these, but I'm quoting from Lois Hole's Rose Book. I won't mention those that others have already mentioned. 1. Frau Dagmar Hartopp FDH is an impressive rose, with silky-petalled, silvery-pink flowers that shimmer in sunlight. These highly perfumed, poppy-like flowers are large, from 3 to 3 1/2 inches across and cupped like a wine glass around creamy yellow stames. Blooms until fall frost, with the greatest profusion of flowers in early and late summer. It has large red rosehips, which look like cherry tomatoes, and glossy foliage which changes from green to purple-red to deep golden-yellow brushed with copper. Does well even in shade for half the day. Thorny. Highly resistant to BS and PM. Height 2-3tall 4-5 spread. Scent strong, clove-like. ARS rating 8.5 2. Red Frau Dagmar Hartopp - deep magenta. 3 feet up X 4-5 feet spread. Single flowers. Very showy rose. This rose makes a wonderful hedge, because its thorny branches create a formidable barrier. Blooms until stopped by fall frosts with cupped 3 to 3 1/2 inch flowers. It produces abundant cherry tomato-like rosehips and is one of the best roses for fall colour. Does well in shade for half day. Very vigorous and highly resistant to BS and PM 3. Schneezwerg or Snowdwarf - Disease-free, glossy foliage that turns bright orange and yellow in fall; sweetly scented flowers all summer; extreme cold-hardiness; and the ability to thrive for years and years under almost any conditions. Bright white, 3 inch flowers have pale yellow stamen and are borne in clusters of 3 to 10. Tolerant of shade and poor soil and makes a superb hedge. 3-4 spread. Semi-double This variety is one of the showiest roses in fall, with colourful leaves and abundant orange-red hips, often produced while the plant is still flowering. Carol :)

woolywoof, your availability of hardy roses probably has more to do with being in Canada than being in zone 4. If I head to nurseries in zone 4 New York, the situation is likely to be even more dire than it is here. Lack of availability of roses that do what I want roses to do is probably part of the reason I became so interested in rooting cuttings. Several wonderful roses are probably better known as pass along plants than in the nursery trade. This unfortunately doesn't make me a very good source of information as to where you should get your roses. I've bought more roses from Mike Lowe than any other source. He's in Nashua. Is Mike still in the nursery business? I don't know. Pickering, as mentioned, is a good source. I know Paul has gotten a bunch of his roses from Spring Valley in Wisconsin. I've heard nothing but good things about Spring Valley. I've often wanted to order from Corn Hill in New Brunswick, but never come up with a big enough order to make it work out. Corn Hill is Robert Osborne's nursery. If you don't have his book "Hardy Roses" you should. You should also have Suzanne Verrier's books. You want to avoid the nurseries that ship little twigs. For the money nurseries charge, you want them to send you a real plant. I'd like to be able to recommend Ashdown, but I've never ordered from him. Oddly enough, most of my recent purchases have come from Sequoia. Certainly Ralph Moore has no reason to specialize in hardy for the northeast roses, but he does have some neat oddments that I can't get anywhere else. He ships little twigs, but at least the price reflects this.