The only thing I can think of is too much hot & dry, after being in partial shade the previous summer. If it was mine, I would keep it watered, and just WAIT to see what happens next. Does not look like any disease I have seen. Is that other plant in the same bed very thirsty? Perhaps it is hogging the water.

Jackie

It is in the same bed with 3 hardy geraniums and two dahlias, we even had 10 inches of rain just a week ago so it has had plenty of water, actually probably too much water but the leaf shedding started before those rains came. I think if there are water shortage issues on that bed perhaps I would have seen something earlier?? As I said, it has had two good flushes of its bright, orange blooms.

Could be too soaked. The only other off the wall idea I have you won't see unless it gets dug up. In my case it's everything except the most vigorous that comes from weeks. It's a plug fabric thing that the cuttings come in. I have had it happen on several roses. Solero was the first. Each year of 3 years it looked worse until I suddenly decided to give a pull by hand. The whole rose pulled out of the ground. The soils in Texas are vastly different from ours. I forgot to take it out of the soil it came in and the roots never grew out of it. My fault but here is the result.

Here is all the roots that I had

What I have to do is make sure I remove almost all of the soil they come in. This is true of several nurseries I order from. It is replanted now free of the soil and fabric wrap that does not break down here. Will update next year when I see how it does in my soil.

Not saying it is your problem just adding a possibility.

Yes Patty I've been following your posts on that matter. I know about that stupid fabric, even the burlap wrap on tree roots sometimes never decays and the trees die. That's why when I plant trees I take it all off and people think I am crazy for doing so. If only they knew how many dead trees I have dug up only to see why they died - roots could never grow out of the wrap.

I really have no idea of what's happened to my rose bush. Too soaked is now, everything is too soaked from getting 10 inches of rain in one week, but the decline in its health started during the hot, dry period.

I lost 6 Livin Easy own root roses over the winter last year. These plus one other were the only roses that I lost last year. They were planted in different areas through out my yard. The plants around them looked fine and the roses that they were replaced with, look good too.

I'm guessing that I lost them to a root rot problem. The way they died looked like a systemic problem that kept the plants from taking up water. This can occur is the soil is too moist or the plant is particularly suspectable. My soil is sand based and is very well drain so I'm suspecting the latter.

I just lost Easy Going, a sport of Livin Easy, to a similar malady. I would be curious to hear if others have had similar problems with Livin Easy.

This summer's heat created leaf scorch even on very established shrubs as well as roses. You may lose some top growth but this rose is not necessarily a goner.

Like Jackie said, water it from time to time and wait. It may limp thru the rest of this season and then come on strong in the spring. No rush to prune; you don't want to encourage ANY new growth until the bush recovers. Sure hope it does!