Why do some of my roses abort buds and refuse to grow?
Some of my roses just won't grow. We had a warm spell in February and all of my roses started to leaf out. Then it got cold again, and some of them were slightly damaged, with fried edges on some of the new leaves. Then they just stopped growing. I assumed it was due to the frost damage. But the weather has warmed up in the last few weeks (70-80's for the highs, and 40's for the lows), but a number of my roses just won't grow any more. What's more is that the flower buds that formed dried and fell off. I thought it was due to the frost damage, but now I'm not so sure.
Here's Bishop's Castle with an aborted bud.
First Crush with stagnant growth:
Tranquility with stagnant growth (it's been at this same stage for a month):
Worst of all is Madame Alfred Carriere, which as a cutting grew fine last fall, then went dormant for the winter and now just grows tiny leaves which dry up. I tried more sun, less sun, just morning sun, more water, some fertilizer, but nothing. It's tried to put out leaves about 3 times now, and the get to this size (about 3 mm) then dry up.
The roses on the sunnier part of the yard seem worse, but First Crush is in part shade. Roses not affected are Iceberg, Old Blush, Evelyn, Pure Perfume, Alnwick Castle, Munstead Wood. The rest are affected to varying degrees.
Any ideas?
Comments (18)
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Why do some roses do better being dug up & repotted?
Comments (16)I'm sure in colder climates the warmer soil of pots would be a critical difference. I wonder if it would be here. In summer one thing we don't lack is warm (hot) soil. When I potted up these giveaway plants, I took them "as is", garden soil and all. I'm not sure my situation is relevant to my question as much as to the question "does a little pruning help to revitalize plants that have not been growing". However, I have been considering the reverse situation - potting to provide colder soil temps in winter. I read that hostas can do better here if planted in the ground in pots and then pulled out in winter to receive greater exposure to the little chill we get. I was wondering if that would benefit Hybrid Perpetual roses such as Baronne Prevost and Marchesa Bocella. I plan to un-plant BP into a pot and maybe sink it in the ground during hot weather only. Anybody have a guess if these colder climate roses would benefit from chillier roots in winter? Sherry...See MoreWhy do my rose buds hang sideways? (pics)
Comments (11)Being the Patricia of newspaper fame-I can say with certainty that is works. I have seen no sign for two years that is difinitly midge-I do get the occasional bent neck-it happens. I had a real serious mess in one large bed of 30-40 roses but I emphasize what Michael said, this a a dormant treatment. You must wait until all cycles are over for the year. Oh-I use woodchips not bark. Cant imagine it would make a difference. I do not remove old mulch-just slap some new stuff down on the old. I have some perennials and under plantings around the edge of that bed. I use no pesticides. I actually have a couple of containers of Diazanon that I keep to threaten with...never had to use them....See MoreWhy are my roses not doing anything?
Comments (10)Jeff, your roses are doing what they do when it is hotter than they like. The things you can do to alleviate it and put them back into production would be: Shade them to reduce the transpiration of water. They're using everything they can to maintain until their resources are greater then their demands. Wait until it's cooler with less intense sun. They are water stressed, not because you aren't giving them enough, but because the air is too hot and the sun too intense for them to spare any of their resources to produce new growth and blooms. It's what we in the desert south west deal with every year. DON'T spray them with anything. Don't fertilize them to stimulate their growth and bloom. Don't give them any "tonics" to help them out. The best thing you can do would be to keep them properly watered and perhaps give them overhead watering to help replenish the water in their leaves and canes. It will cool them off, helping to alleviate the high heat they're suffering from during this weather issue, and rinse off dirt, chemicals, soot from smog, bugs/mites, spores, etc. Now is when you will likely see more spider mite issues. It's hotter and drier (even with your humidity) than normal. Getting out with a water wand and washing the plants from underneath the foliage as well as just "raining" on them will help to prevent them and correct what you've photographed above. IF you feel you must fertilize, only use organics. They take a long time to be digested by the soil bacteria. These bacteria as much more active in hot weather when the soil temperatures are higher, as long as there is sufficient soil moisture. They will digest the organics into their salt forms, which are the only forms of the nutrients the plants can absorb. They're released in such small quantities, and at such slow rates, the added salts won't stress the plants. If you add inorganic fertilizers, you will actually stress the plants more severely than they are because of the water being pulled from them for the salts to be absorbed. They're just complaining, as all of we are, that it is just too danged hot! Kim...See MoreBuds aborting
Comments (16)How long since you gave them epsom salts or sulpo-mag. sometimes lack of mag can make your plants not process fertilizers well. I had a friend who had this problem and we added some epsom salts and presto- happy blooms. This may not be your problem but something to consider if it has been awhile. Bill...See More
noseometer...(7A, SZ10, Albuquerque)
7 years agonoseometer...(7A, SZ10, Albuquerque)
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoMystery solved definitively. I moved my Madame Alfred Carriere (in a pot) into the greenhouse with the orchids three days ago, and in that short time, here is the result:
I wouldn't have believed it unless I saw the leaves starting to pop out within a day. You can see the crispy tiny leaves on the stem.
So now the question: What to do about all the roses in the garden? If my climate is really that inhospitable to roses, then should I just remove them? Grr.
altorama Ray
7 years ago
towandaaz
7 years agoNoseometer, I consider our climates (high desert) to be somewhat similar even tho we're in different zones. This year I had some of what you've shared and also one million blind shoots (lol). My thoughts are, if I look at what is traditionally the beginning of my growing season it's much later than when the roses first start leafing out. Technically our last freeze is mid-April although everybody was leafed out and budding before that. So this year (within the last two weeks) I hard pruned and removed all blind shoots on many roses (difficult and heart-breaking) that looked to have weather damage/stress and lo and behold they are leafing out quite quickly.
Strike It Rich:
And nice basal breaks:
Geoff Hamilton:
I gave everybody a shot of Osmocote and some skinny-looking guys a bit more alfalfa. Technically, when is you last chance of frost? Knowing what I've done and seen this year, I would hard prune and wait. It's likely it'll be worth it.
Also, what was your rose growing experience last year?
But, of course, I always defer to seasoned rose gardeners for more experienced opinions.
Patty W. zone 5a Illinois
7 years agonoseometer...(7A, SZ10, Albuquerque) thanked Patty W. zone 5a Illinoisnoseometer...(7A, SZ10, Albuquerque)
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoTowandaaz: Looks like you have about the same amount of growth as I have. You've got some nice basals coming in. Our last frost date is May 8...aaaannddd...we are supposed to get snow this weekend! That's going to wreck havoc in the garden. Everything started leafing out in February. All the fruit trees bloomed a month ago. The garden looked like this yesterday, but I'm afraid what will happen this weekend. I guess I'm just going to have to wait and see like rabainsz7bpnw says.
Let me know how your Geoff Hamilton does. I've appreciated the photos of this rose for a long time, but heard that it is a stingy bloomer.
Altorama: The soil seemed to be pretty moist when I checked it. The drip lines are running fine. The roses under the maple seemed to be doing the best.
Sheila z8a Rogue Valley OR
7 years agostillanntn6b
7 years agonoseometer...(7A, SZ10, Albuquerque)
6 years agoI'll just have to see how things go in the next couple weeks.
Patty W. zone 5a Illinois
6 years agonoseometer...(7A, SZ10, Albuquerque) thanked Patty W. zone 5a IllinoisSheila z8a Rogue Valley OR
6 years agotowandaaz
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agonoseometer...(7A, SZ10, Albuquerque)
6 years agolast modified: 6 years ago
Moses, Pittsburgh, W. PA., zone 5/6, USA