Hi Seil, I agree with the above comments. One thing I didn't see mentioned is pH. Have you done a pH test? Roses prefer slightly acidic. 6.5 is ideal. Will still be happy in 6.3 to 6.8 range. You can buy a cheap pH Test Kit at any garden store. Some of the drug stores have them too. If your pH is too high or too low, it will lock up the nutrients so your roses can't get to them . . . even though you are feeding your roses. Water was mentioned as well. Rule of thumb is 2-3 gallons of water per week. Depending on the season and your climate, they may need more. Deep watering is best. Meaning don't water a little every day. (I made this mistake in the beginning). We want to encourage roots to go deep into the soil. Therefore, it's better to water twice or three times a week for a longer period. Also good to check the drainage. Roses don't like "wet feet". Easiest way to do this is to dig a hole (6" should do). Fill it with water either in the morning or evening. If the water has not drained within a few hours, you have a drainage issue. Can add 1/3 perlite or sand to help with this. It's a lot of info we've given you. It's hard to tell offhand what the issue is. Might be a combination. Just need to eliminate things one at a time. Hope this helps. Melanie

Same here in the SF bay area...half the time they never bloom if grown outdoors in pots-even when placed where it can get blazing hot on a summers day..I think it IS the cool nights of 60f and lower all through our spring-fall that really doesnt allow them to grow much or flower. I have two of the hardiest-a hybrid and A. arabicum,and they arent encouraging me to add any more.

I made an error in my original message. My apologies. Someone else in my household is in charge of the watering, hence my error. The roses are on their own irrigation system and are only watered once a week unless you count the unintentional watering that the neighbor gives them. Thank you JAYK for your advice. You said just what I was afraid of--that it wasn't necessary for me to pull the leaves off the plant. I just spent over an hour reading some of the rose forum thread on chemicals to use on black spot and am still (more?) confused. Do you or anyone else have any advice for the rose bush that I pruned almost all the leaves off of (only about 6 leaves left on it now)? Do I use the neem oil my local nursery suggested (and have already purchased)or do I heed some research I did that shows neem oil can interfere with photosynthesis and wait for more leaves to grow before using neem? Or use something else entirely? A relative says he remembers using something many years ago that went in with the fertilizer in granular form and so didn't need to be sprayed and thus limited the safety precautions which I would certainly appreciate if it works. I didn't see anything about this product in the thread on black spot that I read; maybe it was there and I missed it but most of the discussion seemed to focus on commercial sprays. I'll do so more reading tomorrow and see if I can find a reference to it. I'd very much like to save the bush; it was well-established, planted about 15 years ago. I'd rather not be the one to kill it. Thanks.

Why not have Ikea help with the design their designers are the most knowlegable about their product. I have the old ones from them in a the high gloss white and they still look like new 11 yrs later. I use Ikea in many of my design projects with great results.