I remember Brittie having a very difficult time with the heat in Texas affecting her roses. Clearly, your GT needed water. GT might do OK if watered.

Here, one would have to pull on the plants and make sure the roots were not eaten by gophers.

Mine is in the shade.

The roses get watered regularly by emitters. It wasn't a lack of watering. The Jude The obscure right behind it and the 50 or so other Austins are all great. It is just everyone of my GTs that have suddenly died in this heat, and they are spread out, not in same area. And yes the emitters are working.

I think Brittie was having that same trouble. It really looked like the emitters were not working, so good you checked.

Brittie does not post any more sadly.

I am in Zone 4B, now known as 5A. In the past 20-years we have had -28F, -32F, and -37F in winter, so I know climate change involves extremes on both ends, and this is either still 4B, or is now 4A.

That out of the way we get hot here in the summer, but hot changes to seasonal within a week. I have not noticed Graham Thomas to suffer anymore during our hot spells than other roses. I suggest during hot spell that you overhead water during the hottest part of the day. I am not in your area, so maybe Graham Thomas is heat sensitive to a fault.

Were all of your GTs bought from the same nursery/source? If so, they may have all been infected with the same virus (like verticillium wilt) and could have croaked about the same time during your heat wave.

no. Some were from David Austin, some were from Heirloom, and some came from another nursery I can't remember.

Gosh all I can think of then are critters eating the roots or someone deliberately vandalizing them (herbicide, salts, etc.). Both are stretches. GT is known for being so durable, and since all your other roses are doing fine, it's extremely mysterious. When a whole plant dies like that, I assume it was herbicide or a gopher/mole situation in my garden. Lack of watering? Well, the plant would wilt and what not for awhile before it would crisp up. Have you checked the roots?

PDZRobertZ8, as for GT durability, mine is over 20-years old. It is not my favorite, but it is not so bad I would eliminate it.

Kingcobb - well, I certainly wouldn't get another one. The extreme heat isn't going to go away. Sounds like GT just can't handle it.

I realize this may be of no help, but I am in Texas also - Central Texas, Austin area - and my Graham Thomas is doing as well as all the others. It's also in pretty close to all day sun. I think I may be a little on the underwatering spectrum: I have drip irrigation in that area, but not completely happy with how much water the roses are getting and am planning to swap out the emitters. I can tell a significant difference between the potted roses I hand water with a hose and the roses along this fence.

This year I put up 30% shade cloth for my vegetable bed, but have no roses there, only peppers, eggplants, angel trumpets, and potted dahlias.

I had no shade for GT this past week. You are hotter than us, but we had feel like 113F last week, and several days in the feel like 100s, and upper 90s actual. Today, I have many nice blooms on GT and no sign of heat stress, whereas other roses show signs of heat stress. Is there another issue other than weather affecting with your GT?

It has to be watering lack or roots being eaten.

One thing I find very interesting in the photo is the leaves are a light yellow. Normally when I have a dying rose, the leaves are brown. I have not seen dead leaves in that light yellow on a plant. It's like the plant lost its chlorophyll.

The Antique Rose Emporium, located in Texas, used to always carry Graham Thomas, Golden Celebration, and Abraham Darby until they got a letter from David Austin to not sell them anymore. If ARE used to have them, my impression is they are fine for our Texas weather.

They aren't light yellow. They are toasted and burnt. Having lived College Station and Galveston, the heat, dryness, and sun intensity here on the plains do not make them comparable environments.

I dug them up last week. Roots were intact and uneaten. They were watered 3 times a week by emitter. Typically in summer I water less as the roses will kind of shutdown, but the 113 degree plus heat this summer with no rain did a number on them. I just think it was too much heat for a rose developed in a moist cooler climate. I haven't lost any other roses, though my Austins all show heat stress except the ones that get afternoon shade. I do have 2 surviving Gts, but they both get some afternoon shade.

They did need more water for your conditions.

In that kind of heat, with full day sun, I'd water roses every day. That's how I gardened in southern Arizona.

I agree with Sheila and librarian_gardener and others - in those very extreme conditions, GT needs MORE water - like a lot more, and some shade if you can arrange it. What does being watered "3 times a week by emitter" mean actually - are they drip emitters, or some other kind? How long are they on? How many are around each plant? I gave up drip emitters years ago, as they just sent the water straight down, and it never spread out to water the plant. We have replaced all of them now with those tiny (about 1/3rd of an inch diameter) soaker hoses, which we put along the drip line of each rose. If a rose is not getting enough water, we lengthen the soaker hose. I have had GT in my garden for 25+ years. We of course are not as hot as you, but are warm and totally dry for 6 months of every year. My GT gets way more water than yours. It is happy, and still putting out some blooms, when some of my other roses have gone dormant.

Another thought - the photo of your GT does not seem to represent a very old (mature) rose to me - how long have your GTs been in the ground? Mine hit about 6 ft in its first year, and is now happy at about 8 ft tall.

Jackie

@Sheila z8a Rogue Valley OR I just want to say thank you! My James Galway recently started losing leaves and I remembered your "It has to be watering lack or roots being eaten" comment. I went to give it some extra water and noticed some of my hellebores there are water stressed, leaves were droopy. I then started watering manually via garden hose (instead of the drip irrigation I have there) and my James Galway is not losing leaves anymore and is putting out new growth.

@librarian_gardner_8b_pnw I will start watering them every day in summer. Thank you!

James Galway is in a different garden bed than my Graham Thomas.

Sheila, I couldn't agree more with all the statements you have made on this thread. I know summer heat and dry conditions. And I know how much I run my drip and tiny sprinkler systems. A lot, for a long time, and often. Diane

Yes, Sharon and Diane. I am very familiar with heat stroke and death. This whole irrigation system business has huge challenges. One has to be on top of it every minute.

That getting the hose out business is a good add on. I think I heard you, Diane, and Deborah in California doing this and you are so right.

It is remarkable too, how plants can come back on occasion after heat/drought damage.

Thank you both for your kind thoughts.