Jackie, I have seen the occasional comeback but only when I plant the malingerer in the ground. Some roses don't like life in a pot.

I am still waiting. My friend "rescued" two Pat Austins going on 4 years ago. They were clearance potted plants from Home Depot. They are both still runts despite being in the ground since she brought them over for me to plant. They do get a little bigger each year but not by much. Maybe this year they'll finally take off.

It does not help that they lose most of their canes to the winter each year.

I have had others that I ended up SPing. Long ago I made a pledge to never buy less-than-highest quality roses. Our growing season is too short for them to recover and catch up in a timely manner.

Jackie, I have a Comtesse du Cayla that's a runt. I hear everyone rave about this rose but mine is about 4 years old and not even 2 feet tall, spindly and has bloomed little. I've moved it once but it didn't help. I think I'll give it one more season but I suspect it'll meet its fate with the shovel in the fall. Too many other roses wantin' to live in my garden.

Jackie,
I have had a number of roses that just wouldn't grow. Peace and William Shakespeare 2000 come to mind. Both were transplanted and immediately started to grow.

Peace was in my best bed, prime location, and just sulked. I SP'd it and tossed it in the junk heap behind the shed. A couple of weeks later I noticed it was developing basal breaks! I replanted it in another spot and it quickly grew into a monster.

I can't explain it. It seems that a transplant can kick start a sulking plant.

Jackie, I had 2 of them that didn't do well, every year they got a little smaller. I dug them up finally this year, to my surprise they had developed no new roots, only had what they were originally planted with. The weird thing was they were both DA roses, don't know if that has anything to do with it, but both were purchased from different vendors, and they were in different spots in the garden.

I've managed to get my Star of the Nile up to a whopping 3' (dwarvish, here), but it has been a 4 or 5 year struggle. And this is southern California with a 52 week growing season!! Poor clone, maybe? Perhaps I will try another because the flowers are so beautiful.

Sometimes there is a reason. I just noticed my poor OLOG has crown gall. That explains why it has struggled so, and out it must come. Tiny Catalonia had stem canker from the start, should have returned it, and died over the weekend, helped by the 97F temperature/8% humidity. Sometimes they do finally finally become strong. Lemon Spice took 4 years but it is finally substantial and an excellent bloomer. And Teas always seem slow at the beginning.

But the ones that grow like weeds from the start are the best ones in this garden.

I had my SOTN in the ground for 4-5 years and never got larger than 2 feet. Bye bye it went. I think it must have been a bad clone. It is a beautiful rose.

Carla

I have had roses sit for a year or two or three or four before they finally take off. Pierre de Ronsard was one. I'm waiting on Cl Etoile to do the same (I hope). But as for roses that diminish, I have not seen those bounce back.

If not spraying for BS is a matter of principle for you -- and this is a principle I certainly respect -- then it just may be that this rose won't work for you in your climate.

Rosefolly

Prairie Harvest struggled and struggled in the ground. It was quite healthy, but suffered terrible winterkill every year, and didn't grow. I put it into a pot, and by the end of that summer, it was 4 times the size it had ever been in the ground, and had a flush that was at least equal to every flower it had produced in more than 5 years.

This was a special case in a couple of ways. Disease was a non issue with this rose. The problem was apparently a lack of heat and winterkill. Getting it into a pot that could heat up helped the first problem, and overwintering it in the garage helped the second.

I'm still having a problem with my Darlow's Enigma. the description I first read about this rose was that it did well in almost full shade-----Three years later it was still the same size---(A New Dawn is doing very well under the same conditions)so a couple of years ago I moved it to a sunnier location----it is still only a couple of feet tall but this year it does look a little taller. Maybe it will bloom this season. I'm still waiting !!!LOL

Florence

This has happened to me many times. I think some roses take a long time to develope a good root system. Maybe they are slow in my cold clay. Sometimes I have cut a rose to the ground in preperation of shovel pruning only to find it growing strongly. I have become patient.

Mostly, runts doen't get better.
And Rose Mosaic Virus problems contribute to down hill slides.
But there are a few instances:
Vole damaged roots. If I can save even part of an own root plant, it will recover.
Fungal infected canes: sometimes the canes are just unhealthy and if I cut them back totally, the spring new growth comes back healthy. Well, the exception was last spring when the new vigorous growth got killed by the Easter Freeze and there was no second coming.
A found rose that I thought was a goner, only to find that it had hung on, surrounded by grass/hay until it mustered enough whatever it takes for it to grow well. But that was an old survivor with patience built into its genetic code.

I have a Tamora that I have had for many years and I don't think has reached two feet. I have transplanted it once and that didn't help. This year I am going to try growing it in a pot and it that doesn't work, it will move to the compost pile. Unlike my fellow Pennsylvanian, Harryshoe, I don't have luck with Tamoras.

I have a similar situation, I'm replacing an Anna de Diesbach this spring. It's a four year old plant that has never gotten more than 18 inches tall.

However, it's possible that Star of the Nile might stay very compact in a cold zone and 18 inches tall might be as good as it gets.

I'd give it some Neptune's Harvest and Mills Magic Mix, and watch it for another year.

Is it somewhat wide and does it have a few canes branching out? If it has some branching, and repeat blooms, I think I'd give it a feeding boost, and not transplant it. I'd give it another year to see what happens.

I can't explain it. It seems that a transplant can kick start a sulking plant.
* * *
kind of like a spanking.
Ever notice that when you start talking 'haircut' your hair starts acting real nice?

Thank you all for your answers/comments. I will go ahead with my plan to dig SOTN up and put it in a huge pot because I'm thinking it's never going to do anything if I leave it as is. Digging it up will give me the chance to closely inspect the roots and canes for signs of disease or damage by critters and I will keep a very close eye on watering and fertilizing. If it still looks bad at the end of the season I'll - nope. I just can't throw anything out. If it still looks bad I'll move it to the front yard and forget about it lol.
(yes I know most people want their front yards to look the best for everyone passing by, but I care more about "my garden" in the back lol)

My Star of the Nile was also a dog... Shovel pruned it after a while... It was disappointing because the bush I saw at Heirloom was just gorgeous. I don't think it's as much a bad clone problem as a slow grower problem... some roses are just that way.

I also have Pat Austin that just doesn't want to grow. So I'm going to go get a huge grafted one from the nursery and toss this own root runt that's been sitting here for a year...

I also have other roses that are runts due to herbicide damage (I sprayed weeds near their roots) and those take 1 to 3 years to bounce back to their pre spray glory...

if you have a clay soil you could try digging it up, mixing the soil with plenty of perlite and then replant. It could be it needs a more aerated soil.

Some people say that 3 years is enough time, but 5 works better for me. I've had quite a few roses I'm glad I waited that long to evaluate.