It sounds like you have thrips. There is not much you can do except wait them out. You probably will have them all summer. The insects that eat them will come soon. You could spray Bayer Insect and flower spray just lighty over the buds but do it in the evening when the bees are not around. I am finding that putting bags of ice at the base of the plants keeps them well down. Also I purchased some OFF bug repellant clip on's and put a few around the garden at night and it keeps the population down also.

I have been having a thrippy morning here in TN. I have a new Full Sail HT with thrips and I am sick about it.
Thanks, ramblin, I am going to get bags of ice ASAP!

You are indeed describing a thrips infestation.

I have often wondered whether they actually do in fact prefer the light colored flowers, or rather if it is only that we see them there more easily because the damage is more obvious.

I've seen them in darker blooms, but for some reason they don't destroy the blooms as much as they do in the lighter colors.

OK thanks! I used the Bayer last year, but was trying hard not to this year. I have some though, so now tha tI have spent almost 4 hours in the roses this morning, and well worth it I might add, I will see if they are still here this evening after my attempts (I bet they are, but it was a fun experiment!) and if I see any I will spray. I did get the hard stuff (pruning, deadheading and watering) done before it got hot!

I have looked at my reds and I swear the reds are not affected, and neither are the deep orange and my Hot Cocoa is covered in open blossoms. The Mr Lincoln and Red Masterpiece are immediatley next to my Moonstone and not one affected bloom. I want that plant to bloom, so I am especially going to make sure it gets sprayed.

Out of curiosity, what inscets eat thrips? I mean, i am telling you, here in downtown I rarely see anything that isn't hurting my plants!

Minute Pirage Bugs eat thrips. These are flat black bugs about 1/8 inch. I have lots of them.

Use what Bayer? They have doaens of products.

I will link Baldo Villegas's page (our rose buddy who is an bug expert) -- scroll down to see the listing for thrips.

In my experience they are most attracted to fragrant white and yellow roses, for some reason.

Spraying the buds, as you have done, is said to help somewhat, and I like the ice and OFF ideas that ramblin shared. Thank goodness the annoying little critters are seasonal.

Here is a link that might be useful: Baldo's non-toxic bug control suggestions

I have the Bayer insect spray that attaches to a hose, main ingredient is Imidicloprid which is also safe around pets which is CRITICAL as the roses are in front of my grooming shop. That being said, the bugs seem to have died off a bit since this morning afer my "injection" of Insecticidal soap into the buds. I kn ow they hate heat and will be more active in the morning, so i will check then as well, because we are at (GULP) 98 today as it stands....SO GLAD I got my gardening done this morning before it got this hot!

Its morning, considerably cooler and no bugs moving so my experiment seems to have worked well. My Disneylands, that two days ago looked like I wou ld lose every bud on them are beginning to actually OPEN now, so maybe ther eis hope after all. Everything I have read says Thrips are hard to kill or at least hard to control. I am glad this worked though because I have lost 8 or 9 blooms on Moonstone but there are about that many left that look either untouched or very lightly touched by this critter. Might have abloom by midweek....it was the biggest darn bar root I have ever seen, had to buy an extra large pot to plant it in, and it is huge, nearly 2 foot tall and planted 6 weeks ago! Rosemania delivered a really nice bare root on this one!

I sprayed some of my lighter colored buds this morning with the Bayer Insect spray. How often do I need to spray the buds to help control the thrips?

The bottle I have says it lasts 30 days. I haven't used it this year, so I cannot tell for sure.

" . . . I have the Bayer insect spray that attaches to a hose, main ingredient is Imidicloprid which is also safe around pets which is CRITICAL . . . "

*** Unless, of course, one of your pets (unbeknownst to you) is predisposed to seizure disorder.

For Imidicloprid is not only a disaster for honeybees -- it is a known trigger of seizures in susceptible individuals.

You find this out, of course, when your dog or cat (or child) begins to seizure.
I can tell you from tragic experience -- that is not a fun moment.

Jeri

*** Unless, of course, one of your pets (unbeknownst to you) is predisposed to seizure disorder

This is so true. I know there are certain dogs that are prone to seizures? Especially Dalamations. I am so sorry for your loss Jeri, what breed of dog was it?

I think I remember reading that with thrips there is a 10-14 day gestation period but I am not sure. I would follow the directions on the back of the spray bottle on how often that you need to spray and I would only spray in the evening when there are no bees, children or pets around.

I am sorry you had an issue! I have BTDT with common, safe drugs making a dog or child very very ill. BUT, that being said: Having been a dog professional for 15 years I have to say I have never seen a dog have a serious reaction to Advantage (imidicloprid) and the Bayer website does not list seizure dogs are being contraindicated in its use (that I can find anyway).

SPINOSAD, the drug in Comfortis IS known to trigger seizures. And is contraidicated in dogs with a history of seizures.

Any medication can be toxic or create an issue in someone, but this drug (Imidicloprid) is safer than many to mammals.

As I have said before, around here the city sprays so much Malathion and whatever else we have almost NO good insects left. Haven't seen a bee in a year around the shop and haven't seen any lady bugs, save 4 or 5 I saw during aphid season. I would use it if I had to, but so far the soap I used has worked.

but this drug (Imidicloprid) is safer than many to mammals.

Yes I even hear they put it on cows to keep the flies off of them.

particentral.....what does BTDT mean?

Been there done that

Thank you very much, just when I think I know "puter lingo", I really don't. LOL

Please do not spray insecticide (other than soap) on flowers unless the buds are too tight for pollinators to wiggle in. The Bayer insecticide spray is lethal to almost any kind of insect. Also imidicloprid (Merit) sprayed on the foliage is known to trigger spider mite outbreaks.

The safest insecticide to use on closed flowers is spinosad, which is less toxic to bees and thrips predators (FertiLome Borer, Bagworm spray and some other labels).

I don't do anything for thrips and they normally are only bad toward the end of the first flush. I know others have a worse problem than I.