Most insecticides kill good bugs, including bees, as well as bad bugs, and eventually find their way into the environment. The NYT just ran an article about what some of the agricultural sprays are doing to baby boy. So think twice. A lot of bad bugs can reasonable be picked off by hand, esp if you are talking about only 3 roses. I manage a no-spray garden with Japanese beetles and 350 roses. So do lots of others.

It's better to figure out what kind of pest you are dealing with and then use an appropriate technique to get rid of it. For instance, aphids can be removed with a strong spray of water and require no chemicals to defeat. If you post some pictures of the leaves we might be able to help you find the insect responsible and help you take care of it.

For a beautiful, fragrant, hardy red, I'll recommend Veteran's Honor. Mine is two years old now and doing great. The blooms are a lovely medium red, last a long time, and have a fruity scent. I can't say if it is diseases resistant as I spray. I bought Firefighter this spring as it is also supposed to be a great red, but it's too new to say much about it.

I've been in the garden nearly every day and can honestly say I haven't caught a single one of the buggers in the act (not that I'm an entymologist anyway). I'll see if I can upload a couple of pics (though this would be the equivalent of a rock swimming the Atlantic). Please keep in touch with the thread. Thank you much.

I don't know if it is hardy enough for your zone, but Chrysler Imperial is a great red--fragrant and disease-resistant.

Do you know about helpmefind.com ? It will give you info. like zone hardiness.

Kate

Insecticides should never be sprayed as a preventative
By the time insects arrive in any number chances are they will have built up an immunity to whatever insecticide you were using.
Like catsrose, I grow close to 400 roses and never spray insecticides.

The trouble with having only three roses is that you notice every imperfection. You can focus more on what's bad than what's good. You can't protect your roses absolutely from insects and you will do more harm than good by trying. There is a better way which is to let nature work and give it a hand in ways that are not harmful. Give it a try.

Yeah, you need like 97 more roses so you don't fret about a few chewed leaves.

Here are images of rose slugs and their damage. It is the most common foliage pest nationwide. You don't see them because they are on the underside of the leaf (and, in the early stages, tiny). Or else wasps have already picked them off and they are through for the year.

Here is a link that might be useful: Google images

I never recommend use of insecticides unless I know what you are trying to kill. Why? Well, because intecticides kill ALL insets, not just the bad ones. Give me some idea of what you are trying to get rid of, and I can advise you then.

Here are a couple pictures that show the general type of damage. Maybe I am overreacting...I just don't want anything to get out of control. Any insights?

So Chrysler Imperial and Veteran's Honor are good ones. Any other opinions?

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Looks like rose slugs. They're sawfly larvae. They're very teeny and green, and you will find them on the underside of the leaves.
I squish them.

Jeri

"Maybe I am overreacting...I just don't want anything to get out of control. Any insights?"
Before the predatory insects show up, they have to have something to eat. This means you will have insect damage. If you can control yourself, the predators will soon appear. If not, spraying insecticides now can kill any early arriving predators.
I haven't sprayed insecticides in 8 years and have few damaging insects. Aphids that appeared on my potted roses in my greenhouse were soon gone as soon as I placed them outside.

Insecticide spraying should be done as a last resort anytime. I do spray Merit usually only once per year early in the Spring when the thrips are a problem. I do not worry about foliage chewers as a rule as they do little comparative damage that is hard to really notice and worry about when you have lots of roses in your garden. I have 250+. Bloom ruiners like thrips however are very damaging and their damage is very visible and they do bother me immenseley. That is what spurs me to spray the Merit once per year to keep them in check.
As to good fragrant red HT's, I do agree Veterans's Honor is probably the best all around red HT available. But you might consider Firefighter, Opening Night, Chrysler Imperial, Grande Amore, Mr. Lincoln for fragrant reds. Some not so fragrant yet beautiful blooming reds are Beloved, Ingrid Bergman, Passion, Olympiad.
Just my two cents...
JOhn

Thank you all for your input. I'll refrain from spraying insecticides. That being said, most of the stuff I have sprayed are "all-in-one"s; i.e., fungicide and insecticide. Is there a good fungicide recommendation out there as blackspot and powdery mildew become problems when left untreated? That's the last question, I promise.
Thanks again.

Experienced growers generally don't use combo products. They are marketed to beginners who don't know what problems they have or might have. Most growers in the eastern half of the country do spray fungicides routinely. Most sprayers here use Bayer Rose, Flower Disease Control (spray concentrate, not soil drench, found at Lowe's) or a mix of propiconazole (Bonide Infuse) and mancozeb.

Didn't you look at my link? It shows damage identical to your pictures. Wipe rose slugs off the bottom of leaves.

Please add your state to your header.

Yes michaelg, it does look identical. I guess I was scrolling down too fast. I apologize for having squandered your efforts.

Michaelg

Thank you for the pictures of the rose slug damage. One of the pictures looks just like what I found on one of my roses. The damage has not gotten worse so maybe some of the good bugs got them. (I only spray fungicides) Now if we could just find good bugs to kill JBs......

I could spot tiny rose slugs..they are very tiny..unless you miss them then they are big and fat

Some of mine are so chewed-up that I am tempted to cut the leaves off to encourage forming new growth. Is that bad? I welcome predators. Have noticed some wasps that got into the house, but I'm not encouraging them and don't feel like catching them and carrying them out. I haven't seen any of the others unless the birds are getting them. I have lots of birds - Barb

barb roselover, I had a couple roses that were nigh unto defoliated by roseslugs, and I had no problems stripping off the nasty leaf skeletons. One plant is beginning new growth...the other not so much. In hindsight I would still remove the most damaged leaves. It should prompt new growth.