typical reaction to the heat. Smaller size and often also a much paler color.

What is there normal bloom size when blooming in milder weather? I'm just curious to know how much they shrink in size from your heat.

JIm

I have noticed the blooms are smaller. A floribunda I have is in its summer flush and the bloom are about half the size as they were during the spring flush; same amount of blooms just smaller.

Liz

Plants are conserving their energy in order to survive... I think the small blooms with less petals are sweet... but I look forward to the bigger ones come the end of summer too!

thanks all for the comments. I was wondering they are all small except my cinco de mayo which has its (my first flush)

Some roses bloom better in the heat than others. I have a rose called Grand Siecle(Great Century) that always has large blooms despite the weather. Some roses just shut down entirely.

Yes, it's the heat. Lack of water, and not cutting back on the amount of fertilizer may play a role too. Typically, in the heat of summer, individual rose bushes should receive at least 4" of water per week. Roses stress very easily in heat. Water eases that stress.

Thanks all I have been watering every day with a hose until yesterday when we got an inch of rain. I also have been fertilizing regulary and spraying for insects and BS. Should I cut down on the fertilizer? Some of the roses are in containers and some are in the ground..........Susan

I was under the impression that heat-stressed roses should not be sprayed. Can someone clarify that for us?

Kate

I would not.
Heat-stressed roses don't need to be pushed to bloom.
They need to be de-stressed.

Valium won't work for roses, but extra water and mulch are helpful.

:-)
Jeri

"Is this because of the heat or because they are young bushes"

Both. Bloom size and quality will improve with the maturity of the plant. Having said that, blooms on mature plants tend to get smaller in the heat.

I would not stop fertiling but I would pay attention to what I am using as a fertilizer. Use something with slow release nitrogen. Also add plenty of mulch and compost.

I have a very large rose garden with many large, mature established roses on fortuniana. I can continue to push these roses to bloom through the summer because they have large established root systems that can support the new growth even in the heat. An immature plant does not have the root system to support a large flush of new growth in the heat of the summer.

Water, water, water and water beyond the drip line to encourage the roots to spread.

You can continue to spray with Bayer Disease control through the summer. Just spray early in the morning.

Good luck,
Glenn

Not to put it too harshly, but you really ought to consider discontinuing spraying insecticides routinely. Fungicides are one thing. You use them as a preventative, but insecticides should really only be used if an indentified pest is threatening to do serious damage to your roses. I stress "identified" pest because there are some insects that are difficult to kill and must just be lived with ( Japanese Beetles, adult Grasshoppers etc.). Also, as a case in point an acquaintance of mine was spraying the heck out of her roses for bugs when it turned out a baby rabbit was eating the lower leaves.

Thanks for all the info as for spraying for insecticide I had leaf notcher weevils and have stopped spraying for them as I read about the effects of carbacide. As for fertilizer I am using rotating schedule of rosetone and fish emolsion.

Thank you for the questions and feedback posts! I came right here with the very question about my iceberg floribundas that are so much smaller in their second bloom cycle but it’s been in the high 90’s here in Utah. And other than their small size, they look incredible. Loaded with blooms that can be seen from a distance and very healthy leaves except for one of them that is burnt around the edges of the leaves. I have 9 roses in a row beneath my windows. It’s one of the middle plants. I’m wondering if there’s s particular reflection off the window that only hits that plant or if somehow it’s not getting an equal watering or in the early spring when I had an aphid outbreak, maybe I overdosed that plant. I treated them all twice with systemic insecticide and it wiped out half of the aphids and then I bought ladybugs and they devoured the rest! I highly recommend ladybugs for your roses and mums.