2) Why even after I caught and destroyed the aphids, on HT Rosemary Harkness, the bloom is blemished, is it the aphids or is it something else?

Any insight, help, recommendation would be much appreciated.

I do not see any of the problems you refer to--but maybe a clearer picture would reveal them?

At any rate, I doubt that the aphids are the cause, so quit worrying about them. In most cases, the aphids are an annoyance, but not a major cause of rose problems.

In my yard, I wipe off any heavy infestations of aphids with my fingers. After a week or two, the good bugs come along (like ladybugs) and devour the aphids. Problem solved. Of course, if you have been spraying insecticides, you may have killed off the good bugs like the ladybugs also.

Kate

In the first picture you attached, both of the canes have sawfly damage along their length. It is the dark black/brown marking that is visible.

The adult sawfly lays it's eggs into the soft cane tissue of new growth and this can cause the cane to either wilt or die off altogether which in both cases, often affects the appearance of any buds along the cane.

Those canes will also eventually rupture and hatch many initially very small young sawfly larvae. They are typically green/yellow with black spots. You may hardly see them at first, but they will grow progressively larger assuming they are not eaten by other predator insects such as wasps and you will see signs of foilage being eaten on the bush and small little black specks on the leaves which is their exrement.

When I see signs of sawfly damage on young canes like this, I will usually prune it off if the cane hasn't set buds yet. If it has set buds and I want to save them, you can run a fingernail/thumbnail along and against the cane which ruptures the sawfly eggs underneath and you will see yellow/brown liquid oozing from the wound. However, it will usually save the buds and stop the larvae from hatching and you can prune the affected area off once the rose finishes blooming.

Forgot to add, the aphids are a red herring and inconsequential here. Just spray them off with water or squish them with your fingers. The problems on these roses is exclusively caused by the sawfly damage.

Thanks Kate.

I'm sorry for the photo. It's somewhat difficult to capture on Rosemary. Here is another photo, this time of Tamora. I've put an arrow to show the blemish. It looks like a bruised apple.

So the brownish stems is no problem either?

Bob

Thanks Morden man for the practical post/tutorial. Really appreciate it.

The brownish petal in the last photo appears to be moisture related, perhaps botrytis, due to the petals/flowers getting too wet, too long. Kim

Thanks Kim.

We've had one rainy summer. Wish I could send some your way.

We've had basically a rain shower every week. And now we're in a midst of a rainfall warning with 2" of rain....

Bob

You're welcome, Bob. It doesn't seem fair that you're being drowned and we're being fried, does it? Thanks. Kim

But who said it's fair! But as long it is manageable I'm fine with it. After all the rain, it feels more like late September than August, morning lows 54 and highs 63 the past week.

As for the roses: I cut off all the affected stems and got rids of them, plus a single sawfly larvae. So far so good.

I took a new pictures of the Rosemary Harkness bud. Is this botrytis?

It reminds me of a festering wound...

Actually, the buds in that last image appear just fine. Give them heat and good sun and they should develop into the blooms you expect from the variety. Some roses look like this as immature tissue begins to be exposed to the elements which assist it to mature. These appear healthy and clean. Botrytis looks more like the images linked below. If you've ever grown camellias and dealt with the brown petal blight, you know how it looks. Yours appear clean and healthy. If they get and stay really wet, they may develop the mold. Kim

Here is a link that might be useful: Botrytis

Thanks Kim, that's reassuring. We're having a couple of nice warm days, hopefully enough for it to bloom...,

Kim, I just wanted to thank you. The rose bloomed beautiful and had tiny blotches.

I just wanted to post a "healthy" bud as a comparison.

You're welcome! I'm glad they straightened out. I think the difference between the two images of the buds is most due to heat. The warmer and drier it is, the more likely the buds will look like the second photo. Many roses will produce the first image types in cooler, wetter weather and it isn't necessarily due to anything wrong, just temps and "wet". Congratulations! Kim

True-blue--what a lovely picture of your blooming rose. So glad it all worked out for you. Enjoy your roses!

Kate

Got it Kim!

Thanks Kate. Here is another bloom, from a warm and dry bud, less saturated :-)