Frog, you need to tell us where you are located, so that folks in your area can give you specific advice.

:-)

Jeri

I'm in South Louisiana. Hot and Humid...

Could you snap some pictures of the leaves on these bushes? And is it possible to ID the plants at all? Knowing whether we are dealing with Hybrid Teas versus Hybrid Perpetuals may help.

Josh, Ill do that ASAP... To be honest i'm in WAY over my head with these roses. I'm a "stick a Mexican heather in the ground and let it ride" kinda person. So, I've tried to be a proper gardener to these roses, but i dont know what the heck a "tea" vs a "hybrid perpetual" would be. Every bush had a name-tag with a number under it, but... you can guess what happened to them (most all were pulled up and i have no idea where they go)

This post was edited by southernfrog on Tue, Aug 6, 13 at 12:03

Just from the photo, the plants look like they are maybe modern roses. Hang in there, and keep watering through the heat. When cooler weather comes, the roses will have an easier time. When you can put up pictures of the leaves we can help you find out what is happening. Hopefully a deer or something isn't eating them all off the plants. If you get any flowers to show us, we can tell you what roses you have.

Thanks, Kitty! I'll upload some pictures

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Roses that are defoliated in midsummer--either deer are browsing off the new growth or blackspot disease is killing the leaves as fast as they grow out. Blackspot is everywhere and chronic throughout the south, east, and midwest. Leaves turn yellow behind dark spots and fall off. Most roses are susceptible and need to be protected with fungicide spray every one or two weeks. If it is blackspot and you want to keep the roses that you have, you can spray every two weeks with Bayer Disease Control for Roses, Flowers, and Shrubs (that exact name).

If you want a rose garden without spraying, replant with resistant varieties. Old tea (not hybrid tea) and china roses are relatively easy to grow in the south. These mostly make very large shrubs that bloom throughout the season, but the flowers are not like florist roses.

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last... pic6

We need to know what happened to the leaves that are not there.

Do the leaves turn yellow behind dark spots and fall off?

Do the young green stems show signs of browsing?

The other possibility is that the leaves were catastrophically burnt by excess fertilizer or inappropriate spray. This would cause the leaves to turn crispy brown and fall off.

The leaves don't really even come out.... Ill see new growth.. then it starts to die

The stems that are flowering are new stems that grew out this summer with leaves on them and now there are no leaves. Are you doing something to control blackspot? What is the name of the product?

There are some old dead or dying canes that need to be pruned out. Maybe the new growth that died back was on these canes. The canes may have been drilled by insects or have an area of black or brown dead bark near the base (stem canker). However, having some bad canes shouldn't prevent the plant from developing new growth from the base or on healthy canes.

Could you have over-fertilized? Follow label directions for amount and duration. Excessive fertilizer can poison the soil. Plants without leaves cannot use fertilizer and distressed plants should not be fertilized.

Thanks, Michael!
I'm using Bayer 3 in 1. Hopefully i didn't over-fertilize. I follow the instructions to a T, but i did fertilize recently (when they didnt have leaves).

Also, someone told me i should remove this mulch and replace it with a pine straw because i may be retaining too much heat, suffocating the plant. Could that help? my current mulch is a Scotts premium black mulch

Bark mulch is good and doesn't smother plants, but black doesn't sound like a good idea because of absorbing heat. I don't think it would ruin the plants, though. I would just cover it with an inch of plain bark, or needles if you prefer.

Bayer has so many products with similar names. The one that most sprayers on here use is the Disease Control containing ONLY tebuconazole. It is effective against black spot at 14-day intervals. If you are using the All-In-One soil drench, that is not fully effective, plus you are using unnecessary insecticide. If you are using the 3-in-1 Insect, Disease, and Mite Control as a spray every two weeks, it should control blackspot, but you are using unnecessary toxic chemicals. Insecticide should not be applied routinely, and they include the miticide in the 3-in-1 because the insecticide causes spider mite outbreaks.

Bugs are another possibility. Grasshoppers and japanese beetle will both eat the leaves off faster than you can imagine. And be sure you are not over watering. The soil should be moist, not wet.

Surely there is a rose society in your area. Check the American Rose Society (ARS) web page and contact a master rosarian or find a local rose society. You need serious help here.

I'd suggest a soil test. Then we will know if the roses are over-fertilized.

What cecily said - FIND A LOCAL ROSE SOCIETY and ask for help! Rose society folks are usually very friendly, and will come and look at your roses.

Most likely just August in the south. Black spot, heat, humidity all take their toll. Most of my roses look the same.

Don't get discouraged! Just remember what they looked like last yr and with time and help from a rose club or folks on here you will be triumphant!! Garden web folks got me hooked and its something I'm so happy Ive learned to grow. Two diff landscapers were at my house late summer last yr to quote sod installation and said they could tell I cared for my roses because mine had leaves! Lol!! They said this time of yr most people's don't. I thought that was so funny for some reason. Anyways I will quit babbling and agree with using the bayer for disease which I purchase at Lowes and find that rose club. Wishing you the best of luck and hope to see your bushes all beautiful again real soon! They're tough plants! Take care, Judy

The active fungicide ingredient in Bayer is tebuconazole. You may find the earlier thread below of interest.

Here is a link that might be useful: earlier thread

Hi,

my mother has a garden with various flowers. She has also roses and I know that she uses a special soil and conditioner for them. There are many variations of roses and every kind could react differently at the climatic conditions, and also may require a different care. I agree that you should go for a help to the rose society. They should help you. You can look for contact to them on this page http://plusaddress.com/ I use it very often and every time I find, what I need. I hope it will be better with your plants :-)