I agree that a rose that old should be own root by now. Leaving what's left in the ground and putting on compost now and organic fertilizer maybe in spring and continuing watering it, if you do that, would give it a shot for regrowing next spring. Good luck!

Thank you so much for your kind words and suggestions.

I'll fence off the area and mark it so no one else will tread on it.
Can you tell me what you mean by "own root" and "commenting so it will bump"? I'm new to blogging and roses so I don't
understand.

I am in Northern Baltimore County, Maryland (north of the city) in zone 7, I believe.

Here is a picture of the rose bush taken June 2nd, 2014 with a single rose.

So sad that's it's gone.

Tracy, Own root means a plant and it's roots are the same variety. Some roses have a top variety grafted to a different rootstock. In that case, the top being cut off would probably lose your beloved rose because the root would be a different variety. For your Mom's rose, there is hope because grafts often only last 15 years or so and a fifty-five year old bush has it's own roots usually. Your Mom's rose is lovely and I hope it comes back. It can take a couple of years to recover. Sherry was "bumping" to get your question to the top of the pile so more people would see it to help you.

Thank you, Sheila. Every time someone comments it goes to the top of the "all discussion" forum and the top of the forum you posted in. By any remote chance do the landscapers have what they cut off? I know it is a long shot, but if they do, you could try to root some of the cutting also.

Tracy, with a rose that old and vigorous, there's a good chance that it will sprout back from the part that the landscapers left. If it were mine, I would leave it alone and watch it. Come April, or maybe even a little bit earlier, I'll bet that you will see some new growth. (I'm about two hours south of you in Virginia, and our seasons are very similar.)

Any update?

Wanna bet that's either 'Dr. W. van Fleet' or 'New Dawn'? You can't kill that thing.