The blooms are just aged and dried by the sun. The leaves look very healthy. You may want to move the potted roses to where they will not get a lot of afternoon sun, that will help.

You have a pretty sophisticated system for a new gardener just starting! Good job and congrats on your new roses!

The foliage looks really healthy. If you're worried that it's over fertilization you could cut back half. But I agree with Buford. Just looks like the sun. Snip the roses and bring them inside for bouquets before they get a chance to "roast" or just move them to where they get more morning sun and less afternoon sun. Again, wonderful job with everything as a new gardener! I am sure we will be seeing photos of your gardenin flourishing in the future. :)

Yes very healthy leaves it looks like...AS Buford said blooms are just aged and dried by sun... Best wishes!

Just my contrary opinion here, but I think you're overfeeding them. The bud is burned, too, on Mr Lincoln, so it's not just aging blooms. Your blooms don't look full blown to me, either. I could be wrong on this, but slack off on the various amendments for a bit, and just water. Diane

@Buford That is a problem. I have a very small garden. Have nowhere to move them (They grew taller than expected frankly). Maybe as others have suggested I will just cut the buds as they unfurl and put them in vase.

@Cori Ann: I have been a lurker here since June this year. And have been going through what others have been doing. After reading I almost felt like I should never have planted roses given the amount of care they need. I will cut down on fertilizers.

@Jim. Thanks for the kind words. These bushes have taken a bit of my time.

@Nanadoll: You are right. Mr Lincoln has not bloomed fully. I do not think it will. Will cut down on Fertilizers.

How about watering? Should I water more? Should I water any day when temperature is expected to go beyond 90F? Even if I have watered say two days ago? Yesterday I added Lucerne mulch around them to keep them cool. Fingers crossed. Last time I add mulch around my Osmanthus Fungal Gnats invaded.

Really cagey on watering part after successfully killing potted Arabian Jasmine with water and chemical fertilizers.

Hi Just Started !

Was the 89 degrees a sudden jump in temperature? When we have a 20-25 degree jump the open rose blooms look like yours. It's like hitting them with a blast furnace.

How warm does the pot soil get on a hot day? When watered is all the soil saturated? Running out the drainage holes does not guarantee thorough watering. You should be good with the potting soil but check every few months. As the roots increase, water needs change. If you feel the foliage every day, your fingers will learn when it's time to water. That's a habit gardeners have. Touching the foliage (at least here in the land of drought).

What were the fertilizer numbers on the potting mix, if there were any (ie. 5-2-1). Those that have nutrients usually advise not to fertilize for X months.

Rodale's books on organic gardening are very informative. They are the most straightforward I've found with the most information.

Fertilizers high in nitrogen promote leafy growth (fish emulsion). Potassium (bone meal) binds with the soil. It is primarily used in the lower area of the planting hole so eventually when it becomes available (after many months) it's there in the root zone. Chicken manure is the "hottest". Needs the longest aging. Cow manure has the fewest viable weed seeds.

Happy gardening. Irisgal.

@Jacqueline : Putting pots higher is next on agenda. Will be trying to put in a Wick to see if it solves over watering issues. I had not read of AL's 5:1:1 mix at that time. So it is just normal potting mix.

@Irisgal : Here in Sydney we are into summers now. A fluctuation between 75 to 95 F all in space of few days is normal.

Pots are al cheapo black plastic ones. They do get hot. So planning to wrap them up for a few days to see if that makes a difference.

If you wrap the pots and elevate, I think you can and should water daily in Summer heat. You are right, they shouldn't sit in water, but roses do love water if drainage is good.

Remember too that most potting soils are only great for the first 6-8 months. After that they begin to degrade and have less oxygen capacity as they rot down. Potting soils that are mostly tree compost or peat get heavy and soggy. Something with pumice, sand, soil some good charcoal bits from a wood fire ( not the ashes) and some peat or potting mix added in is much better. Try a beach umbrella for shade on very hot days to prevent rose fry.

Something I find with potted roses too - after a few months the soil settles down in the pot- if the rose grows really well, the roots will help compact the soil a bit more, then when the weather heats up, the soil starts to dry out and contract still further, often away from the edges of the pot, because its bound up by the roots... so when you water, it literally does just go right down the sides and out the bottom.

Currently going through all my potted plants, as I've noticed this is starting to happen again... and a couple I thought were being well watered were almost dried out...

I'm also finding that the effects of full sun are getting worse- the other day it was supposed to be 32 c...so I dragged the most sensitive roses (ones with really new fresh growth) under the carport...it was overcast all day tho, so even the ones I left out were fine, and as we had a good rain that evening, I dragged them all out - next day was only 21 or so, but not a cloud in the sky...some of that new growth fried..grr

Hi all. I created a new thread since I feel there is a pest angle to it. I cannot edit this post to include the link. However here it is :link

New shoots: Many roses produce new shoots in flushes, that is at intervals of up to a month or more. Resting is normal. I find this is particularly true of hybrid teas.

Watering: a well-watered pot will feel heavy. I have at least four different sizes of pots but I find I can still tell what a pot should feel like when it's wet enough. Everything from the size of the plant to the amount of foliage to how windy it has been, affects water consumption. You'll develop a feel for this.

Looking forward: look for lightweight pots in light colors which will keep roots cool and be easy to move. I like the synthetic molded pots which seem to be made of a plastic foam; the best of these have fairly thick walls. You'll still want pot feet or some sort of support.

Update:

I wrapped the pots in black builder film. That's pots were black too helped.

I put Lucerne mulch to keep things further cool.

Weather has been on cool side.

Result: Roses are doing well.

Friesia

Mr Lincoln.

Maybe the Fish Emulsion (3:3:0) and Seasol(1:0.1:18) based feed is working.

Just started, nice job! But sun will come back... Try to create a tent (some shade) above your roses... That will help with cooling them down a little bit and not having all blooms fried. I'm a newbie too but that's what I learned past summer :)

My roses get fried all the time as well, that's why I cut them and enjoy them inside!

Freesia just before being cut to avoid getting roasted. It is 93 F today and 100+ F next two days.

Incidentally freesia happens to be lightly fragrant. Was not mentioned on the label.

Hi Just Started, I'm impressed with how healthy your roses look. Good luck.

Trish

@Trish Roses are not really lush as in pic. It is just that I am good at Adobe Lightroom. Last two pics were taken with High end camera and processed in lightroom.

Ok! Forgot to say that I find Saturaid works well for pots. Might help stop what Curdle was saying - ie water running straight through.