Can you post photos?

What does "homemade rose food" consist of? If it does not have the basic plant nutrients in a readily available form, I'd get some Miracle-Gro (or equivalent) for "urgent" situations, and use that until growth gets going. But where are you? It's winter in most of the US, so not the time when one would expect many plants, including roses, to grow. If you're in Florida, you might be fertilizing next month. If you're in Michigan, it might not be until April. It doesn't do any good to fertilize prior to the time when the plant is capable of using the fertilizer ... active growth time.

Used tea leaves, crushed egg shells and banana peels is what was given to the roses. I do want to get something else, but I was working with what I had at home and trying to go more natural. I'm in Texas and I read that you should give them nutrients and water after pruning a lot. For Texas you usually do a major prune in mid January to early February is what I was told. The weather has been warmer though than usual and roses are already having new growth and blooming here in Texas. I'll post a picture as soon as I can.

Use a regular fertilizer. Thinking kitchen scraps are good way of feeding plants is not a sound theory :-) If you want something organic, Espoma makes a rose fertilizer, as does Dr. Earth but really any kind of all purpose fertilizer will work equally as well. It does not need to be rose specific.

I would also add that sometimes neglected roses and especially those that have had to fight their way through other shrubbery or lots of weeds are often beyond redemption. Or they might not be worth the effort to try to restore. But we won't know that without any photos to see exactly what's going on.

If you gave it some alfalfa it might give you some new basals.....

The homemade "fertilizer" is approximately equivalent to crossing your fingers and hoping.

You generally fertilize in spring, so don’t worry about the feeding / fertilizing for now - just clear the weeds & toss a nice mulch around the base of the plant, and water occasionally if it doesn’t rain. In regard to the sick cane, it would help if you could post a photo? In general, the guidance is to cut below anything that’s dead or diseased, until the cross-section is white or green. (Even if it means you have to remove the whole cane - it‘s sad, but it’s better to remove the sick cane, so that bush can recover & put out fresh growth.)

If you want to feed the soil COMPOSTED kitchen waste is fine but that takes time to get to the rose. Rose Tone is also good and so are fish emulsions for the soil and will work a little quicker. If you want to feed the rose immediately get a store bought well balanced fertilizer and follow all the directions carefully.

You can do two things with those long canes. If you want to save them, tie them off sideways somehow. That will encourage new side branches (called laterals) to grow off the cane. Don't worry that you can't see nodes. The cane can produce those. Or, you can just cut it back to where you want it and wait. You will either encourage new nodes along the cane or new canes from the bottom.

Without a picture it's hard to say whether you have canker or not. Older canes often get a darker brown color at the bottom as they age. That does not mean they are dead or diseased. They are just maturing.

It looks like there is a bloom in the larger photo. Before lopping off the canes, I would try rooting a stem from the new growth, you should know if it takes in 2-3 months. Then you could go on to major hacking, if you still need to.
Carla in Sac

Yeah, it has two blooms currently.

Could that be a pink knockout? Tiffany are you near Houston? If so........the Houston Rose Society might be of some help. A great place to go for rose supplies is Southwest Fertilizer - they know about roses. Depending on where you are in Texas [I am 2 hours from Houston] I prune, give organic fertilizer about Valentines Day. Organics like alfalfa pellets, epsom salts [can help make basal breaks [new canes], cottonseed meal would help your rose. Once you see it start to grow..........you could trim it back. With warmer weather and freedom from the brush, you will probably see some new growth soon. Gotta give it credit for being tough - 2 blooms!! Good luck!

I'm sorry but that rose would have to have a very strong sentimental attachment for me to consider anything other than ripping it out! Even if it were in good thrift - which it is not - it is nothing special bloom wise. Maybe even insipid. And in what appears to be a rather prominent or visible location, I would not be willing to deal with the unappealing appearance and lackluster flowering it would have even with careful pruning....which may or may not bring it back into a healthy growth situation, even with diligent attention. Most gardeners and even rosarians I know would have that plant out of there in a heartbeat!

Just because a plant exists in a garden....even one with a strong life persistence like this rose......does not mean one is required to 'save' it or attempt any sort of restoration. Sometimes it is just not worth the time and effort when a new, healthy and far more desirable and attractive replacement could be had for a just a few dollars.

btw, epsom salts - magnesium sulfate - does not encourage basal breaks (that is due to a natural occurring growth hormone in the alfalfa meal). In fact, unless you have a magnesium deficiency in your soil - rare - epsom salts does nothing to promote a healthier plant, be it a rose or anything else. That it does is a persistent garden myth that has no scientific or horticultural basis.

I agree with GG, and it takes a lot for me to condemn a living plant. You have a lopsided stick with an ugly graft, some more lopsided sticks and fairly in exciting flowers. If it was a healthy shrub rose plastered with those blooms that would be a different thing. But it isn't. Cut your losses and start afresh.

Possibly Rosa x odorata. 'Mutabilis'. A pretty thing when healthy.

Are those large trunks around the base part of the rose, in which case it is quite old and was cut back severely? If so, I'd give it another chance. Pull some of the grass around it away so it has room. Fertilize and water it, as people above suggest. See what happens. It doesn't cost much to let it live, and it looks as if you have space in your yard to plant other roses if you want to grow something with a different aesthetic. It might surprise you.

I think it depends on whether you have an emotional attachment to the existing rose bush - if yes, by all means try to save it (keep the remaining cane for now, add alfalfa pellets & a good balanced fertilizer at the right time, etc.). But, if you just have a good heart & are trying to save it because it’s there, dig it up & replace it with a fresh, healthy rose, that has the qualities you value (color, bloom type, fragrance, etc.).

And, it probably sounds like we are plant butchers running around with our shovels! You just happened to stumble into a very rose obsessed forum, where people aren’t willing to let a sunny spot go to waste!

P.S. I’m not experienced enough to identify your rose, but if floral_uk is right & it‘s Mutabilis, here’s what it looks like (the flower colors are variable):

https://antiqueroseemporium.com/products/mutabilis?_pos=1&_sid=dca4fc607&_ss=r

ARE is a great rose seller located in Texas (I have no affiliation with them!) - for the price, you get a healthy well rooted one gallon plant, ready for planting. (It will look small, but depending on the variety it will grow quickly in your climate). You can also get cheaper roses locally in spring at hardware stores, etc., but the selection is more limited & the quality can vary.

If you are lucky enough that this is Mutablis, come to think of it......foliage and that one bloom does resemble it - you might have a prize on your hands. Some years back, I was with a friend looking at a house for sale. A fabulous Mutablis was growing up the side of the garage - they had it trimmed as a big one caned climber - they had trimmed all the branches off the bottom. The top was a glorious huge ball [for want of a better word] of beautiful foliage blooming its head off. I was enchanted........I bought a one gallon Mutablis with 3 little cuttings in it from Chamblees a couple of years ago. 2 survived and they are now, potted, about 4 feet tall and ready to be planted. I kept trimming them, making one "leader" cane leaving the foliage on top. I am going to plant them next to a fence, keep the bottom cane trimmed, and let them drape over the fence. You might just baby this rose along, see if in fact it is Mutablis - if so, put a trellis next to it and it could be a centerpiece of that area. If Mutablis, the blooms will be different colors - check out helpmefind.com, go to the rose section and type in Mutablis in 'search'.

I just got a package of 4 roses in today from Antique Rose Emporium [ARE] - their roses are always top quality!

Just an aside but this is also posted to the Landscape Design forum and so the best placement, health and appearance of any plant will tend to take an overriding focus. As stated previously, unless a strong sentimental or emotional attachment, there is NO compelling reason to keep any plant that has been greatly neglected or is in poor health and of unpleasant appearance.

Some things cannot be corrected just by pruning or fertilizing :-)

You could take cuttings if you're desperate to save it. As I said before, I am absolutely not a plant butcher who runs around with a shovel. I keep things long past the point where a more ruthless gardener would get rid and I appreciate quirky and gnarly plants even if they don't satisfy most people's idea of perfection. But this one is just a mess.

Floral - just a note that I understood, and didn’t think you were a plant butcher! I was just concerned that the original poster might be thinking that, if she’s not used to these forums.

Since the rose has survived such adversity, good chance it is an old garden rose, and it does, to me, resemble Mutablis, which is a very tough rose. Lightly trimming it up, clearing the brush from around it, mulching with aged compost if you can get some, organic fertilizer - once spring comes and it leafs out, I am betting you will see a lovely rose. I love the sentimental value of this rose and glad you want to save it. Mutablis gets big - I once planted one next to my horse barn and I was constantly having to prune it - I eventually moved it - this one needs room. Good luck with this rose - please post photos in spring when it begins to grow. I hope my grandchildren appreciate all my roses one day! Good luck!

Judith

That makes all the difference - if it was a rose planted by your grandmother that has survived the past 10+ years with no care, give it a fighting chance - it’s a survivor! Let us know how it goes - if you have any questions, try posting to the rose & antique rose forums - you’ll get more rose specific advice, vs. the general forums.

And, good luck with the house - it sounds like a major undertaking, but very rewarding.

I'm a total amateur when it comes to roses, which is why I have a Mutabilis...I was told it was impossible to kill. :) Mine has been pruned to the ground several times because it got so big and out of control in our hot humid summers (Zone 7B in NC) and it always comes back beautifully. Last fall my husband cut it all the way to the ground again, dug it up, and moved it to the back yard where it has more room to grow. All winter it has been putting on new growth and I imagine it will bloom beautifully again this summer. For fertilizer we usually pull back the mulch around it in the spring and give it a bag of composted cow manure.

Again, I'll say I'm only an amateur and I wouldn't want to give you advice that would kill your rose. But IF it were mine and IF I were fairly sure of what it was, I would trim it down nicely to the ground with good clean pruners, clear out any mess around it, and give it a nice cover of cow manure with a good mulch on top.

I just wanted to let yall know that a new bud started down lower on that long bendy cain about a month ago. After that happened I felt comfortable enough to cut the cain down to right above the new bud.

I want to second (or third or wherever I am in line) the idea of rooting a few new shoots of this rose from clippings. Get some rooting compound and hope for the best, though from what others are saying it sounds like this rose could grow up from a crack in a parking lot. Best of luck to you--the story of the rose--and the house!--is very inspiring.