Water is critical here.

That's what I thought. I was just reading about Belinda's Dream which many seem to go ga-ga over and which I ordered for this year. Some author said this rose doesn't even need that much water. She rarely waters it and still thrives.

I wouldn't take it so far but I am excited to get it.

Water and deadheading

Sunlight here. I have rich clay soil that holds water and nutrients well. Temperatures are also generally ideal and don't veer towards extremes. If I had less shade im sure my roses would do better...

“right rose right place” sounds as good as any

Good health in your area would be the most important like mad gallica says. Antique Rose Emporium has some great choices.

mad_gallica and Sheila,

I have seen that with my two roses. As soon as that black spot is out of control, leaves go away and you might as well consider that rose dead. Mine did not die after a terrible summer full of black spot. I pruned them hard, replaced the old mulch, they seem healthy now and coming back. But BS can indeed do a number on them, maybe even more so than lack of water.

This is a great question Severe_Novice. Let's assume you've planted the right rose for the right spot (a Hybrid Tea would like a heavier clay soil, a rugosa would prefer a lighter sandier soil). I would then say the most important thing for me has been water...the more the better! If you live in a high blackspot pressure area, watering from below makes a big difference as well (we are high BS pressure here in spring and fall).

Like you, I was a severe novice up until recently. Then I found this forum and planted 300 roses :) I've been experimenting with fertilizer schedules, magical manures, creative pruning and training techniques, and all types of irrigation. When I finally got the irrigation dialed in, I saw a difference in all my roses immediately.

I live in a cool climate but it's very dry during the summer, which is the opposite from you.

Maybe the most important thing is to get your soil right before you plant the rose. I had TERRIBLE soil. I've noticed that the better the soil gets, the less water I need. Yay!

I have been putting thick layers of manure on my rose beds once or twice a year and I am so excited because I finally have earthworms!!!

I could talk about irrigation, manure, and worms all day! I'm soooooo fun at parties :)

Fungicide....for where I live (hot humid) and what I grow (fragrant HTs and floribundas).

All these are good suggestions. Vernon Rickard, who owned Almost Heaven Roses, said that water is the best rose fertilizer. Sun provides food too. I had some beds decline due to trees growing too large and shading the plants. A rose that gets morning sun will have its leaves dry sooner and will be less prone to blackspot.

One thing that really improves blooms is maturity of the plant. So I'd think long term health and vigor of the plant. Blooms often improve in quantity, size, petal count, form, color and fragrance as a plant matures. It's just a reflection of whether the plant is doing well.

Another big factor is which plants you select. Stay away from fussy wimps and pick some vigorous ones known for good health.

Shading should be obvious. Less obvious are invasive roots that sap the vigor of the roses. I planted four roses too close to a hedge. They did well the first year but suffered the next. I just moved them to better locations. The roses in the front yard grow fabulously now that the maple trees are gone. Plenty of light now.

I have great farming soil on top of clay. My property is the lowest in the neighborhood so rain water collects in the clay. Last year I won a lot of rose show trophies and didn't need to water them! I constantly improve the soil by top dressing it with leaf compost. I fertilized just once with time release fertilizer at the beginning of the season.

Magnus,

I have always wondered how come England is known for roses bu not necessarily being very sunny. I lived in the UK for almost a year and I remember some sunny days but mostly cloudy. Granted, I missed the best months - July and August. Do you get a lot of sun then?

BenT,

Fragrant HT-s in Texas! That is amazing. Then again, you awesome Texans will make anything work! :) My favorite US state, even though I've never lived there. :)

Erasmus,

I am counting on maturity too. This will be the third year for my two roses but I had to prune them back really hard after the abuse they took last year in our absence. I was close to shovel pruning them and give up roses altogether. I thought I could always get my rose bloom fix with some stems from the grocery store. Not even close.

For one, I realized those roses never open. They dry up in bud form, apparently because they are brought from South America and placed in refrigerators too early, which causes them to last longer but never open. Never mind the limitations im variety.

So I am at it again.

RosyLady,

You would be very fun at parties for me! I showed my husband - 300 roses!!! ...so he can understand that me adding 3 more to the two I have ...should be absolutely no problem whatsoever :)

Granted, we just spent a fortune on landscaping the front yard...but I hope he gets my rose drift.

If you spend time here, you will no doubt catch the "fever"...not Coronavirus, but rose-acquiring virus...hahaha!

I can throw in my 2 cents worth on this subject. Everything that has been mentioned is important. The water, sunlight, soil condition, disease and pest control measures, and fertilizers are all important, and it may depend rather heavily on where you are. Speaking from where I am, in the middle of the country in tornado alley, one very big element is the weather, and I am specifically pointing an accusing finger at late, hard freezes. Late hard freezes cause more damage and deaths in rose plants than just about anything else, and that may be knocking on the door of rose rosette disease. If the rose has been beginning to grow as a result of prolonged, early warm weather, and mother nature pulls the rug trick on the temperatures and freezes everything, that rose, along with just about everything else, gets damaged. The disease resistance goes down. Flowering may not even happen. The plant can die. I have seen all of this here. It is ugly. So, my vote for the biggest consideration around here is the weather.

I have found that water, especially in the form of rain, makes a huge difference here, though it does cause a number of roses I have, to ball. But I'd also like to put in a vote for alfalfa tea, which I tried for the first time a couple of years ago. Maybe there were other factors helping, but the blooms seemed way more abundant a while after, and also basal breaks.

Rosylady, please invite me to your next party!

severe_novice _

In addition to the great info. provided above, the linked thread has a handful of rose suggestions and user names for GA gardeners on the forum that can be searched to glean even more (local?) info.

Also, Buford GA was very active on the rose forums and was very knowledgeable regarding growing roses. Fortunately, the information she provided remains...

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/3370213/apricot-roses-in-the-southern-garden-show-me-yours#n=18

Rosylady - manure, worms, irrigation... those are good buzz words to my ears...