Can you post close up pictures of the spotted leaves and those dead canes. It's hard to say what it could be without seeing the damage up close. Black spot is not normally a fatal rose disease.

Cut off all the dead canes. DO NOT take off any leaves that are still green. They are feeding the plant and it needs them. Keep them well watered but not soggy wet and do not feed them any fertilizer until they begin to regrow.

This is from the same plant.

A close up of the cane pole.

Leaves look like they have blackspot... Infected leaves will turn yellow then fall off the bush... This disease usually does not kill a rose...

The canes might have canker? If it were me I'd remove all those canes to the ground that were black like that.

But see what others say first... Because I grow all own root roses and have never grown a grafted rose yet...

This post was edited by jim1961 on Mon, May 26, 14 at 22:23

BS can kill a rose. I've had it happen to me. What it will do is weaken the rose to the point that pretty much any malady will do it in. Roses, like all other plants, need leaves to produce their food. No leaves = no food and if persistent enough, will kill a rose.

It's like aids in humans. No one actually dies directly of aids. It's the secondary infections that cause death.

What are you treating the roses with? Exact name please. Most roses in the East and South will need regular preventative fungicide to control blackspot. One product that works well is Bayer Disease Control for Roses, Shrubs and Flowers (that exact name, no combo products) used every two weeks. Also very old canes and cane stubs may need to be pruned out because they have been tunneled or areas of bark have been killed by fungus.

If you like having roses but don't want to spray them regularly, you could replant with old tea roses (not "hybrid teas") or modern roses from the Knock Out series or the Kordes Fairy Tale series.

If you weren't in Louisiana I'd say that looks like winter die back on the canes. Did you get a hard freeze of any kind? Or, on the other hand, have you had any severe heat waves?

That leave is definitely black spot. As Kidhorn said the black spot can weaken the rose so that if anything else pops up it can die but on it's own it's rarely a killer.

If you've lost that many roses I think you need to check of other things. And my best guess is either there's a drainage problem and they're sitting in too much water or they aren't getting enough water. Have you dug up any of the ones that have died? What did the root balls look like? How was the soil at the bottom? Soggy or hard clay? There could be a lot of reasons why they're failing so the more specific information you can give us the better.

I have used Bayer Advanced 3-in-1 Insect, Disease & Mite Control and just started using Bayer Advanced All-In-One Rose and Flower Care (Systemic).

We did have a very cold winter with several freezes so it is possible some of them are suffering from that. We have an irrigation system that we have adjusted thinking they were getting too much water, but that has not seemed to stop their deterioration. Right now it runs for 15 minutes. The roses are planted on the top of a slope so I feel like they drain well.

The soil does have some clay in it, but it is bagged soil for at least 6 inches. We have pulled up some dead roses, but I cannot remember the condition of the roots. I want to say they were sparse.

I wanted to include a picture of the entire garden so you can see the condition of most of my roses. In the middle are knockout roses planted about 2 years ago (they are the healthiest). The other three sections (from this angle: front, left and right beds are pretty pitiful looking. It almost seems like whatever this is is spreading.

I second Michael's advice. Throw out all that Bayer combo junk--the all in one and 3 in one.

Now go out and buy the fungicide Michael recommended: Bayer Garden Disease Control for Roses, Flowers, and Shrubs. You can get it a Lowes or online (but not at the other big box stores). Spray that fungicide (following directions) every 2 weeks, all season.

For food, buy an organic fertilizer like one of the --Tones: Plant-Tone or Rose-Tone. Should be available at most big box stores, definitely at Home Depot--or online. See directions for monthly feedings.

There -- that covers everything you need to do. Except that I am wondering how much shade those trees put out. Roses are sun-lover. In too much shade, they don't bloom as well and often have more problems with diseases. If the roses are getting less than 6 hours of sun, perhaps consider planting compact hydrangeas there instead.

Oh, and do check your moisture levels periodically. Stick a finger about 4 inches into the soil: dry? too wet? that should tell you if you are overwatering the roses. Overwatering also can cause problems with yellow leaves and blackspot.

Let us know how it works out. Good luck.

Kate

What a beautifully laid out garden. I know some people in Louisiana, and yes, this winter was tough on roses. If they went into the winter weakened by blackspot, they may not have made it. The Bayer spray is the best. Start using it regularly. You may lost some plants, and you may want to replace them with varieties that are more disease resistant. The American Rose Society is located in Shreveport, so they would likely have some great ideas for you. I know noisettes grow well in southern hot humid climates. Two that do very well in my yard are Reve d'Or and Crepescule. They can get rather large, but rarely get blackspot.

What MichaelG say's

Thank you all for your help. I'll definitely follow your advice.

If you had several hard freezes then that could well be why you had so much cane die back. It's very common here in the North country to lose a lot of cane to winter freezes. Just take off all the dead wood down to where the inside pith is white and not tan or brown and hopefully they'll recover. I often have to take roses right down to the ground in the spring but they do come back for the most part.