Have they suffered severe winter damage in the past? If so, they may have reverted to once blooming rootstock, which may not bloom if hard pruned every year like a hybrid tea.

I've eliminated this problem burying the bud unions and wrapping the roses with burlap--the burlap not only prevents canes from snapping off close to the bud union, but helps keep the bud eyes dormant during those unseasonably warm days in the middle of winter. A simpler technique for keeping those bud eyes dormant is to leave the canes long over the winter--but severe damage from heavy snow is likely where we live.

This post was edited by zack_lau on Wed, Jun 5, 13 at 7:10

My one gallon pot Austin planted last spring didn't bloom all year, everyone here told me to be patient, and this year it's blooming like crazy. Even though you have been through two complete seasons I'm wondering if you still just need to be patient only because it is in a bed with other roses that are doing just fine! If the plant is leafing out nicely, you certainly don't want to over fertilize as you will likely just get more leaves. (Obvioously its getting enough nitrogen.) You could check the ph to make sure your plant is getting the nutrients it needs to bloom from the fertilizer you have already fed it. The other problem could be underwatering or even overwatering, but again its' in a bed with other roses that are doing fine, so I'm doubting that as well!
Lastly, is this rose a grafted rose? Perhaps the graft has died and you are left with rootstock that just doesn't bloom? Maybe others on this board can help ou with this idea as I don't plant grafted roses so don't have enough knowledge but did remember reading this as a possibility when trying to figure out why my teaclipper wouldn't bloom.

Very likely the canes are rootstock suckers and the original hybrid tea roses are defunct. Rootstock varieties are once-bloomers (June bloomers). They can only flower on canes that have been through a winter. If you leave them alone, they will bloom next May. The usual rootstock is an inferior red rose.

Tonja, are your roses "tea" roses (which are old garden roses that sprawl out and grow slowly into huge bushes), or "hybrid tea" roses, which are modern and tend to grow rapidly to about 5 feet tall, with an upright, narrow growth pattern? I am guessing they are really hybrid teas, if zone 6 is really the correct zone for your garden.

If they were mine, I would feed them with some "high bloom" fertilizer, which has very little or no nitrogen, as you say they have grown tall already. Then I would leave them alone to grow - it is very true that some roses need more time to bloom. Just wait and see - patience! Then when they bloom you will know more about them.

Jackie

are deer nipping off the buds? That is another thing to check, besides what previous posters have advised.

Thank you for your help everyone! I suspect now a couple of things....winter damage for sure. They get piled high with snow from the driveway in winter. Also the root sucker theory. I will be patient and wait and wait. I hope they come around soon!

Snow is a good thing in winter! It's the perfect insulation for them so don't be worried about them getting snow piled on. You want the roots and crown of the rose to be protected from the freezes and thaws of early spring. You will probably have cane die back but as long as the root and graft union are protected the rose should fine.

These sound like they are hybrid tea roses which do grow taller and narrower than floribundas or shrub roses. But with out a picture to see what the canes look like it's hard to say if you've lost your graft and now have root stock growing. Pictures of the canes and the base of the plant where the canes are coming up from would be very helpful.

Try and check the base of the rose and see where those canes are coming from. There should be a big sort of knotty looking part where the roots go down from and the canes come up from. That's called the bud union where one variety of rose has been grafted unto a different variety for the root stock. The root stock is usually a variety that is very vigorous so they graft a less vigorous rose to it to make it grow bigger, stronger and faster. If the bud union is killed the root stock may come up from the ground. See if the canes you have are coming from the top of the graft area or from below ground where the root stock is. If the bud union was buried you may have to carefully remove some soil to see where those canes originate from.

I'll go with the suckers theory. Send picture of the growth and it will be easy enough to tell.

Even if they are suckers, they will bloom - suckers are just another kind of rose. just wait and take pictures.

Jackie

They will bloom, but not during the season that they first grew out.