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nickjoseph

Love Song either diseased or bugs, very sad

Planted our Long Song from a reputable garden center first week in June this year. Had about 24 beautiful blooms. I posted pics. Healthy foliage. Then finally had to dead head all the blooms about 2 1/2 weeks ago. So far nothing with the small appearance of new buds. Nothing.... Just green foliage. Have fertilized and watered enough. Today was really looking hard at the bush (no camera) and saw what appeared to be ONE light gray 1/4" long bug that hopped/flew off. Just one. There are a number of thinner stems that have some brown spots on the stems. Disease? Very sad....

Comments (10)

  • jacqueline9CA
    9 years ago

    Your rose has only been in the ground for 6 weeks. I would give it a break (from everything except water). It is trying to grow its roots. Good that you deadheaded, but if it was mine I would be happy that it was spending energy under the ground growing roots, so it can get established.

    Jackie

  • nickjoseph Milwaukee, WI
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    But I don't know if these green stems with brown patches on the stems is normal. I've never seen this on any of my other bushes over 22 years. Don't know if it is a canker or if these stems should be pruned off?

  • seil zone 6b MI
    9 years ago

    I agree with Jackie, give it some time to mature. Besides that 2 1/2 weeks since dead heading isn't really all that long. Some roses take 8 weeks to recycle a new flush. When it's ready it will put on more blooms.

    Without a picture of what you are talking about on the stems there is no way to know what the problem might be.

  • nickjoseph Milwaukee, WI
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    When I posted pics of the root graft showing despite burying it deep & covering what I thought was most of it---I see the brown patches on some of the stems on these pictures. Is this normal for this type of bush or not?

  • nickjoseph Milwaukee, WI
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Here's a better one.

  • jacqueline9CA
    9 years ago

    The canes that are 100% brown are dead, and should be cut off (as should that brown stump near the bottom left on the first picture. Just cut it back to the green part. The miscellaneous small brown marks on the green canes do not look like disease to me - just some small amount of damage from rubbing or whatever. I would not worry about it at all. Just leave the bush alone now, except to make sure it has adequate water. You will be surprised how well it does in a couple of months or so.

    Jackie

  • michaelg
    9 years ago

    That one brown spot with concentric zoning looks like a canker to me, but I wouldn't worry about it. It is probably inactive. If there is any spread in summer it will be slight. Most cankers develop in late winter or early spring. Common advice is to prune out cankers if they girdle over half the circumference of the stem, only because the loss of bark could reduce the future vigor of the cane. I know you probably aren't going to believe me, but I garden in a cool damp climate, I see cankers every year, I ignore them, and they don't do any serious harm. They are normally self-limiting or the rose has an effective immune response. Some varieties are more susceptible, for example 'Brass Band' and 'Mutabilis'.

    Prune out the dead wood, as Jackie said, so you don't have to look at it.

  • nickjoseph Milwaukee, WI
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks Jackie & Michael,
    I still see some wiggling when I gently tug on each side of the bush. Hopefully the roots will start getting stronger in the 7 weeks since planting. I'm so impatient, and I know I shouldn't be--as this is only a 7 week Baby(I mean a "7 Week PLANTED Baby). I'm spoiled because when I planted the bush, it had about 2 dozen or more buds. Since they have all bloomed & been dead headed, I hate looking at a bald bush with no signs at all of buds. Now my 7 week old Dick Clark had about 30 blooms, all dead headed & 2 new blooms & a whole bunch of new buds. Arghhhhhhh

  • patricianat
    9 years ago

    Don't tug on your bush. You will dislodge its growth.

  • nickjoseph Milwaukee, WI
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    When I said 'tug' on my bush, I was gentle. When we originally planted it, it seemed to be moving more even though it was planted deep as we could go. I was just checking to see if over the last 7 weeks since planting--it had gotten sturdier whereas it wouldn't move at all, so I was gentle; and it still moves a little bit. That wasn't the issue though--it was the brown speckles/spots on a number of branches.