Joe -- Where are you located?

Jeri

South of Los Angeles in Orange County, Calif.

How much water are you giving it? Did you give it any fertilizer?

It looks like it gets reflected heat from the stucco wall behind it. That can be pretty stressful for the foliage.

If new growth on some canes is dying, on other canes not, there is something wrong with the underlying cane. Look for areas of bark girdled by canker fungus (purple or black bark), canes chewed or broken at the base, and canes hollowed by insect larvae drilling down the pith.

If new growth on the whole plant is dying, it's usually something wrong with the roots--eaten by gopher, infected with oak root fungus, rotting from soil saturated for weeks at a time.

If this is an old, well-established rose, I doubt that too little water would be killing it, especially since you have recently cut it back. But I don't garden in a super-hot climate, so I could be wrong.

Seems like new growth on all branches starts out strong then just wilts like not enough water. I was hoping the leaf pictures might help show if it is a fungus or something else. The bush still kept growing and had roses and leaves all winter, but not like it used to.

We've been trying to give it a good watering about once per week, but the soil is hard and slopes away somewhat.
Mixed rose fertilizer with potting soil and spread around it a month ago and last fall.

Thanks, Joe

It's not a foliar fungus disease.Check out the things that have been suggested so far. To check the soil moisture, you will need to dig. If it is on a slope, you should build a dike to retain water. Otherwise, most of the irrigation will be wasted. Clay soils can absorb water only very slowly. But again, the plant has survived for years under your water regimen, hasn't it? So something is different..

Does the foliage perk up after the sun stops hitting it?

I think this is one of those times when you will learn more by checking the roots than trying to find the answer in the top growth of the rose. Can't hurt.

Smiles,
Lyn

I don't see any obvious disease or damage.
I don't see them perk up when the sun is off them. The bush does seem to do better in the cool rainy winter though.

I'm not sure how to check the roots. When I start digging I feel like I am just damaging the fine mesh of roots at the surface. I removed some gravel on the surface that didn't use to be there.

Here's another pic of very recent leaves, only a couple feet up. Hopefully, someone has an aha moment.
{{gwi:310927}}

Looks like heat damage to me. I had a rose do this. After I moved it away from a wall the following season it looked fantastic. I no longer plant anything along a wall. Heat will reflect off of surfaces.

I would just dig the whole plant up and put it into a large container with well-draining potting soil and move it to another spot. Then you can give the plant a lot of TLC with water and once it shows new top growth, with nutrients you add to the container. If you need to, drill extra holes in the pot to make sure you have good drainage.

To begin with, I'd place the container where it got partial shade until you see it picking up and then, if you like, move it into a place where it gets more sun.

Since you are in a sense, replanting the rose, you'll need to water it a lot because the roots will not be efficient immediately. Roses are tough and a lot of them will come back once they are sited where they like it.

You are getting reflected heat from both the wall and the stones at the base of the rose.

By digging up the whole plant, you will be able to find out if it has root gall, or if the plant has the proper drainage, if the bed is too small for the plant, if you have gopher damage and more.

Since it is not doing well where you have it sited, it won't hurt to dig it up and move it. You will learn a lot from the roots of the rose.

In your climate, zone 10b, you can almost plant any time of the year. Special care needs to be taken during periods of high heat, but otherwise, you don't have to worry about winter damage.

Smiles,
Lyn

a bit of a long shot but you could try looking just under the surface of the soil to see if you can see any fungal mycellium such as black bootstrap growth (one of the verticillium wilts), Also, peel back the outer bark on one of the wilted canes - are there dark streaks? Is there a musty mushroom smell?
Failing that, I think Michael's suggestion of canker (something which afflicts a couple of my roses every year) is a worthwhile suggestion - what happens if you cut the shrivelled growth back?
I am not thinking this is a water issue but regarding heat, being a Brit, I really couldn't state anything with any authority. I am, however, horribly familiar with the dread range of fungal problems.

Yes, I have some experience with verticillium wilt on roses and that is a possibility. Usually, however, it attacks one or two canes at a time and not the whole plant. Roses can mount an effective immune response, and I have had two roses recover to live long, productive lives. This disease is widespread in soils. I currently have a possible case, but I am not going to bother getting a professional diagnosis. According to what I have read, and unlike symptoms in other plants, verticillium in roses does not produce a visible darkening of the stem's xylem (ring of plumbing under the bark).

[I don't know why I never receive the notifications of new posts]

I don't see any sign of disease, and it seems to have stabilized.
New rose buds are coming out. Still very wilty looking but doesn't seem to be getting much worse. Hopefully, fall and winter will bring it back to life.

I'm not going to dig it up or move it. As mentioned, I have a hummingbird that nests in it 8 months of the year. She lays 5 broods every winter. She's out there guarding her territory every day this summer.

I guess I'll see how it does. I was hoping someone would have a magic bullet based on the photos.

Thanks for the advice, Joe

Joe, With hummers nesting in that rose bush I wouldn't move it either. I would rather have a wilted looking rose bush than lose a nesting pair of hummers. I would certainly water it more often to see if that helps. Maybe you could put something on that wall to cut down on the heat if watering it more doesn't help? Try a decorative throw or tapestry maybe. Or let ivy grow up that wall? Most ivy will grow on anything. We had a house in our neighborhood that had ivy growing up the entire one side of the house up to the 3rd floor. It was growing on stucco. After the house sold the new owners cut it all down. Now they say they wish they kept it on the house only because it really helped cut down on the heat inside the house during the summer. It is bad for the structure to let ivy climb along it not to mention it gives mice a nice way to get in but it would cut down on the heat that wall gives off.

I would love to have a nesting hummer where I could watch the developments. My hummers all nest in trees back by the creek. Whenever we have heavy wind an occasional nest will blow down for me to find. I certainly wouldn't move that rose, either.

It could be gopher damage to the roots. Hard to combat, in place.

But looking at some of that foliage, I also wonder -- have you used roundup anywhere???

Jeri

No Roundup. We are mostly chemical free due to all the chicks hatching and other wildlife.

Lots of clips of my hummingbird chicks here:
Videos

Here is a link that might be useful: Videos

This post was edited by dellwo on Tue, Aug 6, 13 at 21:54