Water, water, water. Then please post a picture on here (just click on the "choose file" thingy, and select the pic). Do it now when they are blooming, and then I am sure someone on here will be able to help you identify them, at which point it will be easier to give you advice on how to help them. Take pictures of the blooms, the leaves, and the entire bush.

Since these roses have obviously survived with very little or no care, they are hardy, and hopefully you can save them. If they were wimpy they would have died a long time ago. Since they are fragrant, they are probably old varieties. You are lucky to have them.

Jackie

Here is a pic of the blooming red rose.
I can't seem to post more than one pic per comment, so I'll post a few more in other comments.
If there is a better way to do this please let me know!!

here is the whole plant

This is the bud and leaves of the white rose, but I unfortunately cut off all the open roses this morning as they were going bad. Maybe tomorrow it will be open?

Sorry, one more. There are several that are not blooming and seem to have smaller leaves. Here is the biggest one of those.

For neglected roses, they don't look bad.

Yes, the fact that they are actually BLOOMING at this time of year, in spite of being old & neglected, is evidence that they are good strong plants.

Start by taking out dead wood. Then water, mulch & do a conservative feeding, say, mid September. You should get a nice fall "flush" of flowers.

Benign neglect has preserved a lot of old hybrid teas. The ruthless annual pruning, "as advised" by many publications or individuals can be rough on plants, especially in hot zones. They ARE shrubs, after all & whacking back healthy canes all the time robs them of healthy leaves & wood.

Sure, you can prune to shape or to encourage a plant to send up young wood. But in zone 10, for now, I'd just give them care & take out dead canes until you can observe these old treasures & find out more about them--good luck!

What bluegirl said.

One thing I would add - weed all of that grass or anything else which is growing under the roses or within about 2 feet of them. They do not need the competition. Then put at least 2 inches of mulch all over that same area - will help keep the roots cooler, and retain moisture.

Jackie

Since the ground is flat right up to the roses, you might make a generous circle of rocks or bricks, and fill the inside of the circle with a nice pine bark mulch from Home Depot. That will hold the moisture there, where the rose can use it. Tend to hold the water from running off, too.

Given the lady's age, she could have planted these roses a good LONG time ago, so they may be things not everyone will recognize. There's nothing like a deserted garden!

Oh, and once they've been watered a bit, and you've mulched them, you could toss in some rose food.

DO NOT buy a combination pesticide/fertilizer. For one thing, you don't have any disease going on, and for another, any insects probably dried up and blew away in your hot temps. Your roses really do look very good!

Thanks for the replies!
I am very impressed with them as well, given the neglect. We have flood irrigation so they have no automatic watering at the moment, but I think I am going to try to run a drip line to them this weekend.
In the mean time I will hand water deeply.
I have seen people in my neighborhood with the grass dug out around their rose areas, into a dirt bowl a few inches deep and have wondered what that does for the roses.
Now I know, they don't like to compete with the grass and need the water to be held in. But should have mulch over the top as well. Learning already. Thank you! I will update as the others bloom.

Roses are sort of longterm investments. What you do early in the season will show later on, even the next few years. You can safely add compost and water now, but wait for cooler weather to fertilze. When spring comes mix some organic fertilizer in a good radius around the plant, three feet or so for larger roses. The more mulch you add the more nitrogen will be drawn out of the soil and spent to brake it down. Then adding a bit of fertilzier becomes a must. I don't know for your area or climate, but twice a year for solid organic fertilzer is a must for reblooming roses when you have a long growing season.

Best of luck :- )

This post was edited by taoseeker on Sat, Aug 30, 14 at 17:03

Here is a picture of a different rose bush with a different kind of bloom. I'm not sure I know all the terminology yet, but it has less petals, is more of a flatter open bloom and doesn't smell as strongly, but does smell.