It looks like the petals have been wet or damaged by a fungal disease called botrytis. The petals get stuck together when this happens, and the blooms won't open.

Plus -- 'St. Patrick' loves heat. So, when the weather is chilly, it may have problems opening, or open poorly.

In my coastal climate, I figured it wasn't a good option for my garden. So, I asked Tom Carruth: "How's 'St. Patrick' likely to look, in my conditions?"

Tom replied:
"Butt ugly."

So, we never planted 'St. Patrick' here.

Jeri

I think you could be right. It is pretty dry in zone 8b, but my friend waters her roses daily. It could be too much for this rose. Thank you for your response.

I have had roses do that before. Not heat related. I call it balling.

Picture taken a few minutes ago.

Were the sepals down? I like to fill my vases almost to the top. They need water to expand their tissue. All of the above are also possible. Some roses are more prone to things than others. My SP has very tight large buds. Did not like Chicago!

And your moonstone is gorgeous!

St Patrick takes a long time to open but once open the blooms last forever and hold their light yellow slightly tinted green color. This rose loves heat and it hates being wet so it'd perfect for Pasadena. It's shortcoming is that it is short. It wants to spread out and it is always in bloom. Moonstone is a fabulous rose that I never grew in Connecticut I guess because it was too weak. Here in SoCal it grows huge with gorgeous high petal count blooms that hold a long time. It does fade and wilt a bit in the heat but it is very strong and almost never out of bloom.

Moonstone.

St Patrick

Beautiful!

Love the pictures of Saint Patrick...I think I will give it another chance. Henryinct, your Moonstone is beautiful. I think Moonstone makes a great cut rose and for me, it is moderately fragrant. I was surprised to see it rated fair minus for frangrance at Help Me Find Roses. It's always nice to meet a rose in person :)

St Patrick is the best blooming yellow I have and the best holding. Back in CT with cooler temps and here earlier in the year it had that slight green tint that is so attractive but now in the heat the bloom starts medium yellow with a darker yellow center and then fades very slowly eventually almost to white. Now it is getting a bit cooler so maybe there will be the green tint again. I should say that in Z6b St Patrick was quite weak and in many winters it was killed to the ground so it never got very big. My HT's here were planted in February so I don't know how any of them will do after they get well established. Perhaps St Patrick will get really big like the rest.