What is wrong with my Buff Beauty?

9 years ago

New member here... but I've been reading for a long time! I hope some of you seasoned rose growers can help me. I have two Buff Beauty rose bushes that I'm treating as climbers (I lost a third one last winter - we had a brutally cold one), and they are now in their third year. Last year they bloomed beautifully; large, lush blossoms. But something's not right with them this year - the foliage is healthy and vigorous and there are a lot of blossoms, but the flowers are turning brown and wilty before they even open, and they also seem smaller than last year. Plus, the stems seem weak and the blooms just flop downward as they open. I tried to get pictures to show the problems, and also have a pic of my Westerland roses, which are planted with them and are healthy and hardy as always. Could the problem be the cedar tree planted in the next yard over? Could it be thrips (though the foliage is healthy)? For what it's worth, I fertilized all four plants in early spring with a general rose fertilizer. Same kind I've used for the past three years.

This post was edited by Lisa2626 on Mon, May 19, 14 at 16:06

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Comments (8)

Lisa2626
Original Author
9 years ago
Here's a photo of the bush itself. This one gets part shade, but the other one gets full sun. Both have the same issue with brown, wilty blossoms.

This post was edited by Lisa2626 on Mon, May 19, 14 at 12:37
Lisa2626
Original Author
9 years ago
For comparison, here's the Westerland.
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portlandmysteryrose
9 years ago
Welcome aboard!

As far as Buff is concerned, perhaps thrips? Carol

This post was edited by PortlandMysteryRose on Mon, May 19, 14 at 16:37
Lisa2626
Original Author
9 years ago
Hi, Carol. It's good to be here. I am thinking thrips might be the culprit, but don't they also affect the foliage? The leaves seem fine.
Adrianne
9 years ago
Hi Lisa,
I had something almost identical happen to my Shrophrire Lad climbers this year. It was heartbreaking to see all my buds shrivel up and brown.
After some research, I became convinced that rose midges were the culprit and treated very aggressively for it.

Rose midges are almost microscopic little buggers, and will sap out the bud, leaving the leaves green and intact. They feed, drop, reproduce in the soil and do it all over again.

I used a Bayer flower insect spray that specifically lists rose midges on the back label, as many of them do not, including my normal product.
I sprayed the bushes every 7 days for 3 rounds. They have recovered fully and managed to pull off a beautiful spring flush in spite of the extensive bud loss.
There are other kinder ways to treat for midges, but I have 30 other roses in the same bed, and wasn't willing to take any chances on it spreading.
Best of luck!
Adrianne :-D
Lisa2626
Original Author
9 years ago
Thank you, Adrianne. I looked closely inside the blossoms this afternoon and noted several tiny, beige colored, rice-shaped bugs crawling around. They had no wings that I could see. I will look for something to treat the roses... I don't like using pesticides, either, but something has to be done.
hoovb zone 9 sunset 23
9 years ago
If you shake the flowers over a piece of white paper and little brown specks start crawling about on the paper, that's thrips. You can spray just the flowers themselves as thrips do not affect the foliage, but you'll be killing bees if they frequent your roses. spray the flowers close to sunset after bees have gone back to the hive for the night at least; look for a bee-friendly product if you can. Summer heat makes the thrips vanish for the year.
Lisa2626
Original Author
9 years ago
Appreciate your comment, hoovb. I don't want to hurt the bees in any way. If anyone can recommend a bee-friendly product I'd love to know.