The shrub from Sarasota looks like Orange Jasmine (murraya paniculata). Has wonderfully scented blooms, but will freeze if you're in north Florida. It was iffy in coastal central Florida.

OLOG looks like possible root failure. Any sign of pocket gopher activity? ("Salamanders" in my Cracker dialect.)

The first rose reminds me of my La Marne, although mine is young and much smaller.

Ingrid

Thanks for the quick responses!

Lucretia1, looking at other photos of that, the jasmine looks a bit more pointed in its leaves, but I will check with my neighbor, he has some I believe, and it may be one in the same!

Michaelg, There are no signs of disturbance around the rootzone or elsewhere. I haven't heard of people having issues with pocket gophers in the city (Tampa FL) But who knows. I think I will be shovel pruning it and replacing with an old rose anyway. This is the second Our Lady of Guadalupe that I have had to die on me. I am giving up on the cultivar, even though it is one of my favorites apparently it does not feel the same about my yard.

Ingrid, I looked at lots of La Marne pictures. Some look extremely similar, and some are not. Some of that could be that the bush does not get enough light to provide as vivid a pink color as some of the pictures of La Marne illustrate.

Thanks again!

I think it resembles La Marne too. Even the leaf shape and color looks right. I had LM and it never got that big but it didn't winter for me so it might have eventually. Mine was quite pink when it was cool, spring and fall, but much paler in the heat of summer.

If you've been having unusually hot, dry weather, even for Florida, that may be OLOG's problem. It looks like heat or water stress to me.

Sorry, I can't help with the shrub!

Hi Ken

If my rose looked like OLofG I'd think a dog was peeing on it as my first guess. Once one dog pees on a plant then every other animal MUST pee on the same one until it dies. Maybe that's not your problem but I've seen it in my past yard, not current.

Denise

I agree with Ingrid, it looks very much like my La Marne as well. I find that this rose has more of a vivid pink color in the spring here in Florida when the weather isn't as warm.During the summer, it's color fades quickly and just has a tinge of pink and is more on the whitish side.My La Marne is growing in full sun.

If that OLOG was in MY garden, I'd be sure the problem was a Western Pocket Gopher. But I would probably be able to take ahold of it and pull, and it would come right out of the ground, having no roots to hold it.

But if you don't have root-eating gophers, I don't know what to think.
The other plant does look like 'La Marne' to me. A lovely old thing. :-)

Jeri

Ken,

I think that shrub is Cuban Gold duranta. Duranta is sometimes called Golden Dewdrop. Are the ones you saw a very bright chartreuse?

Recently saw it in 4 inch pots at Wally World.

I'd pull that rose and examine the graft. You know to plant the graft above the soil line in Florida?

Veronica

PS That manure source never panned out.

Here is a link that might be useful: Images of Cuban Gold

Thanks guys!

Seil, I didn't think of the bloom color/ season aspect...now if my memory serves, it does usually have a bit more color than it did Wednesday when I took the pictures, so perhaps I usually see it at the beginning of summer, when it has more color. OLOG has a dedicated drip head (as do most of my roses) and the rest seem to be doing fine, so I don't think it is heat stress, but perhaps I should check the rip head just to make sure.

Denise, While I have three dogs, they are miniature dachshunds, and it is doubtful they could reach that high. LOL. I also think due to the roses position in the bed, it might not be a place they would think of to pee.

Claferg, I really will have to pay attention next time I head up to my mom's house in cooler weather to check the bloom colors. She is homebound and not able to take care of her yard, and really wants me to bring it down to my garden...and I am thinking about it seriously. The blooms are so lovely and delicate seeming, but borne in great clusters, so they never seem lost on the shrub.

Jeri, There really doesn't seem to be any signs of gopher issues around the yard. I would expect the tell-tale mound to be somewhere, and for more than just one plant to have damage. Its such a weird instance. Do you think it would be possible to move a plant as old as that La Marne? it was planted in our yard sometime in the early 90's. It isnt a huge bush, but should I cut it back in fall and transplant it then?

Veronica,
Although I do love the Cuban Gold Duranta, it was for sure not that. this had some bright green new growth, but the older foliage was a good bit darker. Plus I don't think duranta grows to shoulder height. This was a huge hedge in front of the Ringling Museum of art, kept beautifully trimmed, and I thought to myself, this would be a lovely hedge background to roses. I am pretty sure the graft is above ground, at least by an inch or two. I never knew we were supposed to raise the graft above soil line, but aesthetically it just looks better to me, so I always have. LOL. Luckily I am now growing own-roots instead...much less involved. It is a pity the manure source went south, but perhaps another will come along, I finally bought an SUV and will be getting a high side trailer, so it will be easier for me to collect it as well.

Thanks again guys, I have alot more to think about now!

Almost positive that the first rose is La Marne. The pink is highly variable, and it fades to almost white pretty quickly. The petals dry and get papery. 6' is a reasonable size for a mature bush.

If OLOG were mine, I would dig it up and check the roots. I agree with michael that it looks like some sort of root failure ... whatever the cause.

Connie

I agree with La Marne for the rose. The shrub is definitely Murraya paniculata. And since it is highly susceptible to citrus greening disease (and it is also a major source of contagion back to citrus) is not recommended for planting in Florida anymore.

As for OLOG, I don't know what is doing that -- we don't have gophers in central Florida. But if it were me, I'd consider replacing it.

So after reviewing the comments, and weighing my options, I decided that OLOG would leave my yard...forever. I am not replacing this rose as it is my second of this cultivar to fail dramatically. Plus I still have viable roses in my pot ghetto waiting patiently to find a home. So now there is room for them. Upon digging OLOG, I was again baffled. There is no sign of water stress, as the soil and mulch both seemed to be at a normal moisture level, and considering the rains we have had this past week, they should be. The root ball seemed a bit small, but not too much so, and the roots seemed healthy as well (as far as I can tell, I am no root expert.) The graft also seemed fine, but again, I am no expert. This experience reaffirms my decisions to grow only own root OG roses however. They seem to flourish where pretty much all of my modern roses (with the exception of the Austins) really seem to hate me. I am adding an addendum to my blog post which shows the root ball of OLOG, if any of you would like to weigh in on the condition of the system.

Here is a link that might be useful: blog link

Dear Malcolm Manners,

It's a rare day that I know something you don't, but I assure you that southeastern pocket gophers (Geomys pinetis) occur in your town of Lakeland, because I grew up there, and one would occasionally invade our yard, causing my father to cuss. There are probably some on the FSC campus, where you have the appropriate light, well-drained soil.

Ok Michael, I'm sure you're right. I know what their mounds look like -- they were very common in the High Springs to Gainesville area, where my parents used to live, and there, they are commonly called "salamanders," odd as that is. However, I've been in Lakeland more than 30 years now, and have never seen even one mound, nor have I ever heard a fellow Lakelander mention their existence, let alone that they were pests in their yards. So I think they must be exceedingly rare here, if they are present at all. Certainly, we've never seen a mound on the FSC campus.

Ken -- I would not count this one plant as a reason to grow own-root only. While you can certainly grow some varieties very well, own-root, in central Florida, a plant grafted to 'Fortuniana' roots will virtually always perform better, with more vigor, more flowers, and (except in the case of Chinas and perhaps a few Teas) will live longer. While I might choose own-root roses if I lived in an area with more clay or organic matter in the native soils, here on our sands (even with much organic amendment to the planting hole), I would almost always prefer 'Fortuniana' roots.

Malcolm, maybe I should have said "occurred in Lakeland 50 years ago" rather than "occur in Lakeland."

Yes, gophers are "salamanders" and tortoises are "gophers."