In article , saki
wrote:

Cass wrote in
:

Some roses come out much
later than others and some really need heat to bloom. In addition,
some classes of roses are know to resent pruning....

If it blooms on old wood only, you will need to wait until there is
some old wood. It isn't only older, once blooming classes of roses
that do this -- some climbing sports of hybrid tea and floribundas are
known to bloom on old wood. Makes pruning much more scientific, i.e.
you only want to prune off old, unproductive wood.

This reminds me that I have a problem bloomer in my garden this year, the
Weeks shrub rose called Rockin' Robin.

Last year it responded enthusiastically to being pegged and minimally
pruned and rewarded us with lots of eye-catching single striped blooms.

This year it's done almost nothing in terms of new leaves along
preexisting canes and not a blossom in sight...though I noticed it's
throwing out one single cane from its base. It's been fed every two weeks
since January.

I don't remember it being a late bloomer last year, though several of my
shrub roses are extremely late this year (Grace Seward is just about to
open up), whereas everything else started in February.

This is SoCal, 10B. We had lots of heat in February and March, more rain
than usual in March and April, if that's any indication...it may not be.

But I'd love to get Rockin' Robin blooming again. It was quite nice.

Any ideas?

Only guesses. During mild winters, Bonica, The Fairy and Carefree
Delight are the absolute latest roses to bloom. RR is a Bonica baby, so
maybe it follows the pattern of the parent. None of the three has
started to bloom here. Of course, during winters with a few frosts,
those 3 bloom along with everything else in May. Go figure.

Crepuscule is just opening its first blooms of the year - skipped the
early spring flush. Weird. The first rose to bloom was a potted hybrid
tea, Careless Love. Another hybrid tea in the ground is just opening
its first bloom. I can only suspect cool early spring soil temperatures
that affect some roses and not others.