"K. B." wrote in message
...
Planted 2 Hybrid Teas and a climber this spring. The HT
grew into canes,
flowered once and then wilted to death. The leaves wilted
first, slowly, as
though they were not getting water. The canes then turned
black. I read
the Post by Josephine about the wilting buds and the Rose
Midge. According
to sources on the internet, the Midge causes leaf damage,
not damage to the
canes.


What would cause the un-damaged canes to blacken back to
the bud union and
die? Rose canker might be likely but I have no experience
with it:
http://www.sactorose.org/ipm/83canker.htm

Without knowing more about your situation,
it's hard to diagnose. Sometimes roses just
die. They don't adjust to being planted
because they're weak to begin with. Or there's
something in the soil that's not working for them.
I've replaced a bunch of roses over the 6 years
I've been actively growing them. Some thrive
even if I ignore them, others die quickly no
matter how much I coddle them.

the climber had the same thing on several canes but has
survived. BTW I
have Black Walnut trees on my lot and they are known to be
harmful to many
ornamentals, but Rose is not one of the species mentioned.

Any comments?

I did a google search on black walnut and roses
and found a discussion on GardenWeb:
http://www.gardenweb.com/
Someone mentioned Black Walnut makes the
soil more alkaline (I have no idea if that's true or
not) and of course roses prefer an acidic soil, so
maybe you should do a soil test before planting
more roses in that area.

KB
Missouri, USA

p.s.. This is my first post here!

Welcome! Growing roses is a frustrating and
rewarding experience, IMO. I've gotten a lot
of help from the people here. But during the
summer many people are so involved with
their gardens they don't get online much. So
be patient. If you don't get an answer right
away, try again.

Gail
near San Antonio TX Zone 8