"Kim" wrote in message
.. .
Hi,

I live in IL and this is my first time having rose bushes. I have one
rose bush that dropped all it's leaves so I thought it was dead. I was
watering all of the bushes yesterday and noticed that one stem has new
leave coming out. One of the other bushes seems to be doing well but the
leaves on one branch have dried up and curled up but the rest of the bush
is doing well. Any advice from anyone would be appricated. I should
mention that they did have the black spots on the leaves but I've been
spraying them and also, there are moles diging in the bed and small ants.
Could this all be the problem?

Kim

Anything that disturbs the rose roots could be
a problem for the shrub. You probably should
treat for the pests. I don't have moles but I do
treat fire ant mounds on a regular basis.

Leaves drying out often means the shrub
isn't getting enough water. It's been really
hot in some parts of the USA. If you follow
the usual advice ("water deeply once per
week") you're asking to lose roses! (Been
there done that...) I have been known to water
every other day when it was really hot, dry and
windy, especially my raised beds which dry
out faster. This summer I've watered the rose
beds deeply twice per week almost every week
(obviously not when we've gotten a good
rainfall).

It's appropriate to prune the dead canes if you're
sure they're dead. New canes on some roses
are red and turn green later on. But if the
cane is brown and brittle, that's dead. Cut it
back as far as necessary and dab a bit of
white glue (Elmers or school glue) on the cut to
deter insects. (Usual rule is IIRC the thickness
of a pencil; anything smaller than that don't bother
with the glue.) You can prune dead canes at
any time.

Most roses have some blackspot and if the
rose is otherwise doing ok, I wouldn't bother
spraying too much. Sometimes the "cure" is
worse than the disease. I try to take a
minimalist approach and gradually add cures
to see what works and what doesn't.

A good site for all kinds of diseases and pests
of roses is Baldo's:
http://members.tripod.com/buggyrose/

I'm also rather fond of the Ortho and Sunset
series on roses that can be found at bookstores
as well as places like Home Depot and Lowes.
Good text, good clear photos, and rather
cheap for what you're getting (around $15).

Gail
near San Antonio TX Zone 8