I have a bourbon shrub rose "Boule de Neige" which is in a large pot.
Last year it flowered beautifully but this year buds start developing
normally then instead of opening they shrivel up and form a ball. The
petals themselves seem to get stunted and shrink and shrivel before
they get to a size where they should open. They don't even try to
open. It happened with every single bud. Has anyone got any
suggestions as to how to manage this please?

In jenny2write wrote:
I have a bourbon shrub rose "Boule de Neige" which is in a large pot.
Last year it flowered beautifully but this year buds start developing
normally then instead of opening they shrivel up and form a ball. The
petals themselves seem to get stunted and shrink and shrivel before
they get to a size where they should open. They don't even try to
open. It happened with every single bud. Has anyone got any
suggestions as to how to manage this please?

From what you've told me, it could be a fungal condition and mildew
would be the prize suspect. Jenny, is there a white powdery coating on
the flower buds and surrounding young leaves?

In article ,
says...

I have a bourbon shrub rose "Boule de Neige" which is in a large pot.
Last year it flowered beautifully but this year buds start developing
normally then instead of opening they shrivel up and form a ball. The
petals themselves seem to get stunted and shrink and shrivel before
they get to a size where they should open. They don't even try to
open. It happened with every single bud. Has anyone got any
suggestions as to how to manage this please?

sounds like a varietal problem which appears when the conditions are right or
wrong, depending on your viewpoint.
I have a bourbon rose called Variegata di Bologna, for the first several
years I couldn't really ever tell if it was a striped rose or what--the
blooms would just ball up, never open. Every few years it blooms wonderfully.
What you describe is very common with some Old Garden Roses, Souvenir de la
Malmaison only opened about 1 in 19 flowers for the two or three years I grew
it. It's a real ****er. Mme. Caroline Testout, an old Hybrid Tea, is the
same way only lately it's been on Good Behavior, maybe 30-40 percent of them
opened normally.
Heat and humidity you see, that's the ticket. Not much you can do about that.

m







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When Botyritis finally got to my Louise Odier
thats what happened to all my buds.
But a couple of days of 90F dry weather
and the blooming is on again.

--
Theo in Zone 5
Kansas City

"jenny2write" wrote in message
om...
I have a bourbon shrub rose "Boule de Neige" which is in a large pot.
Last year it flowered beautifully but this year buds start developing
normally then instead of opening they shrivel up and form a ball. The
petals themselves seem to get stunted and shrink and shrivel before
they get to a size where they should open. They don't even try to
open. It happened with every single bud. Has anyone got any
suggestions as to how to manage this please?