my original message concerned a specific rose - perhaps the problem is not
confined to that one

what do you do with a rose which has beautiful foliage but no
flowers?????????

This is most unusual.

A harkness rose, a floribunda to boot
not blooming? Strange.

One of the nice things about roses compared to
every other plant I grow is that some how
they find the energy to bloom. In shade or
in drought. In fact some bloom themselves to death.

The list of things that can cause non blooming is limited.

- Winter chilling. Most roses need winter chilling. Atleast down to
freezing and below for more than a few weeks. New Dawn in
particular is famous for non blooming in southern california.

- Fertilizer imbalance. Roses need phosphorus to bloom. The
P in the NPK formula. This is extremely unlikely but you could
shift to a High phosphorus low nitrogen mix to curtail growth and
encourage blooming. I've heard of epsom salts helping but I've never
used it.

- Frequent trimming. I had a friend who could never get her roses to bloom.
Turns out she had been trimming the bush into a hedge every few weeks.
But you seem to know better.

It doesn't seem like you have any diseases and you seem to water
to keep them healthy so that is about it that I know of.


--
Theo

in Kansas City Z5/Z6?


"Gillian Lowe" wrote in message
...
my original message concerned a specific rose - perhaps the problem is not
confined to that one

what do you do with a rose which has beautiful foliage but no
flowers?????????