In previous years I deep-watered my roses three times
a week--essentially every other day. I was not thinking
of how much they needed to stay alive, but of how they
could not really get too much water as long as it drained.

This year I have been busy, and out of town a bunch, so
I've kept up with rainfall and as long as we received two
inches in a week, I did not water.

Springtime was about normal, large flushes of blooms
on all the older roses, smaller ones on the younger
roses.

Now that the 90 degree (F) temps have set in, I see
the difference. With minimal water most of my roses
have no blooms at all; a few of the older ones have
a few. In past years with abundant watering they all
had many more blooms. I attribute this difference
to watering because I cannot identify any other differences.