Hi - I live in Colorado. I planted a new rosebush in my backyard around a little over a month ago. It was stagnant for quite a while, not growing but keeping green. The bush just started to show new growth this week (finally!).
The temperatures have been around 100 Deg lately. I have been watering 1 - 2 times a week, approximately with approximately 1 gallon of water to the bush per week.
With the new growth came a problem: I am seeing problems with yellowing on the leaves. There are leaves that are yellowing around the edges, and some branches where all the leaves are yellow in the center:
Can someone please help me figure out what is going wrong?
It appears your rose is being cooked. The stone mulch absorbs and radiates heat upward and into the soil, raising the air temperature, increasing the water needs. The stucco wall behind it does the same, it absorbs, reflects and radiates heat from the sun, raising the air temperature around the rose, further increasing the water need. Both are passive solar collectors. As you wrote, the temperature has been around a hundred degrees recently. The air around that plant is likely greater than that. Might you have gotten those crisped leaves wet when the sun was shining on the plant? They appear burned, which could have occurred either from water focusing the sun rays like a magnifying glass, or simply their being fried from the heat from the solar collecting surfaces surrounding the rose. There isn’t much you can do about the wall (other than move the rose away from it to somewhere else) but you definitely should remove all the rock mulch and replace it with something organic. Compost works well. It insulates the soil, keeping it cool and preserving the moisture content. The rocks heat it and can literally cook the roots as the feeder roots remain within the upper few inches of the soil. They are the plant’s digestive tract. Once you’ve reduced the extra heat on the plant, it should grow better. Good luck.
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Welcome Azjazz, I agree with roseseek. The stone around your rose is absorbing the heat and damaging the leaves. And depending on how you prepared the hole and your soil type, the gallon of water per week may be insufficient. At least remove the rock, preferably 8 inches away from the canes, spread some type of wood mulch. A day or two after you water, using your index finger push down into the soil above the second knuckle. Is the soil moist or dry? Buying a moisture meter would be helpful. What type of rose is it?
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Thanks for the great advice!
I will move the stones away from the bush, and then put mulch at the base. I’ll also pick up a moisture meter while I’m at it.
I’ll have to pull out the description card for the bush, I don’t remember the breed.
@Rosejoy - We have two newly planted hybrid tea rose bushes at our new house in Colorado.
A dark red True Spirit (pictured above with the leaf damage) for its beautiful blooms and weather tolerance, and a yellow Eternal Flame for the fragrance.
We will be planting a third bush in between once I (hopefully) figure out how to get these two to flourish. I picked up some mulch and soil sensors late yesterday, I will be cleaning up the rose ground area later today.
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Have you had the soil tested? Roses grow best when the pH is between 6.2 to 6.8. If you can reach out to a local rose society and their ARS Consulting Rosarians. They can help answer your questions.
