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Well, I'm on the opposite side of the country so it may be different here but in picture one it looks like Japanese beetles are eating the plants. I have used Japanese beetle traps successfully as long as they are placed just past the rose bush, downwind. The insects fly to the sweetness of the trap and get stuck in there instead of going to your roses.
Picture two looks like mildew. Not enough sun? Soil too acidic? Not the right kind of fertilizer to make the plant strong enough to resist mildew. There isn't that much you can do about it and it's very contagious to other susceptible plants. I garden organically and will not plant roses that require chemical spraying. They say baking soda to neutralize the acidity that the mildew needs. You mix the baking soda in with dish soap so that it can stick to the leaves. Also, remove infected leaves and don't touch the plant after touching the infected leaves. Even if a leaf falls on the ground under the plant, spores of mildew can get into the soil so it does get pretty hard to control and fungus disease.
Maybe when some other people come along we can get a dialog going and narrow it down more for you and make suggestions.
Last edited by in_newengland; 04-13-2013 at 07:32 PM..
At this time of year the first rose is probably being chewed by Fuller Rose Beetles or caterpillars. Some sources below to help you ID the beetle if it is still on the rose tree.
in_newengland most experts advise against using the Japanese beetle traps these days because they don't work the way the were expected to when everyone was eager to use them. They are excellent lures and will bring Japanese Beetles from all over the neighborhood to your garden. In fact that is how they were invented. Scientists trying to study Japanese Beetles in order to find ways to get rid of them needed to attract beetles to containers rather than go looking for them out in the wild. They created the bag and lure combination to bring the beetles to them.
J&Em is right I had to write a paper about Japanese Beetle Traps and do my own research when I was getting my horticulture degree. How marketing persuaded the general public to purchase them is beyond me. Why would you want to put out something which attract one of the worse nuisance insects around? If you want to get ride of Japanese beetles use Milky Spore Disease and convince all your neighbors to do the same or else be determined to never plant anything Japanese Beetles are known to destroy. In other words plant for your own environment, not what you particularly like.
This is an old article but it gives general info about milky spore disease. http://hyg.ipm.illinois.edu/pastpest/200120b.html
Charles,
I have a feeling you have sprinklers on those plants.
No mulch either.
No sprinklers on roses, drip hoses are great!
They need to be cut down low and mulched and fed.
All above people are absolutely right with their advise.
Sprinklers spray water all over the leaves whenever they go on.
Not good for roses, and they aren't watered properly with them.
They need deep frequent watering, with a drip hose in the morning.
Try not to get water on the leaves.
They might pull right out of their current conditions for you better than
you think.
I had great success with Japanese beetle traps and it was the only thing that stopped my roses from being eaten alive. I was aware that they are out of fashion now but it was the only thing that ever worked for me. My grandfather used to walk around the garden every morning flicking Japanese beetles into a can of turpentine (I think it was turpentine.) That killed them too. I don't think I was attracting beetles from all over; there were hoards of them already there, decimating the plants. The plants would be covered with beetles every morning until I put the trap up a few yards away.
Charles,
I have a feeling you have sprinklers on those plants.
No mulch either.
No sprinklers on roses, drip hoses are great!
They need to be cut down low and mulched and fed.
All above people are absolutely right with their advise.
Sprinklers spray water all over the leaves whenever they go on.
Not good for roses, and they aren't watered properly with them.
They need deep frequent watering, with a drip hose in the morning.
Try not to get water on the leaves.
They might pull right out of their current conditions for you better than
you think.
No sprinklers. I just deep hand water them once or twice a week. The base of my plants is in a basin in the dirt so I just make a puddle of water.
Also, those are just two out of about 25 roses I have in my back yard. Most of the others are fine. It's pretty much just those two that I have ugly problems with.
No mulch though.
Will read in detail the posts above and probably head over to Green Thumb this week for some products.
Roses. Sigh. I like 'em, but can't grow them. My suggestion: a trip to the florist for a bunch of nice ones. Cheaper in the long run. Either that, or some nice silk roses.
I couldn't resist. I saw this thread listed on the side of the page when I was on another topic. Just madea trip to see my roses. All dead from critters and such. Sigh. Florist is open today....
I had great success with Japanese beetle traps and it was the only thing that stopped my roses from being eaten alive. I was aware that they are out of fashion now but it was the only thing that ever worked for me. My grandfather used to walk around the garden every morning flicking Japanese beetles into a can of turpentine (I think it was turpentine.) That killed them too. I don't think I was attracting beetles from all over; there were hoards of them already there, decimating the plants. The plants would be covered with beetles every morning until I put the trap up a few yards away.
Yes, the JB traps work fantastic for me. It basically ended the problem with JB. Ahhh...but now there are voles to control! Yep, those roses at the store are lookin' better and better and better.....
Last edited by katnip kid; 04-14-2013 at 08:43 AM..
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Roses. Sigh. I like 'em, but can't grow them. My suggestion: a trip to the florist for a bunch of nice ones. Cheaper in the long run. Either that, or some nice silk roses. 
Yep, those roses at the store are lookin' better and better and better.....
