This spring I planted a new, slightly raised (4") garden bed a couple of feet from my house's west wall. The bed receives sun most of the day. The soil is about half native granite gravel loam, a quarter decomposed horse manure, and a quarter bagged bark compost, mixed and left to mellow several months before planting. The four roses in the bed are Julia Child, Golden Celebration, Pillow Fight and Bolero. The GC is closest to the house, about four feet from the wall.


The bed, with Golden Celebration to the left.

I've had to water every day, to keep the small annuals from 6 packs from wilting. The bigger perennials, two rosemaries and the four roses haven't been wilting, their roots being deeper in the ground. All the roses have very happy vegetation and growth. All have been blooming in nice quantities. The petals of the three other roses are doing well. The Golden Celebration roses, as soon as the buds expand, have been terminally wilting.

Golden Celebration with wilted blooms, Pillow Fight below with nice blooms.

The other three roses are maybe 18 inches farther from the house wall.


If I cut the buds, they open normally.

I grew GC outside in full sun at my previous home in zone 5 Arizona, and didn't have this issue with it. I have some other Austin roses, most in pots in full sun, and they aren't wilting early without good excuse (dry soil in the pot). Is this plant too close to my house, or is this just what I can expect from this variety?

How long ago were these roses planted? Plant maturity could be an issue.

But heck, it's August, now.
You are in Arizona.
Central Arizona is under an Excessive Heat Warning:
"Excessive Heat Warning Central Arizona
2 hours ago – National Weather Service
EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM MST THIS EVENING ... High temperatures 110 to 115 degrees ..."

I would be shocked if roses did NOT wilt in such conditions ... particularly blooms on relatively immature plants, which are trying real hard to build a root system.

Frankly, I would recommend providing shade for these roses. PARTICULARLY in the afternoon.

Hi, Jeri -- If all the roses in this bed were acting the way GC has been, I would totally agree and not have thought it was weird. But, they aren't. I live at 5000 feet elevation, and the high temps here this summer are in the mid 90s. As for age of the plant, it is grafted and was living in a square Austin-branded pot in my back yard for a year or so. The bed was planted in May of this year.

I do agree this western exposure in a raised bed is the most challenging site in the garden. I delayed creating the bed for that very reason, and made sure it was feet away from the wall. If I can figure out a way to provide shade without it blowing away, that would be a very interesting trial. Thanks!

Austin catalog ,
Page 88.
Roses for shady position;
Golden Celebration.
Hope this helps.

Tisha

Thanks, Tisha! I may well need to move that plant to some as yet undug and shadier bed. Did you notice that the Austin catalog lists 40 varieties as suitable for shade, not counting climbers? Maybe I should replace GC with my Sombrueil, which is happily and unwiltedly blooming against my house's south wall in mostly full sun.

Genevre,
Would you consider waiting till your spring to move GC?
A shrub rose recently removed from that narrow bottom green pot may have unhappy roots.
Replanting so soon might shock it even more on top of the sun/shade situation.

Tisha

Hi Tisha -- I'm hoping not to have to move GC at all. As I said, the bush itself is growing very happily, putting out new canes of 3 or 4 feet, even growing towards the house wall. I want a large rose in that spot; the other three varieties are supposed to stay around three feet tall. If the blooms perform better when the weather cools down, maybe I can deal with having to harvest all the summer blooms. And I'm lazy enough not to want to dig new garden beds in the humid monsoon summer. Thanks for thinking about the bush's welfare!

@Genevre ....

As Jeri said above, your rose is busy putting all of the nutrients created by photosynthesis back into growing roots. Roses grow their roots first. The foliage they put out is their natural method of creating food, so it makes sense that you will see foligage, but that does not mean that the plant is mature. It is still a "baby" rose.

Plants lose moisture through their leaves in high temps. Even with temps in the 90s, the transpiration rate, the loss of moisture, is higher than what a young rose can manage to pull up moisture from the root zone.

As your rose matures, it will be more efficient because it will have built up both the root mass and vascular system to support all of the top growth, including the blooms.

For now, cutting your blooms and enjoying them inside is a win-win for both you and the rose.