LasVegan said:Hi Tisha, thank you for your reply.
The plant has been in the same large container for the past 2-3 years. I don't use any fertilizer, because I lost a bunch of plants to it a few years back. This plant was actually the only survivor of that disaster. I estimate it is at least a decade old.
Your rose probably needs to be re-potted to have the soil replaced and certainly needs to be pruned. Old wood is less efficient than new wood.
Not fertilizing container roses is starving the plant. The only source of nutrients available to container plants are those the gardener gives the plants. You may have lost a lot of plants due to a fertilizing mishap, but if you fertilize correctly, provide proper moisture and drainage, you should not have a problem in the future.
I can't really tell from your photos, but there is a very good possibility that your container is much too small for the rose. When you pull the rose to re-pot it, you will be able to tell if it is severely root bound. If it is very root bound. the roots cannot function and cannot support top growth.
