Name: Mary Kay Albrechtson Rawlins WY (Zone 4a) I LOVE MY GARDEN!
This purple rose bush is about 20 years old. It belonged to my mother and I transplanted it to my home (just a few blocks away from her home after she passed 11 years ago) I live in Wyoming which is zone 4. I am posting a picture of what it looked like many years ago. Several years ago, it got infested with tiny black bugs and I have had trouble with this rose bush ever since. For the past few years, I begin to spray the bush with rose food and systemic disease and bug control sprays as soon as growth shows and continue to spray every month. I am also attaching a picture of what the roses now look like. The rose bush is profuse with roses and the plant looks healthy, but the rose petals wilt and die off. Sometimes, the buds don't open. I do spray the tight buds as soon as they appear to try and get any bugs that are inside the bud. This particular rose is highly rose scented. I have several other rose bushes near and around this one and none of them seem to have this problem. They also don't have the strong rose scent that this one does. Also, the color of the roses is fading in color, whereas it used to be a beautiful deep purple and is now faded barely purple. Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas for me? thank you so much.