"1) What do you think is the problem?" - I think it came with the problem - I'll tell you why shortly
"1a) Do you think it is the soil/location?" - No
"2) If I dig up the Pope, do you think another rose in that location would have the same problems?" I don't know if the problem will spread.
Here's what happened to me. I ordered Pope John Paul ll from Jackson & Perkins - I received confirmation from them. Then a few weeks later, I received a second email notifying me that they were sorry but they were not going to ship the rose. A few weeks later, the rose shows up at my doorstep. I called Jackson & Perkins and asked what happened. The representative told me that they had a "problem" with that particular rose but that they had solved the problem so they shipped it. She assured me the rose was fine.
I took photos of this rose in 2013 and 2014. It wasn't until yesterday after reading your post that I took a good close up look at the photos. Upon closer inspection, I am guessing some kind of insect has eaten the petals. The 2014 shows the rose in better shape in comparison than the 2013 photo. I could also see the 2014 rose was sprayed. I do recall last year, one of my roses had Japanese beetle. I did spray all the roses with Sevin as a precaution. It may have helped this "problem". My roses are just beginning to show leaves. I'll keep you abreast of the situation. The first photo is from 2013, the second photo from 2014.
Margie
