last year i purchased 8 hybrid tea roses to put in my beds and berms. The rose blooms have brown crispy stuff around the outside of the petals. The beds are all in full sun.. is there anything i can give them? Or should i move them? Im new to roses, im more of a prairie gardener soo... THANKS!!!
Probably thrips (Frankliniella spp.): http://www.upenn.edu/paflora/plantclinic/flowerthrips.htm Compare your sample with Botrytis cinerea also though: http://plantclinic.cornell.edu/FactSheets/botrytis/botrytis_blight.htm
What has the weather been like out in your nick of the woods, Takana? If it has been raining for a prolonged periods (days), then botyritis is likely. In this condition, the whole bud often fails to open. The buds may turn into slimy, soft messes. Other buds may be half open, only to disintegrate completely even with the gentlest of touch. The open blooms will get brown splotches on the petals, and the outer petals may turn to mush. (You can see that I have had lots of experience with this particular rose calamity recently!) If the weather has been sunny and dry, and there has been lots of air movement (it does not have to be real hot), then some of the flowers will get scorched. This usually is in the form of dried, brown sometimes crispy edges to the petals. In my garden, the darker colored, fully double flowers tend to suffer the worst. I am not too familiar with thrips actually turning petals brown and crispy. In our area, since most the damage occur in early May when the buds are just being formed, the more typical damage is to the tips of the canes and destruction of the growing flower buds. They leave behind a telltale sign of a blackened cane tip, or damage to very young flower buds. If it is the thrip that is causing problems, spraying with inseciticidal soap, and pruning off and discarding infected and damage parts of the plant may reduce the extent of the damage.
