Troubleshooting

Climbing roses bloom on new stems that grow on old wood. Pruning them back in late winter or early spring will encourage new flowering stems. If you didn't prune this past spring, most of the new growth will be at the ends of the main canes instead of all along new lateral stems, which produce the most flowers.

It might be missing essential nutrients. Nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are the three major nutrients for all plants. (They correspond to the three numbers on fertilizer packages.) Nitrogen promotes growth of green leaves. It sounds like your plants are getting plenty of that. Phosphorus is essential for blooms. Roses are heavy feeders during their bloom period. To give them a boost, you may want to apply a fertilizer formulated especially for roses. Roses also benefit from applications of greensand, which contains potassium. Just be sure to avoid feeding them with a high-nitrogen fertilizer, which will encourage foliage growth at the expense of flowers.

In general, horizontal canes produce more flowers than vertical canes, so you might try encouraging young canes to grow horizontally by gently tying them to the trellis. Also, keep the plants consistently moist and mulch with 2 to 3 inches of compost to help maintain soil moisture.

If the stems and canes have turned black, it’s probably dead. You can determine whether a stem, branch or cane is alive by gently scraping the bark away with your thumbnail. If green tissue is found directly under the bark, that part of the plant is alive. If it's brown (or black) the stem, branch or cane is dead. Even though some of the canes may be dead, you don't need to discard the entire plant. Wait until new shoots begin growing to decide if there's too much damage. If one entire side of the bush is dead, you may want to plant a new one.

In late winter/early spring, remove the dead and damaged canes as far back as necessary. Then, remove any suckers that arise from below the graft union (the swelling near the base of the plant).

Next, select the healthiest canes (thicker and bright green) and cut off the weaker ones. If your roses are just a couple of years old, save about 3-5 canes. Save more on older plants. Lastly, cut the flowering canes back by one-third to one-half. Make your cuts about 1/4" above an outward-facing bud.

Roses need weekly watering to keep them happily growing. An easy way to provide water is to build a basin around the plant above the root mass and fill the basin with water so it can slowly trickle down to the roots. Depending upon weather you may need to water once or twice each week by filling the basin.

The problem may be the growing conditions. Too much nitrogen fertilizer and not enough sun will cause the stems to elongate and weaken. Also, not enough potassium and phosphorous in the soil can also effect the growth. Try adding a fertilizer low in nitrogen, but high in p and K such as 5-10-10. And make sure your rose receives at least 6 hours of direct sun each day.

This condition is most likely a physiological problem that occurs following alternating dry and wet weather, mild temperatures and cold spells. Poor nutrition can also contribute to this "balling". Give your rose some extra care by mulching the soil well to reduce soil temperature fluctuations and feeding with a high potash complete fertilizer, or phosphate rock and greensand.

Sudden wilting of the entire bush often indicates an unfortunate event such as accidental herbicide contact, a broken stem, or severe root disturbance, possibly by a vole. Inspect the plant carefully for signs of trauma. If there is root damage, you may be able to salvage it by digging it up and replanting it or by replacing any missing soil and taking care to keep the soil evenly moist. Trim it back next spring to compensate for the root damage.

The shock of root loss due to transplanting can be severe for any plant. Transplant in early spring, for the best bet of a full recovery. If it’s still early in the season, prune it back by 1/2 and make sure the soil is kept moist but not soggy.

Lack of nutrients can cause leaves to turn yellow, but in this case, since the yellowing happened so quickly I think it may just be the shock of getting acclimated to a new home. It may recover on its own. In addition to lack of nutrients, yellowing can also be a sign of overwatering, underwatering, and/or lack of light. It might also be a sign of insect infestation, so check the leaves and stems carefully for anything unusual.

There are a number of commercial animal repellent sprays that would help deter your rabbits from eating the young rose sprouts. Once the growth is a few weeks old, the rabbits shouldn't be interested anymore. You could also erect temporary cages made from chicken wire, but this would be a big project if you have more than a couple roses. The good news is that roses are vigorous and will recover quickly from minor damage.

I wish I had an answer to your problem, but aside from fencing, there really is no way to keep deer out of your yard. Some plants are more attractive to deer than others, but if there's enough competition for food, and deer are hungry enough, they'll eat almost anything. The tender foliage of roses seems to be one of their favorites. A barking dog or spraying unsavory tasting mixtures can sometimes be a deterrent, or if that isn't an option, you might try draping your rose bushes each night with bird netting. Deer are creatures of habit and tend to visit the same places in the same gardens time after time. If you drape your rose bushes with bird netting and the deer can't dine on your roses, they just may find another garden to visit and will leave yours alone.