Question
I have a certain spot in my rose bed that the rose bush dies every other year for no reason. Rose bushes 3 feet away are healthy and no problems. This is the 2nd rose bush I have planted in this spot and the same thing happens. After a year or two it just DIES! I don't know it it is dying until the leaves suddenly wilt and turn crispy and the bush dies. Please help.  I live in Timpson Texas on the lake and have fairly good soil, and I make a good bed before I plant.  I asked the local nursery, all they said was it was not getting enough water. That is not the case, I have taken good care of them this summer. Any suggetions?

Answer
Because you are growing other roses very well, it is obviously nothing that you are doing is causing the roses in that particular area to die. Something is definitely in your soil that is killing or damaging the rose roots. You could take a sample of the soil to a soil testing company such as a department of agricultural, as they usually will do it for a small charge it there is a problem involved. Otherwise I would dig out an area that you feel is causing the problem to two feet deep and replace it with new soil. Somehow something, probably a chemical, has got into your rose bed. If it were mice that were causing the damage or another animal, then the other roses would suffer too. I had a case in my area where a gardener made a new rose bed  by a river and an area was killing her plants. Because they had built the house on new land it was a real problem. However we discovered that cars used to come and park by the river and the oil from the cars was the problem. From your description of the wilting leaves, it is the roots that are slowly being killed and so can't take up water and nutrients to the top of the rose bush. If possible I would remove some of the soil or have it tested if a soil survey or other source is available. Please get back to me I am interested to know what the answer is.