Question
I planted four carpet rose plants and three assorted miniature rose plants this spring. the carpet roses are not blooming as advertised. Lots of growth, but little bit of blooms. I have fertilized them once since planting them. We have been getting plenty of rain, however it as been extremely hot. I live in the Charlotte NC area. Also how and when should I prune them and should I remove the dead blooms or just let them fall off. New to roses, and gardening all together. Please help.

Answer
All roses never look good if the temperature goes too high for them as roses hate high temperatures. To save themselves, the roots simply shut down until the weather returns to normal. This means they don't take up water or food. So giving them fertilizer is a waste of food and even with water, they don't take up as much as they usually do. What this does is make the bush look terrible as the leaves start to go yellow and fall off and the flowers usually droop and look sick. Because of the rain you will get lots of new growth but you won't get flowers if the temperature stays hot because the rain is saving the roses from going dormant but the heat stops flowering in many roses. Don't worry as they will not die but just not bloom. If you tend to get hot spells in your area, then expect your roses to act this way again and look poorly. In the spring before they start to leaf out, prune them back by about a third and this will keep them tidy. Don't worry how to prune, simply cut them straight across, as this is the best way to cut the Carpet Roses back. I wouldn't bother dead heading, unless you have the time, as these types of roses make a lot of flowers and you won't see much difference if you dead head them. It will only tidy them up.