Question
We re-landscaped 2 flower beds in April and planted 12 knockout rose bushes.  About 2 weeks ago, one plant began losing leaves.  Now 4 bushes are effected.  The leaves are completely stripped off some plants, with only a few leaves remaining on others.  Remaining stems are still green.  My husband pruned some of these plants last week, but the leaf loss had started prior to pruning.  Any idea what is going on and what we should do? We live in Baton Rouge,LA. and it is hot here!

Answer
If there is no evidence of insects and you can't see any caterpillars plus there are no rabbits or squirrels in your area, then the problem is the heat. Newly planted rose bushes always go under stress when first planted no matter what the conditions are like. It is the fact that they are moved to a different environment then the one they were in. So the roots semi shit down and they start dropping their leaves because the roots can' t support them. It is a way of a rose saving itself. Now add high heat to that equation, and even if they had been in the ground for a couple of years, they would still go under stress. Roses hate high heat and simply shut down. The roses should be watered daily to help them cope with the long periods of stress in the heat. They won't die but will look sad until the cooler weather comes back. Just a tip for you. If you get high heat normally then forget what the rose books tell you about planting roses in full sun. Roses in your area only need about 6 hours of full sun to do well because 30 minutes of your sun would be equal to 2 hours in my area which doesn't get hot. So keep watering them as roses will come back because they can grow three sets of leaves without compromising their vigour.