Question
I planted a red Climbing Blaze rose climber last spring and it has been nothing but trouble!  Last year it started with aphids, which were easy to get rid of, but then it had black spot and powdery mildew for the rest of the season.  I tried fungicides, burying bananas, and even sprayed a sulfur solution twice this year as a preventative and I still have the same problem (black spot and powdery mildew -- no aphids though).  

There are black spots all over the leaves (mostly at the base of the plant), powdery mildew on some leaves -- most of which I cut off -- and most of the buds.  Flowers are still blooming, but I cut so many leaves off that it looks sick.  I'm not sure what to do because we are approaching the hotter months and I'm afraid it will only get worse.

I have Blaze next to another more disease resistant variety -- Morning Magic -- which has had no problems either year.  I've noticed that Blaze's leaves are also a duller green, not as deep as the Morning Magic, but I'm not sure if that's the nature of the plant.  If you could offer any help I would be very grateful.  Otherwise, I might have to get rid of both climbers because they were planted so close that uprooting one would inevitably kill the other...

Answer
It sounds like you got a lemon of a Blaze rose. What I do when I get a rose like that is to either get rid of it and plant another. But there is another thing you can do. Cut the Blaze rose right down to about 3 feet, even to 2 feet if you garden in a warm climate. This will activate new growth which should be much cleaner than the older type. Place some sort of a mulch all around the base of the climber and keep well watered about a bucket of water every five days.Try a liquid fish fertilizer ( 1 tablespoon to 4 quarts of water) as a foliar spray as well as pouring a couple of cups all around the base monthly. This has worked many times for me so hopefully it will solve your problem too.