Question
Five years ago I planted 20 carpet roses on my property. Most of them were planted in full sun and others were planted in semi shaded areas. I fertilize with slow release formula and trim them every year 2/3 of their size. About once a week I water with a water soluble fertilizer hoping the more I fertilize the more blooms I will have.

The plants have remained beautifully green and healthy but very little blooms. The plants in semi shade don't bloom at all. They are suppose to bloom profusely but that is not the case. What can I do to encourage more blooming? I am ready to pull them all out.

Answer
This is only my personal opinion on the Carpet roses. Many times there is a lot of advertising hype about a certain rose ( Knock Out is another example) and many times the rose does not live up to it. Again in my opinion, the first carpet rose, Pink Flower Carpet, was an excellent one and the same goes for Appleblossom Carpet Rose, but many of the ones that followed were not as good. I have heard many complaints about the carpet series suffering from bad cases of the fungal disease Black Spot.  Because of that, they don't do well in rainy areas. Also they don't like any situation that doesn't have 8 hours of full sunshine. You have looked after them the right way, even being kinder than the advertising says you have to. If your roses are growing well and are healthy but they don't bloom, it is usually because they are making growth at the expense of making flowers. Slow release fertilizer is all that these plants need and I think you are being too generous with their feeding. I would stop all fertilizing and only prune back a little, as hard pruning only encourages more growth and you want flowers. You should see results late this year and definitely next season.