Question
QUESTION: I have about 18 rosa rogousa planted along my driveway which are 4 years old. I have pruned them back hard in the fall, but there are hardly any blooms at all this year.  I live on Cape Cod where they are plentiful and the wild ones are amass of blooms this year, but not mine!  What should i do to help them out??  thanks

ANSWER: Some Rugosas don't like to be pruned hard and will re-act in a negative way. Obviously the wild ones are doing fine because they didn't get attended to and so bloom well. Quite often it is better to take a Rugosa cane right down to the base rather than pruning hard as you would any other rose. They will bloom but you will have to wait until they make more flower buds. Many roses won't bloom until they reach the height they are programmed for and many Rugosas can be like that. If you look at the ends of the Rugosa canes you will see that they bloom in clusters. The top has been cut off so that will be another reason you are not getting the normal amount of blooms.

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QUESTION: thank you very much, I appreciate your informative response.  I have actually had very few blooms since they were planted, have tried liquid fertilizers (which I now know they don't like) and honestly less then a handful of blooms this year.  Is there a dry fertilizer that might help, or should I just let them be??  Thanks again!

Answer
I usually try something different in the way of organics every year and last year just as a test.  I  had really good results with using alfalfa meal on my Rugosas, actually on all my roses. I just sprinkle it all around the base and then water it in. Canola meal or fish meal  are other types of mild fertilizers that Rugosas like as they are both  not too strong.
I have also found that although Rugosa are considered tough, they do better when watered the same as other roses. There are Rugosas and Rugosas Hybrids, some grow nice and straight and others  look messy. Wild ones may look tidy when viewed from afar but up close many have lots of twiggy growth. The hybrid Rugosas take pruning better than the species types.