Question
I purchased and planted an iceberg rose in March/April of this year and have seen it go through a series of small problems but it continues to bloom and grow.  
At first it had aphids which I hand picked, then some leaves started turning yellow and some had black spots.  It has lost those leaves and I am wondering if they will grow back or if I should spray it with something.  The black spot seems to have stopped as well as the yellowing. As I said, it continues to get new and many flower buds which develop into beautiful flowers.  Any advice would be appreciated.
As well, is there a regular maintenance routine I should be carrying out in order to prevent these problems altogether?

Thanks so much!

Answer
Iceberg is a classic rose and a good one, but it has been in commerce for a long time and so is not as strong as it was many years ago when it was introduced. This is the reason it gets black spot. But because it has a lot of vigorous growth, it usually just shrugs the disease off and keeps growing. I really would not be too concerned about the BS especially if the new growth is clean. Just continue to look after it the way you usually do and prune it back by a third in the spring and the rose will do just fine for you. That is the beauty of having a really good rose, you can enjoy it instead of worrying about it.