Question
Hi,
This problem has perplexed me for several years now.  I have three rose bushes that are not producing ANY flower buds.  

Last year, one bush that never got very big, produced one branch that flowered once.  The flowers were pretty and smelled great. Another bush ended up being obnoxious--the branches grew every which way (usually in the way of mowing). I cut it back several times.

The bushes are on an east wall.  There are no trees there so they get sun from 6am-noon.  I know that's on the border line for the minimum amount of sun needed.

This year, two of the bushes look really healthy.  A third looked dead (the one that flowered briefly last year), but it is slowly coming back and it's branches look healthy.

These bushes did great the first 1-2 years I had them.  I had forgotten how nice they looked until a neighbor mentioned how he liked seeing the beautiful roses by my house.

I have researched this before to no avail.  I finally found some stuff today about blind shoots.  Well, all of mine are blind shoots.  I also saw something mention about the abortion of flower organs.

I have spotted a couple of tiny green worms on one bush which I hand pick off. I really don't think those are causing it though since I didn't notice them last year.

There is another rose bush on a south facing wall that got minimal blooms last year. It looks healthy now but also no buds.

One other mini is in my front flower bed (north facing), and it looks happy and HAS blooms (This is my 2nd year having that bush). Although north facing, it probably gets 6-8 hours dabbled sunlight.  

Forgive me for the long explanation, but I wanted you to understand what's happening in the yard. So, do you think my bushes have a chance at blooming or should they be taken out?  I'm not one to quit easily and they used to produce great roses.

Thanks for any light you can shed on this


Answer
As I don't know where you garden or your weather conditions, I can only tell you what causes a rose not to bloom. Some roses are more tender than other and the flower buds can get killed in garden that gets a cold winter. Also some roses when just planted, make flower buds one year and then bloom on them the next year. On these rose if you prune them hard, you will cut off the flower buds and therefore no flowers. Blind shoots happen when weather conditions are right but cutting them back makes the cane produce flowers. Crown Galls are small golf ball size lumps at the base of the rose and can cause the rose to not bloom as nutrients aren't flowing freely to the canes. Too much nitrogen in the fertilizer produces healthy looking roses at the expense of flowering. There are insects which will attack the flower buds but you usually can spot them just by looking. You could try using a tomato fertilizer as it is high in phosphorus which promotes flowering. Just use the amount for a mature tomato plant.