Question
Hi Lynnette, I moved last summer. My new home had a very large round
planter containing a leggy rose bush. The bush was covered with beetles. I
got
rid of the beetles and thought I'd have to get rid of the rose but it bloomed
and the roses had a wonderful scent. I decided to try to keep it alive. I pruned
it back last fall and it looks a little healthier this year but now it has brown
spots on the leaves. The blooms are out and the roses still have an incredible
smell. After uses a rose spray to help the problem of the brown spots should I
move the rose from the planter and put it in the ground? Also is there any
way of finding out what kind of rose it is? I would love to have a few more.
Thank you, Georgeanna

Answer
There are well over a 100 roses introduced each year so it really is impossible to identify one correctly. Your rose may have been in the planter for a long time. And if it was then, it has depleted the soil of all nutrients. I would try and scoop out as much of the soil around the rose roots as possible without disturbing the rose and then fill it up with good soil. Place a mulch of anything you have in your area to keep the roots cool and damp. Roses love cool damp roots and this will help with the diseases. Sprinkle a handful of any rose fertilizer all around the base of the rose. Next year you could, if you wanted to, plant it in the ground, as this is where the rose roots prefers to be. The brown spots are a fungus disease and the spray should help cure it.