Question
Hey Mrs. Payne,
I recently moved in to my first house.  The previous owners had about four small roses bushes in the front of the house.  I love the way roses look and smell but I do not know much about them.  These have smail greenish/purplish leaves.  They are not blooming right now.  I live in I believe zone 7 Pearl, Ms.  I looked closer at the bushes yesterday and noticed there were a few buds that looks dryed up/dead looking.  The bushes are not dead though,  do you have any advice you can give me???  
Thanks a million!!

Answer
First clean up any weeds around the rose bushes. Then cut out any canes that are dead plus cut off the dead buds. You could, if you don't have any more hard frosts and there isn't much new growth, cut the whole bush back by a third. Just cut right across the top of the bush. Take any rose fertilizer and sprinkle it all around the base of the roses. Finally water them well. In about two to three weeks you should see nice clean growth coming. Fertilize again in July and then no more as you don't want any new growth to get killed by the fall hard frosts.