Question
In May of this year I planted 6 carpet rose bushes.  All of them seem to be doing well.  I notice that the blooms on the yellow and white rose bushes do not last for more than a day before losing their petals.  The scarlet carpet rose blooms last for more than 2 weeks.  Any suggestions on what to do to lengthen the life span of the roses?
Thanks

Answer
I'm afraid that what you describe is normal. White roses are the first to re-act to any difference in location and then some of the yellows will also get in a snit. The length of a rose bloom is programmed in the roses background so there is not much you can do. However white roses usually do better when they have some shade during the hottest part of the day. Red roses always do better than the others. Although there is a lot of hype about the carpet roses, it was mainly for the original one. Then the breeder puts out other colours but they usually are never as good as the original. If you are having lots of heat this will definitely effect the length of the  blooms so hopefully that is why they are dropping their leaves so quickly. When the weather gets cooler you should see them return to normal with a longer bloom period. Also planting rose bushes, even potted ones, can sometimes cause the rose to take time to adjust to the new situation. This will take longer if the weather turns hot. Give them time as it sounds like they are healthy so they will return and act better once they are settled. Roses always do better the second year as they have learned how to cope with their new surroundings. Hope this helps.