Question
I had 2 New Dawn Rose in the past, which flowered profusely in the early summer. After the first flush of flowers all the leaves died (it looked as though the plant was dying), after the bush was bare of leaves new leaves started to appear. The bush then looked really healthy and the flowers kept coming till the end of November. Neighbours and friend have New Dawn and they don't behave like this. I planted a New Dawn in a different position last year and it is doing exactly the same, I am quite confused, any suggestions?

Answer
When a rose re-acts totally in that the leaves all fall off, then you know it is either the soil or the bud union that is causing the problem. Roses will drop their leaves if they don't get enough water and also if the roots get hot as roses do much better with cool roots. When a rose feels it is threatened, the first thing it does is to drop the leaves and the second is to die back the canes. It sounds like your New Dawn had a temporary glitch which could be caused even by a weak bud union. If it happened a second time, I am assuming you bought it from the same place. If not then you have an unique problem but I am glad the rose sorted it out for you. Hope this helps.