Question
recently, our bushes are producing rather small flowers, rather that the large ones we had last year. they are about half the size as previous' year. we haven't done anything different than what we used to. we live in southcentral tx and have been planting roses for about 3 years now. this is the first time this has happened. could u please explain to us as to why this might be happening or give us some advise as to where to search for a solution? any help would be appreciated.

Answer
When a rose bush changes the flower size it is usually caused by something wrong with the roots such as in the soil or an insect that is damaging the rose buds. So when the flower opens it has already been damaged and can't grow to it's full size. Take a piece of white paper and hold it under a bud or flower, knock the bud and see if any very tiny insects fall onto the paper. If they do then it is a bug problem and any rose insecticide will solve your problem. If you have other roses doing well then it doesn't sound like the soil is the problem. There is a third reason why roses fall back and that is because they have a virus. This will show up as yellow markings on the leaves. It looks like someone dripped yellow paint on them. There is no cure fopr the virus and the rose should be burned. Sorry I couldn't be of more help.