Question Hi, I have a hybrid john f kennedy tea rose. I live in columbus, oh. My question is that while my tearose is beautiful and gets many rosebuds on it, the buds never come into full bloom, they get quite large, but never open up completely. I was wondering if this a normal characteristic of this flower or if there could be a problem?
AnswerWhat you have on your rose are either rose midges or thrips. Both are very tiny and not easily seen. If you take a piece of white paper and flick the buds with your finger, you should be able to see tiny fly like insects on the paper if that is the problem. Any insecticide for roses will cure this problem for you when you follow the directions on the package. They damge the buds at the base as they eat them or suck the juices out of them so they are damaged before they even open to flower. Sometimes you can see the tiny hole.
Another possibility is that the forming buds were nipped by a frost in the spring and were damaged.
For some unknown reason these insects prefer white or pastel coloured roses. I am glad to hear that you JFK is doing so well as this rose really prefers a warm climate. Sometimes it will dieback or simply die off a winter. If this is the rose's first year, mulch well up to 12 inches. If not keep doing what you have been doing because it seems to bring success. Hope this helps.
