Question
Lynnette,
I have 4 bushes (hybrid tea) from Jackson and Perkins which are 4 years old.  The first year the blooms were plentiful and beautiful with intense colors.  With each passing year, the colors seem to get duller.  Now, not only the colors are dull, the blooms don't really open fully.  The edge of the petals are brown and they don't have the form of a perfect rose when they do open up.  It's hard to describe but it looks as if they are bruised or just plain tired.  I water them deeply once a week and feed once every two weeks.  I have managed to avoid using any kind of sprays for bugs.  Last year, there were aphids, but I haven't seen any pests this year.  Maybe there are pests but I'm just not seeing them.  Thanks for any suggestions you can give.  I live in Denver, CO.
Theresa

Answer
It sounds like you have thrips in your roses. Thrips are VERY tiny little winged insects that lay their eggs at the base of  flower buds. The larvae hatch and move their way slowly into the actual flower. Because they are sucking insects, they make tiny pin holes in the newly forming rose petals. When the flower starts to open it is already damaged and brown. In a bad infestation the blooms droop as you have described. A tired look is very accurate. Usually they prefer the pastel coloured flowers but not always.
To see if there are any insects on your roses, take a white sheet of paper, hold it under a rose bloom and with your fingers flick the flower. That should dislodged the thrips if they are there. Should they be some you will have to use a systemic type of spray as these insects are so tiny they are almost impossible to get rid of organically. Bayers put out a not too nasty insecticide which should do the job for you.
If you don't have thrips then please get back to me. There are other bugs in roses but it is usually thrips that make the petals go brown.