worried sick about our roses??

[mschroe919]

[align=left]Hi I have quite a large rose bush here in St. clair shores michigan. After a lot of loving care I started last year to get lots and lots of roses. My problem now is the roses seemed to turn whiteish after getting large. I was wanting to know first is this normal? And second I was told by employee of Eglish gardens that it was as they mature this happens. Well I also was told to just pluck the turning rose and new ones will come back. Again if this is true what is the best way to take off the old ones, pull them or cut them?[/align]

[align=left]I am including a picture of a rose with the frilled ends.[/align]

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[align=left]I am including a picture of my and my wifes bush.[/align]

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We meditate at it remembering her mom and dad.

thank you

[Newt]

Hi Mschroe,

Many roses change colors as the bloom ages.* If only a few of the blooms are doing this it could be a harmless virus that is causing it.* Do you know the name of this rose?* That would be most helpful to be able to research it and lean of it's characteristics.

It's often best to deadhead roses to keep the blooms coming along.* You should prune off the spent blooms to the first set of 5 outfacing leaves.* They should be cut and not pulled off.* The cut should be made at an angle to allow rain water to run off the cut stem.
http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/roses/prune.html

Newt