Hi,
I should have added to my initial posting--I do not see any obvious insects on this Rugosa. Is it possible that I missed any? Yes, I'm sure it's possible... I examined the underside of the leaves, but didn't turn the plant upside down in my search either.

Also--the reason I am seeking advice from the Organic Rose forum is because I am not a big fan of chemicals. In addition to that, the Rugosa in particular does not like chemicals of any kind that I am aware of.

Thanks,

Denise

I really do not know whether this is at all the same problem you are having, so I'll describe for you my rose problem, what I've learned and how I am responding.

An unnamed rugosa inherited with my house has suffered yearly with yellow chlorosis (yellow with green veining) followed by scorching of leaves and then entire branches.

One possiblity is that there is an iron deficiency; the other possibility is that it is a different deficiency such as magnesium. I tried to correct for iron deficiency. If that doesn't work, I'll runs a soil test to shee what's going on.

I have found information indicating that only chelated iron with EDDHA in it does any good for soils above 7.5 PH and that it is directly due to the alkaline soils we have that causes the chlorosis. If you are on clay as I am west of Mpls, the clay will keep the soil alkaline as it continues to break down. I severly pruned my rose, pruning out ANY evidence of damage, an then added a fertilizer with EDDHA iron chelate around the rose. So far it looks good with plenty of new growth. Hopefully that is all that will be required.

Some site suggest spraying. Rugosas do not like being sprayed, I found out the hard way! Another site suggested Old antique roses (I have one-Rugosa rugosa alba) that is probably the strongest, heaviest blooming rose in my harshly exposed MN garden.

I hope this is all that is required - for both of us!!!

Good luck,

The other possibility is just plain old transplant shock, which occurs with some roses when they are moved. It doesn't matter if they are moved from pot to ground, pot to pot or ground to ground, some roses just sulk for a couple of weeks after being moved. Keep watering, that's the best response for transplant shock.

Thank you, both BKoopman and Diane_NJ, for your advice. I will probably take both tips and work simultaneously, as this rose is looking a little sadder each day and I'm worried about running out of time. I'll probably look for a fertilzer with EDDHA, as well as watering the crap out of it... Our soil is very weird; it's a mixture of both sand AND clay. Seems odd, but maybe it's not that uncommon.

My question to BKoopman is... where do I go to find a product with EDDHA in it? Do any particular brand names come to mind? If you don't know, don't worry about it, but I thought I'd at least ask... otherwise I'm at the mercy of the sales person I run into at the local greenhouse, and lately I haven't had much luck with them. The other week I asked a sales lady at Malmborg's if they had any Rugosa roses, and she didn't even know what I was talking about.

Thanks a bunch,