Check Your Roses Please

Check Your Roses Please

rose foliage in the late fall

You overwintered your roses.  You cut back your roses this spring before they started to grow.  The new growth is pushing out, and the foliage looks great. 

Bam…. that is just the time that bugs start to eat that clean, beautiful foliage.  Get out and check your rose bushes to see if there are any holes in the leaves, any bugs chewing or crawling on the tops or the undersides of the leaves.  If you are in an area that has Japanese Beetles, it is probably too early yet, but be on the lookout for them too.  Aphids, chafers, beetles and anything else… be on the lookout.     

How to treat the bugs on your roses?  Choose the weapon that works for you.  Maybe you can physically just remove the bugs with your fingers?  Insecticidal soap can work and needs to be re-applied as rain washes it off.  Other insecticides that are labeled for roses can also be used.  Another option is to use a systemic insecticide that is taken up by the rose plants and protects the plants from all chewing bugs from the inside of the plant.  It does not wash off.

← Previous Next →