what can I do for frostbit roses?

[zooloander]

During a late spring freeze in April , 4 nights of 17 degree temps, my rose bushes took a beating. They had just leafed out and were very tender.....now the leaves are falling like snow! Help!

[buildersmate]

Where on earth do you live. Most of us have been roasting since before Easter.

[zooloander]

Where in the wide world do YOU live??? I' m in the big bad center of Kansas, USA, and it has definitely NOT been roasting here. We finally have had a few days in a row of 65-70 degrees!!!

[RATTER15]

lol you are posting this on a UK based website!!!

I would imagine that if you just give it a good feed and prune as required it should recover fine.

Good luck!!

[Clanad]

As you've been informed, zooloander, this is primarily a U.K. based site. There are, however, some of us Yanks that frequent the questions and answers. I live quite a bit farther north in the inter-mountain west but have a large rose garden, including about 40 Teas. I saw the news about the weather in the central U.S. and it looks like the Kansas wheat crop is going to suffer about a 40% loss of production.
At any rate, if your roses were in new leaf, simply prune back the new growth. It's gone for all practical purposes. This includes floribundas and teas, but if you have any hardy rose bushes they should be OK. The roses will come back, but slowly. Fertilize with a good dose of nitrogen as soon as the nights are consistently above 50 degrees F. Water profusely. Your new growth will probably be sensitive to Black Spot this year so be prepared to treat that... I like any product with Neem oil, (I like a product named Green Light and it's good for insects as well) and it gives a nice shine to the leaves. Be sure to fertilize throughout the season... every six weeks with a product like Miracle Grow or the easy way is to use the rose spikes that are applied only once a year... Good luck!

[zooloander]

Thanks, Ratter15.......but I did know that this is a UK based website! And who better to ask about ROSES than an Englishman! Speaking of which, my mother was born in Newark, Nottinghamshire, and married my American father in 1947! Moved here, (central Kansas) and outwitted the hot, dry old Kansas summers, and had the best British garden in these parts!!!!! ( I however, have just recently become an avid rose gardener myself, and have LOTS to learn! Thanks for your reply......I did get to visit England in 1988 with my whole family and totally enjoyed all of it.....what a beautiful country!!!!

[zooloander]

Your reponse to my plea, Clanad, was SUPER! I really appreciate it.......I have pruned most of the damage away, and decided that maybe the best thing for my roses, was lots of water, but I was hesitant about fertilizing just yet.........but if you have 40 roses, as opposed to my, perhaps, 15-20, I think you should know what you are talking about. Black spot is a problem on some of my roses, tho some seem to be totally resistant! But I plan on spraying them soon, and will check out the nitrogen content of the next fertilizer I buy.....I've been using Bayer....... Anyway, it's nice to hear from another rose lover in the U.S.!!!