Rose Bush Not Flowering? Here’s the Garden Fix You Need

Let’s be honest, rose bushes without their blooms aren’t all that pleasing to the eye.

What makes roses so widely adored are their captivating and elegant blooms that add charm and romanticism to anylandscape they reside. To that end, it is both disappointing and vexing when our rose bushes don’t produce their prized flowers that we look so forward to boasting.

There are many reasons that your roses may not be producing blooms, from environmental stressors to incorrect care on our part, but there are ways to identify the cause of this misfortune and bring those roses back to life. So, let’s go through some of these problems and what you can do to bring back those ravishing blooms.

1: Roses Aren’t Receiving Enough Sunlight

Being one of the most common environmental troubles with roses, a lack of sunlight will surely prevent you from getting your long-awaited springtime blooms.

Roses typically need to receive at least 5-6 hours of sunlight to form new buds. Some varieties can thrive with partial sun and shade, but most love direct sunlight and don’t respond well without it.

If you aren’t sure if this may be your problem, monitor your roses for a couple of days by writing down the time they are exposed to full sun and the time that they get completely shade. If the time in between isn’t at least 5 hours, I recommend transplanting to a more sun-friendly location.

If they are getting enough direct sunlight, keep on going down the list!

2: Fertilizing is Done Too Often or With Improper Fertilizer

High on the list with inadequate sunlight, not fertilizing correctly or with the right fertilizer is one of the most common causes of roses not blooming.

Fertilizing is an important step in maintaining soil health and promoting new growth on your plants but making sure you have the right fertilizer is essential. A common problem that is made with roses is choosing a fertilizer with a high concentration of nitrogen. Or maybe your soil is already high in nitrogen and doesn’t need the added boost.

What to look for with this problem is an overabundance of foliage with little to no blooms. Nitrogen keeps your roses growing leaves, but too much of it will have your rose bushes putting too much energy into this process and not enough into producing new buds.

If this is your problem, you need to check which fertilizer you’re using. If it is high in nitrogen, switch to a more balanced fertilizer. If you are using a well-balanced food, chances are your soil is already high in nitrogen or you’re just fertilizing too often.

What if you are using a well-balanced fertilizer and this is still happening? Well, you may be fertilizing too often. It is recommended to feed your roses twice a year, in early spring before flowering and in the summer after the first flowering is finished. However, roses grown in containers should be fertilized every two to three weeks from early spring to the end of summer.

If you’re still doubtful about how to tackle this issue, you can buy soil testing kits for under $20 that will tell you exactly what your soil is lacking and sufficient in. Then you can find a fertilizer that is right for your garden and healthy for your roses.

3: Pests Are Not Detected and Treated

There are many different pests that may munch on your rose bushes, but there is one in particular that deserves special recognition: the aphid.Aphids are tiny, pear-shaped insects that can be either pink or green and usually show up in groups to feast on your new rose buds.

They won’t cause too much havoc if they’re in a smaller group, but they tend to reproduce and multiply quickly and that’s when you’ll have a problem with blooming.

If the beneficial insects in your garden (such as ants, wasps and ladybugs) aren’t keeping these pests away, my suggestion is to try hosing the leaves of your roses with a strong stream of water from below and above as often as you need to get the aphids off. If they still keep coming back, I would suggest spraying an insecticidal soap directly onto the aphids so that you don’t kill any beneficial insects around your roses.

Other common pests you may come across include beetles (especially the fuller rose and Japanese beetle) and rose sawflies. With these tormentors, your best bet is to pluck them off at the first sign and throw them in to a soapy bucket of water. If this doesn’t keep them at bay, I recommend trying neem oil for control of both.

Typical signs to look for on your bushes are formed buds that never open, malformed blossoms, flowers that look like they’ve been munched on, or even a lack of blooms altogether in some cases.

Overall, just monitor your roses over the growing season for signs of pests and treat them early. You can also try covering your rose bushes with a mesh netting during the hottest time of day during the late spring and summer months to reduce the pest activity on your roses.

4: Pruning is Done Incorrectly

Yearly pruning is crucial to roses producing the elegant blooms they’re renowned for. However, there are certaintimes of year to prune and you should make sure you don’t disrupt the flowering process by doing this at the wrong time.

The best time to prune most roses is in the early spring before any new growth appears. If you wait too late in the spring to prune, you’ll risk losing the buds and branches that will produce flowers for the entire growing season. Most should come back the next year, but this is an easily avoidable mistake that can make sure your roses are blooming throughout the season.

It is important to prune most rose varieties once a year because they don’t form new growth on old wood. Once you cut back old canes so that new ones can form, you should see many new blooms. It is important to know which type of rose bush you have because old-fashioned and heirloom climbing roses tend to bloom on old growth.

It’s also possible to over-prune, so make sure that you are keeping this to a minimum and simply deadhead your spent flowers throughout the season to keep the bushes looking healthy and resplendent.

Some varieties are generally more sensitive to pruning than others. Just make sure you know the pruning requirements of your specific roses before pulling out your shears.

5: Blind Shoots Are Taking Energy from New Blooms

A true mystery to the world of floriculture, blind shoots are short stems without any flower buds with the reason behind their existence still puzzling the public today. They are believed to develop from environmental factors, like climate and temperature, but there is not much that we can do to prevent them.

If you have these on your rose bushes, you’ll want to prune the blind tip back to a five-leaflet leaf on each stem with a pair of clean shears so that the bush can put more energy into producing new blooms on healthy canes.

6: Roses Are Stressed from Lack of Water

As with all plants, maintaining a good water regime is important to the overall health of your rose bushes.

With roses needing lots of sunlight to thrive, they may dry out quicker than other plants that like to be more shaded. Keeping your rose bush watered well will make sure that it doesn’t suffer the stress of dehydration, which can cause it to stop producing new buds.

While you don’t need to worry about having a rigid water schedule with your roses, make sure that they are staying moist and hydrated (especially in the summer months) but refrain from overwatering.

When in doubt, use a soil moisture meter or you can use the old-fashioned finger test. Stick your pointer finger into the soil to the first knuckle. If it comes out clean, you probably need to get out the hose, but soil sticking to your finger means that it has enough moisture.

7: Roses Are Not Being Deadheaded

Often a neglected task, deadheading is essential to many varieties of roses as it encourages the growth of new blooms. When roses aren’t being deadheaded regularly, the bush will put energy into developing seeds rather than producing new buds.

Deadheading isn’t necessary for all roses, so be sure to check the needs of your specific variety.

8: Lack of Nutrients in the Soil

Soil health is always an important factor in how well a plant will thrive in its environment. If the soil is lacking necessary nutrients, your rose bushes won’t produce as many flowers as it typically would. Typically, this is when you want to incorporate fertilizer, but sometimes the problem is the consistency of the soil.

When you are dealing with soil that is sandy or stony, water drains through the soil too quickly to truly hydrate the roses. Also, the nutrients in the soil are soluble so they will get washed through the soil as well.

To make sure this doesn’t become a problem for your roses, you’ll need to do some amending to the soil. First, remove any large rocks or stones where you’ll be planting. You’ll then want to add organic compost, like manure or leaf mold, to help your roses retain water and help with drainage.

Then you’ll want to fertilize regularly to make sure your roses are getting the nutrients they need.

9: No Protection From Environmental Stressors

A great mistake that’s made when caring for roses is failing to keep them protected from the elements.

Most types of roses can withstand cold snaps in the winter but will need a form of protection when temperatures dip below freezing for an extended period. If the freeze damages your roses, you may not get as many, if any, flowers the nest growing season.

I suggest covering them with burlap if you live in an area that has harsher winters.

Wind can also cause harm to your roses so if you don’t have a high fence around your yard, you may want to consider transplanting them closer to a building or hedges that can block some of the wind.

With roses thriving in full sun, they run the risk of being harmed if the heat is too severe. Make sure that in these hotter climates, they are getting enough water and consider giving them some afternoon shade. On the other hand, not having good drainage can have the roots sitting in water and cause issues with blooming and disease.

There are many environmental factors that can have an impact on the blooming of roses, so make sure to get your roses ready ahead of time before extreme weather conditions occur.

10: Diseases Aren’t Attended To

If you have roses, it’s highly likely that you’ll have to deal with disease at some point. Luckily, there are many ways to treat and prevent them.

A few of the most common diseases you may encounter are black spot, powdery mildew, rust, and mosaic. Black spot is the most common but can be treated with a spray made from a teaspoon of a baking soda and a quart of warm water. Just make sure to catch it early before you have a full infection on your hands. There are many fungicides that can treat most of these diseases, as long as you treat them at first sign.

Many diseases that affect roses are because of the climate being warm and moist that allow fungus to build up on the roses, especially the leaves. Make sure to treat quickly if you see signs of disease and your rose bushes should return to healthy quickly.

A common mistake that can lead to disease is watering the leaves and flowers of your roses, instead of the base of the bush near the soil. This is an easy way to prevent many of these fungal diseases.

Fixing a Rose Bush That Does Not Bloom

We’ve been through many common problems that affect rose blooming, so let’s go over some of the ways to nurse your roses back to health and have them producing blooms in no time.

• Put roses in a location where they are getting at least 6 hours of direct sunlight.
• Fertilize twice a year with a well-balanced fertilizer.
• Deadhead regularly.
• Add amendments to the soil if it is sandy or stony.
• Treat pests and diseases quickly.
• Water your roses regularly, which is usually about once a week, but adjust during the summer and winter months as needed. Avoid overwatering.
• Water near the base of your roses, avoiding the leaves and flowers.

It can be frustrating when your beloved rose bushes aren’t giving you any of those award-winning flowers we so adore. However, if you follow this list and do your part in giving care and support for their growth, you’ll be sure to have springtime blooms in no time. Hike up your gloves and nurse those roses back to health!