Q.Bare stems on Roses
I purchased 10 roses from a reputable rose grower and the first flush of roses were beautiful but now something is stripping the leaves off of the lower stems. I have looked for caterpillars but have found none. The top leaves are quite healthy and I treat routinely with Rose Clear as precautions but my lovely rose garden is no more. Please advise. I have cut 2 of them back to 4″ from ground hoping they will recover.
This can be a sign that the rosebush is under heat stress and pruning them real hard is not the thing to do. Pruning them back hard while already stressed out just doubles the stress. It is okay to prune back the dead or done blooms and growth. Water all of them with some water that has both a root stimulator and a product called Super Thrive mixed into the same water. Water them with this mix the next 4 to 5 times they need watering. Once the temperatures outside cool down a bit, the foliage should return just fine.
