Rose under attack!

I got this Honey Dijon rose as a bareroot this spring. It grew splendidly and undisturbed for a good three weeks. I had several buds on the plant, and one that was about ready to bloom. Then one mysteriously disappeared, and I noticed that a few smaller ones looked peculiar and dried out, like they weren't developing any more. One had a spot bored down to the center of the bud, and it was dead. Do I have some sort of bug infestation, or animal problems? Both? A very similar thing happened to my Ebb Tide that is in the same bed. All buds are gone on that one. :( The only critter I could find was a very tiny, bright green bug on the underside of a leaf. I sprayed with a multi-purpose pest control tonight, 'cause I'm pretty worried. The Ebb Tide stopped producing new growth all together, not sure if that's relevant. Also, some of the newest leaves turn brown before they ever have a chance to get full-sized.

If you are not into organic gardening, Orthenex Insect & Disease Control takes care of everything across the board when it comes to roses. When you mix it up, put your sprayer on a fine mist setting and saturate the leaves top and bottom to the dripping point, paying close attention to new growth, then pour about 1/4 cup directly on the soil at the base of the bush. The best time to apply this is early morning or late afternoon. This product works on virtually any plant and I have yet to find one that reacted badly to it.

X

But don't use it on flowering plants that attract hummers and butterflies. It will kill them too. The Orthenex (or Orthene) will go into the flower too. That is why it works on thrips in the flower bud.

On hummer and butterfly plants, use imidacloprid, as a soil drench. It too is systemic, but it doesn't cross over into the flower.
CJ

what ceejaytown said - plus imidicloprid doesn't work on Lepidoptera, even the munching caterpillars, so the butterflies are doubly safe. It doesn't work on most beetles either, but luckily it does kill Japanese beetles.

And I didn't know about the hummingbirds, ceejay, so good to know - though I don't use Orthenex anyway, and another good reason not to I guess.

I have read that hummingbirds are attracted to roses though, so I guess they will feed from the flowers even though they aren't of the tubular variety. I wouldn't know from experience - I only grow one rose and that is a wild one that my hubby brought me from out in the woods, and it has usually gone by by the time my hummers show up. That rose is strictly a fend for itself plant, too. I won't grow any other roses, because I don't want to have to take care of them - heh.

My hummers feed on the lantana, the salvia, and this weed that I let grow for them (a tubular red flower on "fluffy" foliage) - and my feeder. They also like impatiens a lot, but I didn't plant any this year, because it's been really dry for a long time, and I know impatiens would've been very unhappy.