The flowers are gorgeous, lots of new blooms, lots of new leaves, bushes are thriving....except for these holes Two different rose bushes, separated by a driveway, one on either side, and both have the same pattern of holes in the leaves
Ronni, Forgive me for stating the obvious, but you have looked carefully for bugs? Morning, daytime, evening?
Well....hell No, I didn't look before I posted the pics. What is WRONG with me....that's so obvious! So I went and looked. Nothing I can see.
I don't know a lot about rose care. Unfortunately I am rather neglectful, but I would continue to watch them...first thing in the AM, maybe at dusk, etc & see if you can catch the culprit. Maybe another GS member knows more than me & can identify the bug by his teeth marks!
I am almost wondering if the holes in leaves are broken enough to need fixing? But yes. Look for the culprit. Finding him may dictate what needs doing.
The pests are probably rose slugs (sawfly larvae) Ronni. They cause damage to rose leaves that looks like the photographs you posted. Her's a link that could prove useful to you. http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/flowers/roses/rose-slugs.htm
I can't tell you much about what it was chewing on your rose bush leaves because I have a feeling that we may not have that insect, slug or whatever kind of beast it is over here....but what I can comment on is that it would appear that the chewing is old. Look carefully at the margins of the holes and you will see that they are brown. That indicates to me that the chewing took place 1-2 weeks ago at least. Fingers crossed that the beast has moved on now. However, like the others have said, continue carefully inspecting the leaves and stems to see if you can discover the slug or insect that has been dining on your sweet rosebush.
Thanks CAYU. When I see holes on my own plant's leaves it is the first thing I look for in order to determine how quickly I need to react to what's going on. If all the margins are that brown, I forget about it and go on to something else.
Oh wow....Sjoerd, good call!! I'm at Ed's right now, and those bushes are at Paige's, but as soon as I get home I'll take a much closer look. I vaguely remember thinking that there were newer looking branches and leaves that weren't eaten, so now I really need to study the plants and see what's what. Y'all are pretty awesome, y'know it?
My Julia Child yellow rose looked like that after we got back from our trip to Chicago last week and by then the edges of the holes were brown. It has new growth and no new holes so I was hoping I could just look the other way and not worry about it.
Hello, just ran across your post. The first thing to come to mind is leaf cutter bees. They take a few bites here & there but don't generally cause any serious or permanent damage to the bush as a whole. Also, your roses are gorgeous!
And I will throw into the mix possibly Flea Beetle due to holes in the leaves. I have kept my rose trees clear with. ...Rose Clear spraying. But it's been a disaster for my Fir tre this year with leaves eaten from the top most branches.. K
