I relocated a few months ago, and my new home has a fairly large rose bush that began producing roses in late February/very early March! I was so surprised to see buds coming out so early. We now have days with temps that have climbed into the 80's, and the bush is covered in blooms. I am thrilled to see so many roses, but they are blooming looking sickly. They are a deep maroon red.

Can anyone identify this rose bush? Why are the blooms so sickly looking, and what can I do about it? What should I do to help this rose bush? Does it need pruning? Does it need something like "pot ash" which hear is good for roses. I LOVE roses, but I have always steered clear of them because they so often come with so many problems that it can be overwhelming to anyone save for those who are very well schooled and accomplished in growing roses.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help!

First, from your photos, it appears the rose is Dr. Huey, the rootstock upon which the roses purchased were budded. "Suckers", growths from the stocks, have overtaken the scion, the desired rose which was purchased and planted. It may remain somewhere in that tangle or it may be dead. Only cutting the thing back until you find the bases of the plants to determine if there is anything other than Huey will tell. As far as how the flowers appear, they look pretty typical Dr Huey to me from your photos. You can either allow that rose to remain, where it will flower this time of the year and probably not any other time of the year, and, unless you happen to be in a climate in which Huey is happy, it's highly liable to mildew, black spot and rust. The rose was a break through in roses nearly a hundred years ago when it was introduced. A popular type was called "Dooryard Roses", shorter climbers which could be constrained to porch posts around the front doors of homes. Traditionally, those were pastel colors. Dr. Huey was the first dark colored Dooryard Rose and was named for a prominent rosarian of the time. A mix up in the growing fields, reportedly at Armstrong Roses around WWII, resulted in cuttings being taken of Dr. Huey instead of the traditionally used "Ragged Robin" and put into production. It wasn't until those on the Dr. Huey roots actually performed better than the Ragged Robin based plants, the mistake was determined and chosen to become the standard of the US industry. If you decide to remove it, be forewarned, Dr. Huey is virtually IMMORTAL and may well require the application of Round Up to kill it. The smallest roots remaining in the soil very frequently regenerate the entire mass. Where and when it is happy, it's pretty. Unfortunately, there's no way to know with certainty until you see it looking terrible. Should you remove it successfully, planting own root roses of a type determined to be successful where you are will eliminate the problem of root stock suckers and their taking over the desired rose. Good luck!

I hope you decide to keep it. It is an unusually attractive specimen. I've never had a Dr Huey that produced blooms in such large clusters.

roseseek said: First, from your photos, it appears the rose is Dr. Huey, the rootstock upon which the roses purchased were budded. "Suckers", growths from the stocks, have overtaken the scion, the desired rose which was purchased and planted. It may remain somewhere in that tangle or it may be dead. Only cutting the thing back until you find the bases of the plants to determine if there is anything other than Huey will tell. As far as how the flowers appear, they look pretty typical Dr Huey to me from your photos. You can either allow that rose to remain, where it will flower this time of the year and probably not any other time of the year, and, unless you happen to be in a climate in which Huey is happy, it's highly liable to mildew, black spot and rust. The rose was a break through in roses nearly a hundred years ago when it was introduced. A popular type was called "Dooryard Roses", shorter climbers which could be constrained to porch posts around the front doors of homes. Traditionally, those were pastel colors. Dr. Huey was the first dark colored Dooryard Rose and was named for a prominent rosarian of the time. A mix up in the growing fields, reportedly at Armstrong Roses around WWII, resulted in cuttings being taken of Dr. Huey instead of the traditionally used "Ragged Robin" and put into production. It wasn't until those on the Dr. Huey roots actually performed better than the Ragged Robin based plants, the mistake was determined and chosen to become the standard of the US industry. If you decide to remove it, be forewarned, Dr. Huey is virtually IMMORTAL and may well require the application of Round Up to kill it. The smallest roots remaining in the soil very frequently regenerate the entire mass. Where and when it is happy, it's pretty. Unfortunately, there's no way to know with certainty until you see it looking terrible. Should you remove it successfully, planting own root roses of a type determined to be successful where you are will eliminate the problem of root stock suckers and their taking over the desired rose. Good luck!

Roseseek, thank you for sharing all of this with us! You certainly know your roses!

porkpal said: I hope you decide to keep it. It is an unusually attractive specimen. I've never had a Dr Huey that produced blooms in such large clusters.

Do not worry, I have no desire to remove it. I just wanted to know which rose it is and how I might be able to feed it to help the blooms look healthier. This house was built in 1926, and it has some very mature trees and shrubs, so I do not doubt that this rose bush might be decades old.

At the moment, it is covered with blooms from top to bottom, but they look dead. They bloom looking dead, which is why I thought maybe some sort of food or other treatment might help it.

I snapped a couple more photos for you, porkpal. It is difficult to see, but there are plenty of buds all around the bottom of the bush, too.

If only the blooms looked healthy and robust, this would be a stunning rose bush!