Rose without flower

About nine or ten years ago I transplanted a rose from my deceased grandmother’s garden in Kansas City to my garden here in Northern Indiana. For three or four years the rose looked healthy, bloomed and grew very thinly. About five years ago nothing came up in the spring, but I left the trunk in the ground and just worked around it in my garden. Three years ago the rose started growing again, but never sets any buds. It seems to grow healthy with good foliage just no buds. I would love to get it blooming again, do you have any ideas? Do you think there is a chance? This is a very old rose; it was given to my grandmother by her mother in-law for a wedding present back in the 1930’s. Any help is appreciated.

 

Hello Marry

Yes, as Armandii says feeding it will probably do the trick, although you might have to wait until next year to get a display. Use tomato feed or something like Toprose, a feed in powder form (don't know whether you have the same brand in Indiana!). Make sure you've given it a good mulch with compost or horse manure, too.

Roses are very tough and resilient but they are mortal, just like the rest of us. So it's possible that your octogenarian plant may never be what it once was. But plants constantly surprise me!

Roses are usually grafted - ie, the flowering top growth is artificially joined to a tough rootstock which is selected purely for vigour. It is just possible that the top of your plant has died and your regrowth is from the rootstock, which might explain the lack of flowers. Hopefully this isn't the case, but you can check by looking at the base of the plant near the ground (you might have to dig around in the soil a bit). You should be able to see the graft union quite clearly and will soon work out where the growth is coming from.

Good luck!

 

What about taking a hardwood cutting and starting the Plant over again?
Some on here are experienced in such things and are more likely than me to give decent advice - WOO Help please, if poss.