Why are my Westerland climbing roses requiring dead-heading as soon as they bloom?

I've just planted climbing roses in a west-facing full-sun garden bed.


Roses were planted by a gardener and new topsoil brought in.


They are new young plants that are on stakes.





They are the Westerland variety and have been in the ground for about 2 weeks now.





So far they are producing blooms but they only seem to be lasting a day or so before they need to be dead-headed. I've also noticed some drying or dying leaves on some of them. Have also seen yellowing or black leaves.





What do I need to be doing? As yet, I have not implemented a fertilizing regimen.I have been watering them daily.Why are my Westerland climbing roses requiring dead-heading as soon as they bloom?
Hi KImchico,


Most roses, need to be deadheaded to encourage re-bloom. The yellow leaves could be a fungus called Black spot. It starts out with leaves turning yellow.


Discard all yellow leaves. And spray with a fungicide control.





Most all climbing roses, don't bloom a lot the first year. They need time to build long flowering canes, which should be trained horizontally as much as possible.





These long canes, when trained horizontally, will produce lateral shorter canes which are the real flowering canes.


You should fertilize now, and every 3 weeks during the season.





Do not prune these long canes next spring, only prune the lateral canes down to about 2-3 inches, no matter how long they are.





I have a Westerland climber myself. It's really beautiful now ,4 years old.





AnnelieWhy are my Westerland climbing roses requiring dead-heading as soon as they bloom?
Chances are these roses are suffering from the traditional moisture related diseases that plague them in moist climates: mildew, blackspot and rust. Rose growers have long battled moisture related diseases with breeders hoping to create new varieties with greater resistance. But many of the established varieties are quite vulnerable, particularly if they are planted in a less than ideal exposure.





Roses planted in morning sun tend to suffer less from disease because the sun helps dew to evaporate quickly. This dries the leaves early in the day leaving an inhospitable environment for disease. The yellowing and black leaves you see are probably blackspot, which is tough to control with fungicide sprays. Spores remain to infect the fallen leaves too, so you must keep them raked up. When mildew strikes buds and blooms, they tend to wither prematurely.





Because your roses are climbers they must be trained onto a surface, probably a fence or wall. This further limits air circulation as well as lack of morning solar exposure. So rest assured it's not a watering problem nor one of pruning or fertilizer. It is merely the consequences of a less than ideal location. Your choices are either battle the diseases forever or move the roses to a new east facing location and replace with a more shade tolerant vine.