My 2 year old tea rose bush did not bloom the 2nd year .......why?

I bought a beautiful rose bush in the spring of 2007 ,it had really beautiful rose that year. I cut it back in the fall did not mulch and come spring it took its time with any kind of foilage.Then something strange happened,a new sprout came up in a total different area of the base and grew with leaves to about 3 inches. Alas, one little rose came up.Eventually ,the stems in the old base spot came up ,but no flowers all summer. What happened?My 2 year old tea rose bush did not bloom the 2nd year .......why?
Roses are gross feeders and need lots of fertilizer, moisture and sun to do well.





If you haven't fertilized, do this with a rose food such as sudden impact, if your not watering make sure it gets a regular deep water, and if it isn't getting any sun move it to a sunnier position.





If you have cut it back too far, it may take some time to recover. Roses grow 'water shoots' to renew the shrub. Completely new branches grow from the bottom each year and the roses grow on the top of these. If you have cut the plant back so hard, or it has died back you may only have the root stock left. If the rose was the same as the original purchased plant this is not the case. If the rose that flowered was different - Dr Huey is a single dark crimson than that is from the root stock. Cut any stems from below the graft completely off.





You won't be able to see what is happening till you revitalize the bush. Don't despair, treat with TLC and wait and see what happens.





Good luck. My 2 year old tea rose bush did not bloom the 2nd year .......why?
If a rose does well the first year then it usually does well from then on unless a winter damages it. I wonder if the winter killed the top graft and now you have the understock growing. The understock is usually a climber called Dr. Huey and it is a semi double red rose. What happens is that when a winter kills part of the main rose this gives the very vigorous understock a change to grow and because it is so vigorous it will in time make the main rose so weak it will die off the next cold winter. To see what rose is growing, take a trowel and pull the soil away from the base and if the canes are coming from above the union bump then it is the main one. If they are growing out from below the bump, it will be the understock. The chances of bring back the main on are slim if it is the understock that is growing. You would have to tear (not cut) the long canes off at the base so it forms a wound and then they won't come back. Hope this helps