5 Reasons Your Roses Aren't Blooming—and How to Bring Them Back

“Why aren’t my roses blooming?” the gardener wonders aloud. There’s a special kind of disappointment in waiting for your garden to burst into bloom and coming up empty-handed or with just a paltry showing of blossoms.

If you’ve had trouble getting your roses to flourish, we have advice from Gracielinda Poulson, the author of Grace Rose Farm: Garden Roses and the grower behind the popular Instagram account of the same name. Poulson has been growing roses professionally for a decade, which she now sells via her site, but she started as a home gardener and says, “I’ve been growing roses all my life.” 

Here are five reasons why your roses may not be blooming—and what you need to do to bring them back.

Your Roses Aren't Getting Enough Sun

According to Poulson, roses are one of the plants that truly needs full sun. “Some people will say particular roses are good for part shade or part sun, but I don’t believe it. In less than six hours a day of direct sun, roses are very disease-prone; grow long, gangly canes; and bloom very little.”

If you have a rose planted in the shade, you can transplant it, but wait until the dormant season to increase the chances of successful transplanting. Poulson advises you’ll also need to cut the plant way back when you do.

You're Not Fertilizing Your Roses Enough

Poulson says a common complaint is that roses will put on a spring bloom but fail to bloom again in summer. In some hot areas, including the deep South, this is unavoidable because the plants go into a kind of dormancy. Elsewhere, you can extend bloom time by feeding your roses almost continuously. “Every single time we water, we give them a little bit of fertilizer, which tells the plant that you want it to continue to bloom,” says Poulson.

A firm believer in organic fertilizer, Poulson uses a sophisticated drip irrigation system that delivers just a little water-soluble fertilizer to her plants, but she has a suggestion for the do-it-yourself approach: “fertilizer tea.”

To make it, fill a clean 55-gallon trash can most of the way with water and add a half gallon of alfalfa pellets. Place the lid back on and let it sit in the sun for a few days. After this, you can mix in fish emulsion or other water-soluble organic fertilizer. Pour a gallon onto each plant. Be warned: It is an unpleasantly fragrant brew, but Poulson says, “Roses love it.”

You're Not Pruning Your Roses

“Pruning is essential, but some people don't know that they need to prune their roses,” says Poulson. If you don't prune a woody perennial like a rose, Poulson says, “You're basically letting the plant grow all kinds of wild canes like a thicket.”

The goal of pruning is to remove the dead, dying, or diseased wood from the plant, keeping just the healthiest, newest, most productive canes. “You want to cut the plant back to one to two feet from the ground, depending upon the type of rose bush,” she advises.

Living in California, Poulson prunes in January, but if you live in a climate with winter, you’ll prune right before your last frost (anywhere from March to early May, depending on where you live).

Your Roses Aren't Getting the Right Amount of Water

Both under and over-watering roses could negatively impact bloom. “Under watering can just stop a rose bush [from blooming], and if it doesn't get watered for too long, it will die,” cautions Poulson.

Overwatering is rarely an issue for roses planted in the ground, but if you have roses potted in containers, overwatering can prevent blooming, says Poulson. Make it a habit to stick your finger in the soil to feel if the earth is dry.

Your Roses Are Struggling with Pests or Diseases

The list of pests and diseases—thrips, black spot, powdery mildew—that can impact roses is long (and Poulson devotes many pages to specific strategies for each in her book). “A pest and disease prevention program is really important in roses, and especially for people that have a lot of roses,” says Poulson.

After your roses are pruned in the winter or early spring, she recommends a dormant spraying of a copper fungicide and a horticultural oil for pests, “Keeping your plants healthy is the number one way to keep them blooming,” Poulson says.