I officially announce my resignation as rose gardener...

I grow some beautiful roses and take cuttings.I put fish manure round the base of each plant in Spring. I am pleased with them all….all different types.You’ve got to feed them.Pruning in Autumn and Spring helps.

They are hungry - as hungry as a crop of potatoes they produce a lot of growth that you prune and take away each year, so you do need to feed them well.

Greenfly can be a pain. I spray with Roseclear at the first sign and it's usually enough for the whole year.

My shrub roses are cheap ones bought from Lidl Do nothing with them except trim back in spring
They are glorious. Think it must depend on soil and where you live

Not being smug but I don't do anything to my roses except prune them and they are lovely. They were here when we arrived so I can't take credit for planting them. We have clay soil here so maybe that's the answer.

Ha ha ha @valchoc… is that you King Charles?

canadiangran if you can grow blueberry’s which thrive then the reason your roses don’t thrive is because your soil is too acid for them.

You can give them all the . Love and attention you can, but it won’t make any difference - they simple can’t get sufficient nutrients from acidic soil, so will struggle and never give you good plants.

I once bought a rose bush off a catalogue I planted it in the garden it was the beautiful blue flower which attracted me to it
Well it didn’t flower the first year and I wasn’t surprised The second year it did flower and it was a very very mundane white rambler by which time I had no idea which catalogue I had bought it off This was many many years ago and I still have my very ordinary white rambler

Bluebelle Do you think by chance you are growing the rootstock
I inherited a week rose with pink flowers I now have a rambling rose with insignificant white flowers but in the autumn I have lovely red rose hips that the birds love

My father had a garden full of glorious roses, 400+ - he did cut them back and tie the ramblers to a frame as necessary, he fed them occasionally but mostly they were left to their own devices and were always fabulous.
He said you need to give them space and air.

Mine are rubbish compared to his - but then my roses have never had whole beds to themselves as his did. I think it's space that does it. Mine have been compromised by other plants in all my own gardens.

As an aside, he had beautiful clematis too.. the plants he struggled with were the things rabbits love!