I have these in the front of my house as ground cover and they are all touching and about 3 feet apart. The 1st year they grew together but did not look very full and then this 2nd year are full and touching.

All roses need good air circulation to prevent diseases, especially the fungal type. I never use toxic chemicals in my garden, because I want to encourage good bugs and birds to dispatch the bad bugs. A horticulturalist told me to simply spray baking soda and water (1 tbs to a gallon) to control black spot. I fertilize my plants with compost tea. Take a gallon jug, fill it 1/4 with compost, and add water to the top of the jug. Let it steep in the sunlight; it will look like liquid molasses and stink when you take off the cap, but the roses and other flowers love it. The odor will dissipate quickly. I also add a tsp of epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) to the liquid. Another way to fertilize your roses organically is to chop up a banana peel and bury it under your rose. The potassium is a good nutrition boost.

Are they growing in moist, but well-drained soil? Are they getting several hours of sun a day? Is the soil staying bone dry? Is the soil always wet? Too much water, or too little will stunt growth, and often leads to plant death.Plant roots need air to breath in the soil, and if the ground is constantly wet, like from sprinklers running everyday, the roots suffocate. Check this out first before suspecting disease, or insects.

Are you feeding your roses? Roses are heavy feeders. I feed my roses the same food as my tomatoes, and I use organic products. I use compost tea with a little epsom salts. Make compost tea by mixing 1/4 compost and the rest water in a gallon jug. Steep this for three days and water your roses with it. Add a little epsom salts. Chopped banana peels buried under your roses are heaven to them. If you look at fertilizer packages, you will see three numbers 3-4-7. For roses, the middle number is the most important: that is your phosphorus, which promotes blooming. The first numer is nitrogen, responsible for the leaf growth. Try to choose an organic fertilizer with the middle number higher than the other two.

Nearly Wild is a floribuda, a cluster-flowered rose. Floribundas were bred from hybrid polyanthas, which have specied and China roses in their ancestry.

On roses that repeat their bloom, clipping the faded blooms will encourage re-bloom. Easy does it with fertilizing a first-year plant. A new plant to your garden needs to get its feet (roots) established to support growth above ground.

You can safely fertilize your new roses with compost tea, or a top dressing of pure compost. It is gentle, completely organic, and breaks down into humus (soil) while giving your rose complete nutrients.