pain in the butt rose bush

Alright so, some of you may have seen some of my posts in plant identification because i just moved into this house where the last tenants didnt take care of it at all and let the grass grow free.. needless to say i've made some cool discoveries and was able to salvage one huge 6 foot rose bush. Well i cut the rose bush down to about 4 feet but here is my problem.. the bottom half looks completely dead, and the bush is diseased (i'm guessing because there is a white film/powder covering most of the leaves). Currently there is one rose bud on the entire 4x3 ft bush. Should i cut it down to the stump and start over? I dont know what to do..right now its just an ugly rose bush with leaves and thorns. Help!

I should mention that above the "dead looking stuff" is a lot of new growth.. most of the leaves are bright green and deep red..i'm just not sure what to do with this thing.

I'm sure Julie is going to love answering this one, knowing that Roses have her special preference Also she gives the very best advise, so I hope you'll stick around for her to see this

OK, Jcope85, your bush isn't dead at all. That white stuff on the leaves is powdery mildew. There is a easy fix for this fungus. I often use two different fungicides intermittently. The choice would be yours, but I like Bayer fungicide for powdery mildew and black spot one week and the next I like the neem oil. There are a multitude of fungicides for these very common problems and both are easily prevented. Notice I said prevention. Once the leaves have contracted it, the best thing you can do is pick the leaves off the bush.
These diseases won't "kill" your bush but over time will weaken them to the point they can't recover and then finally expire. This could take years, so to use a little prevention will keep them going. Spray your bush every 7 to 14 days for fungus. (Hint): Immunox has a really nice spay that is good for one or two bushes. This site will tell you about the product http://www.spectracide.com/ProductCategories/ RoseAndFlowerCare/SpectracideImmunoxPlus/

I believe Ortho has one too.

The bottom part of the rose isn't dead either. Older roses get barky, almost tree like. In the rose world, they are called bare legs. This is the normal aging process.

Cutting the bush to 4 feet was a good choice. Now give it some rose fertilizer. This time of year, I wouldn't worry about what I feed it. It simply needs fed. Go for the Miracle Grow for Roses right now. It is chemical but quick acting and will give your abused and neglected bush the punch it needs to get started. Next spring you can start with the slower organics if you want to go that way. Actually, I like the organics, but they are slower and longer acting.

Also feed your rose bush banana peels or rotten bananas. Bananas are high in potassium which the rose bush enjoys for flower production.

I would feed the bush a banana every two weeks and the Miracle Grow once a month during the growing season. Make sure you ground water it about 5 gallons a week divided between twice a week. Depending on how neglected your bush was, it may take a couple of years for it to completely snap back. Watch the bottom of the bush for basal canes (new canes that will begin to grow from the graft, that big knot at or just below the dirt) for the sign that it is stronger. Any canes that grow below this knot should be cut away since they will be the root stock and not your rose.

If you have any questions, please ask. I'll be glad to help you.

Thank you so much Julie, i really appreciate the advice. I will try to get a few pictures up of it so you can see the "damage" i'm dealing with, maybe by tonight or tomorrow. When i feed it bananas, do i just mush them up and throw it on the roots or how do i do that?

Your rose bush looks fine and strong. I see black spot and powdery mildew on your rose but it's not to really bad from what I see. Your best bet right now is to pull off the infected leaves and start a prevention spray for the fungus. Check any nursery, Lowe's or Home Depot (whatever is in your area) for the spray cans of the fungus treatment. You only have one bush. Of course, the same treatment for the rose diseases will also work on rust that bother some plants such as azalea, lilic, rhododendron and camelia. Read the lable and follow the instructions. If you are thinking of treating more than one plant, you might consider a more concentrated form and mix it with water.

When i feed it bananas, do i just mush them up and throw it on the roots or how do i do that?

You can feed the bananas however you desire. When I had only a few, I used to take the entire old banana that I wouldn't want to eat anymore, stick it in an old blender that I don't use anymore with a half cup of water and a tiny amount of Miracle Grow and blend the entire concoction together, scratch the soil around the rose and cover the goop with a little of the soil to keep the bugs away. Then just stand back and watch the rose grow!

However, you can just scrape up the soil around the rose and bury the banana peel or whole banana in the root zone. Anyway you want to do it works. I usually scrape up the soil and bury the banana to keep the bugs away. But some folks don't even do that. It just depends on how much you want to do to feed. It all works well.