So this spring, our 60 year old shrub rose is struggling with almost all of it's canes not showing any signs of growth. Instead, this shrub rose is sending up a multitude of new canes from it's massive crown - this is not something we've seen in the 19 springs we've been in our home. Now in some ways I suppose this is good as it will regenerate the plant but it got me to wondering as to why this would happen this year.
Of note last year, we had some canes die back as well - some reading has revealed that this is the result of a too warm winter, shrub roses need a defined cold winter spell to set them up properly for the next year and certainly the last couple of winters in Calgary have been quite a bit warmer. What is interesting is if these warmer winters are affecting something as insignificant as and old rose bush, then what else is being affected - is anyone else seeing anything similar in their gardens?