Maybe the root ball had broken during shipping because there was nothing to support it ? so the rose was compromised before even planting .

Thank you very much Paul! Will skip the summer ordering from now on to avoid that happening again.

This happened to me twice this year. One with a bare root rose that never broke dormancy until early summer, once it finally did send up one little green shoot that did nothing. The canes finally turned black and died. I did contact the seller regarding the rose not breaking dormancy, but since it was still green nothing could be done. By the time it finally died their warranty period was over.

The second time this season was a rose from J&P that arrived dead and moldy, this was due to the heat and I did receive a refund. Its hard not to take advantage of the summer sales.

I have been deep in the chilli thrip fight and am finally winning.

This is what has worked for me:
First, I trimmed off all thrip affected growth, which nearly killed me to do. Lost so many buds and new growth. I bagged it all and tossed it.

Next, spinosad, I apply at night because of the heat and to protect the bees. Skip the stuff in a spray bottle and get the Conserve which is much stronger. It’s expensive but you don’t need much.

I sprayed, then the following week sprayed insecticidal soap on all the new growth. The week after that sprayed Conserve again.

Sticky blue traps

Beneficial insects, especially nematodes

But what I think has made the most difference is overhead watering. Every day I go out and hose them down with a pretty strong stream of water—I use a hose wand. I make sure I wet the soil throughly and spray down the entire plant and underneath the leaves. I do that during the day so it doesn’t sit for toooo long. It is causing more black spot than I’d see in the heat and dry but I’d rather have blackspot than the thrips.

My plants are finally rebounding with this routine. They truly are nasty buggers.

Next year I will be planting more companions for the roses to harbor other beneficial bug friends.