The warm weather usually means that aphids aren't far behind. Aphids are tiny little insects that feed on plant juices on young flower buds, stems or emerging leaves. Aphids not only distort the shape of your flowers and the foliage, they leave behind sticky waste (called honey-dew) that will attract even more insects to your rose bed.
For organic gardeners who prefer tackling pests the natural way, there are several non-chemical ways of dealing with aphids. Here are three ways that I've been successful in getting rid of and keeping aphids out of my roses.
Hose them off
Aphids don't fly and hosing them off sends them down to the ground where other hungry bugs will eat them up. The best way to knock the aphids off your roses is by cradling each bud in your hand and rinsing it with cool water until all the aphids have fallen off. I usually have to repeat this two more times until the aphid problem is solved for good.
Release ladybugs
Ladybugs prey on aphids, eating nearly 1000 of these pesky insects a day. While you could plant ladybug friendly plants such as nasturtiums to draw them into your yard, another option is to buy live bugs from your local garden center. Live ladybugs cost about $10 per 1000. I usually buy 2000 ladybugs for my half acre yard which does an excellent job of dealing with the aphids on my roses and in my maple trees.
Companion planting
Plants in the mint family will naturally repel aphids from roses and food crops that are susceptible to aphid infestations. I use catnip myself since its easier to control than other mint varieties (such as pepper mint or apple mint). The catnip is planted behind my roses in the spring and then yanked out in the fall while I'm prepping my roses for the winter