Question: Why do my rose flowers fail to open properly? They’re brown and scorched looking, even as flower buds.

Answer: That’s a perfect description of thrips. They’re the blond whisker-like insects that inhabit buds of multi-petaled flowers such as roses. They suck at the flower petals enough that they stop their development. That scorching is the prime symptom. Look at the bases of the petals and you’ll see the tiny thrips moving around briskly. Control them with a systemic insecticide. Soil drenches with such products should be made just as the buds begin to appear, to give the insecticide enough time to be taken up to the buds.