Rose blooms with brown edges and deformed shapes

I began planting most of my roses in 2016 and 2017 and was dismayed to find that during June and July, most blooms had brown edges and/or deformed shapes. By mid-August, blooms were normal and continued to be normal for the rest of the bloom season. I did not use any pesticides on the roses and would like to avoid their use in the future too. I did plant Lavender near most of my roses and Allium ‘Millenium’ near some of them (summer, 2017) with the goal of repelling bad bugs.

My questions for you are:
1. From my description (brown edges on petals and deformed shapes of blooms), can you diagnose my problem?
2. Is there a way to control this problem without using chemical pesticides (e.g., with natural predators such as can be ordered from Arbico)?
3. Are there better or additional companion plants that I should grow near the roses?

My main guide in rose gardening thus far has been Peter Kukielski’s book “Roses without chemicals” which I love. But it has not enabled me to overcome the problem of brown-edged and deformed blooms!

Thank you for any insight and help you can provide.

Posted by Carol Sandt on October 25, 2017