Floribunda Rose stems not strong enough to hold up the blooms.

I have 3 very pretty pink floribunda Roses which are just starting to flower now. The bushes look extremely healthy and the bushes have lovely green leaves with not a sign of black spot or anything else for that matter (a few other Roses have had blackspot a bit but not these 3)
I don't know the variety as they were here when we moved here 13 years ago. They were growing in a dreadful spot so I moved them in the winter about 4 years ago to a much better place in full sun and good soil.
I have pruned them every year fairly severely. Not as hard as for a Hybrid Tea but as the plants are quite vigorous I haven't held back with the secateurs.
As they did last year, they have grown extremely well....too flaming well. The heads have so many blooms on them the slightest rain and the stems keel over. I don't think any stems have actually broken yet but some of the blooms are more or less on the ground which is such a shame as they are so pretty.
Is there something I've done wrong? Maybe the soil is too good? or it would be better not to prune so much? All I can do is stake the Roses which never looks that nice and I have enough staking to do with huge herbaceous borders. Any suggestions would be much appreciated, thanks.

 

Thank you very much @wiseowl. Could be guilty of both 2 and 4! Definitely not 1 .......I live in Scotland and while we had a great May and 1/2 of June it wasn't that hot. Unlikely to be 3 either. It was dry for 6 weeks in May/June since flaming then it has not been remotely dry!
It is SO annoying as they are lovely Roses and so incredibly healthy with never ever a bother on them. They don't even have horror thorns. Verging on your ideal Rose except for this problem. They did the same last year and while I did dose then with loads of mare's best last year they have not been fed at all this as I thought over feeding could be the problem. Maybe if I keep off giving them any type of feed for another year they might not be quite so vigorous and outgrow their ability to hold up their multi headed blooms. Pretty sure the Roses had the remnants of those distinctive green David Austin labels on them when I "rescued" them from a hellish place they had been planted in. I'm no Rose expert but wouldn't imagine David Austin would sell troublesome varieties? Take the weak stem/over production of flower buds away and these would be perfect!

 

00000000000000000000000000015810I know I might be being a bit thick here and stating the obvious, but..... could it just be the weight I the flowers bending the branches over ?

As they're unknown , could it also be that they have a bit of climber/rambler blood in their ancestry ?

We have one


ATTACH=full]70272[/ATTACH]

That has around 10 flowers in one cluster and almost always ends up being cut as they're just too heavy.

You can get the same problem with some of the large American Fuchsias as well.

 

All my roses are Floribunda's Silu and the only one that has droopy stems is 'Iceberg'. The original plant is a climber but mine is the shrub version and has a tendency to throw out thin stems which struggle to support the weight of the flowers.

I wouldn't put it down to over pruning as mine are taken right back in February. That leaves fertiliser and could possibly be your problem, it could be forcing the plants into to much growth before they flower. Mine are on sandy soil which doesn't hold nutrients and no longer being able to lift manure I start the season with chicken manure pellets - their first feed as soon as the first leaves show. Late April I sprinkle blood, fish and bone around them, and they've just had their last feed of the season, again with chicken manure pellets. If you garden on clay soil I would give them a slightly less dose of manure early in the season then see how they go.

 

Um yes @Anthony Rogers I had sort of sussed that out! Just as I am well aware that many of my herbaceous and tree Peonies need staking for the same reason. I am just rather surprised that a floribunda Rose should need staking too. My late father grew many floribundas and apart from Iceberg which could be a bit "naughty" all the rest has substantial stems which were easily capable of supporting large multi headed blooms. @Sheal you posted reminded me about my father's Roses and he had the same problem. He had a huge standard Iceberg which he'd had for over 40 years! It literally groaned with flowers and did need a bit of support now and again, especially if it was a very wet summer and the blooms consequently were even heavier.

 

Thought I'd post a photo of the problem, so,annoying as if they weren't ground bound they'd look lovely

 

They look like climbers to me @silu. You could experiment and not prune them to see if they grow any taller.

 

Oh hell don't have anywhere really if they are climbers @Sheal . Already have 2 climbing Roses, Vitis Coignitiae, Virginia Creeper and 6 Clematis adorning the house! When I "rescued" them from a hellish slope in the grounds which had rubbish soil they flowered well despite everything against them but hadn't really grown that tall,despite not being pruned for a minimum of 2 years, could have been longer. Wish I had left them where they were now as they didn't fall over in their previous position. Obviously being treated badly suits them

 

Is it possible to put an arbour or perhaps a strong rustic trellis there for support?

 

Not really @Sheal as they are right by the driveway and hanging over it atm. I'll have to put my mind to what I am gong to do with them. They must be at least 15 years old, probably more like 20. They sulked for a couple of years after I moved them and I needed to stake 2 out of the 3. I don't know how well they would move again. However they don't really look that nice falling all over the place. Suppose I could move them into the huge whisky barrels I have. They currently house some of my Tree Peonies which have now grown very large. I am going to try and move the Peonies this Autumn. I know they don't like moving so this could be a bad idea but needs must. Perhaps if the Roses were restricted in the barrels it might reduce their growth/vigour a bit?

 

Oh prune the roots a la the bonsai treatment, good idea @wiseowl, cunning plan. I am reluctant to "bin" them as that would seem rather unfair as they are doing their best to give a great show but overdoing it.
Lots of hard work to replant them in the barrels this Autumn but think this could work quite well, fingers crossed. Frees up a nice space in a flowerbed, feel a new purchase might be called for yippie, been terribly restrained this season and not bought anything other than a new garden fork, old 1 is..........missing. Probably in my mountainous compost heap!