Allotments 4 All

After the heavy rain the other day I found that all the buds on my 'Penelope' rose had gone brown, though they're still developing. the Rosa Mundi nearby is completely unaffected. Does anyone know what could have caused this?

Do you mean that the green part is going brown or the outer petals are? 
If the latter, it's just roses and wet weather, and peeling off the papier mache'd petals will allow the bud to open normally.  If the former, er, pass!

moonbells

The petals of my rose go all brown and mushy when it rains.

Is Mundi in a more sheltered place? Or maybe it's a bit tougher?

Mundi is closer to rugosa in style - it's very tough. I believe the technical term for the brown buds is "balling", and yes, if you can pick off the wet petals the rest should open OK. I must admit, I got tired of a rose that kept doing this and binned it.

One of mine, currently in flower:

That explains it; the few I've had before have obviously been the tougher sort! Thanks.