 |
| 'The Magician' Rose Rosette |
Last Saturday, after the leaves finally were blasted off the roses by a cold spell, I used the opportunity of the bare stems to assay my roses for any signs of Rose Rosette disease. And, of course, I found plenty of possible lesions, on 5 different roses to be specific. One of the more definitive examples is pictured at the upper right, from a cane on 'The Magician', a recent shrub rose bred by Dr. John Clements. The red arrow shows the thickened, thorny cane in question, originating from the much smaller branch indicated by the white arrow.
 |
| 'Darlow's Enigma' Rose Rosette |
In the positive column, only a single cane was affected on each rose and each one high on the cane at that, and I wacked every one of these diseased canes off at the ground level in hopes that the virus didn't spread to the base. I would also note that none of these roses are over 3 years old (are they thus more susceptible than established roses?) and that I found no lesions on any of my Old Garden Roses or my "real" Rugosa Hybrids (I don't really count 'Vanguard' here since its foliage is not very rugose).
 |
| 'Vanguard' Rose Rosette |
Jim, I'm really sorry to hear this. RRD can feel like a punch in the gut, I know. Are your infected roses located in a specific area of your garden, or are then spread throughout? In my garden, my cases seem to be mostly clustered in a bulls-eye roughly in the center of my rose field. (9 last year and 13 this year) I'm thinking that the existing tall cedar trees to the south of this garden are creating a low pressure situation as the winds go over the trees. For now, I will be watching the situation very closely and I will NOT be replanting any roses in this area.
ReplyDeleteThey are all over the garden essentially….my garden in that area is about 100-120 feet wide and about 60-80 feet deep and the disease has been seen in 4 different beds. No trees to stop any wind, although there are tall shrubs all over. I’m a bit worried about my Mme. Isaac Periere….it doesn’t look at all typical for Rose Rosette but has been somewhat sick all summer; pale leaves, and then, right before frost a lot of small reddened leaves. No cane changes or increased thorniness and it seems to be the whole bush, not just a cane or two.
DeleteI only have one Buck Rose, Country Dancer, and it seems fine. I have found RRD on Eden Climber, Heritage (DA), Monsieur Tillier, Archduke Charles, and Cl. Old Blush. So far, cutting the infected cane has been okay. The rose I have had to attend to the most is Heritage. I don't know if it will make it. I'm near Dallas and I'm always scanning the Knock-Out roses that I see in the city medians to see if there are signs of RRD.
ReplyDeleteYes, I wonder sometimes if my neighbor would mind if he found me sneaking near his front bushes; he's got a row of Knockout's as "mustache edging"
DeleteI'm sorry to hear that you are dealing with this also. It is sad and frustrating. I have had an Eden climber, Heritage, Buff's Beauty, Carefree Beauty, Graham Thomas x 2, Molineux, and a few others whose names have faded from my memory. It is getting harder to convince myself to buy more roses.
ReplyDeleteOh, that's sad to think it could keep us from roses. Hmmm...two Eden's and two Heritage's in a row. Coincidence? Heritage, I think, is widely grown so maybe not. Eden is not found here very much however.
DeleteThe Graham Thomas occurred about 5-8 years apart, so I would guess it is pretty susceptible to it, or maybe just unlucky. They were in 2 different spots in the garden. I have also had 2 Julia Child (same age, next to each other) show signs of it as well. I couldn't remember the name (Julia Child) last time I posted, but it finally came to me. Both such lovely roses, sigh.
ReplyDelete