'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 |