Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Rose Rosette Disease???...

O.K., so this is a post that I didn't want to write. I wanted to talk about something pretty or interesting, like my bog garden or the butterfly on the Buddleia, or how the tomatillos have taken over the hummingbird garden.


{Ballerina - is she o.k.?}

But I am really afraid for my roses and it is weighing heavily upon me. Do they have Rose Rosette Disease? Will they get RRD? Or is the question rather, When will they get RRD? Do I go ahead and pull them all out, not even waiting for the inevitable? Do I plant out the ones still in nursery containers and hope by some odd chance that one of them won't get it?


{Ballerina - healthy cane}

I'm not sure about Ballerina. She normally has very smooth canes, with just a few prickles among the clusters of blooms. But this new cane seems to have many, bright pink prickles. And the cane next to it seems to be almost too red, but no prickles. Am I just paranoid, seeing RRD at every turn?


{Ballerina - these 2 canes are questionable}

Ballerina is the rose that is closest to the multifloras in the field "next door." And straight in the path of the wind that blows the mites that carry the disease. She is in the same bed, mere feet, from where Madame Alfred Carriere was planted. So, what do I do? I don't want to pull her out if she is healthy, but it is almost impossible that she won't get RRD, if she doesn't already have it.


{Ballerina - RRD?}

I am almost positive that Marie Daly has Rose Rosette. She is a little harder to feed in a balanced way because she is in a container and seems to be very sensitive to the slightest imbalance in fertilizer.


{Marie Daly}

So, too often she doesn't look quite right. But I think she looks even more "not quite right" than she normally does. And she lives just a few feet from where the first rose was in my garden that showed RRD.


{Marie Daly}

When she is strong and healthy she is a very charming rose and I have enjoyed her so much. Is all that over now? Do I just go ahead and get it over with?


{Marie Daly}

The orange rose, whose name I don't know because it has been passed from neighbor to neighbor, also shows growth that could be indicative of Rose Rosette Disease. In a way, this is the hardest one to accept having RRD because I don't have a name for it to replace it in the future. Maybe the parent plant at the neighbor's house won't get the disease (ha!) and then I could try again. Its funny how you get attached to something that you weren't sure you liked to begin with.


{orange rose}

Do I go ahead and take them out before I am absolutely sure? Do I wait and see, potentially spreading the disease even more? Do I throw out the roses in the nursery containers even though they don't show symptoms or do I plant them out and hope for the best? And what on earth would I replace my roses with?


{orange rose}
P.S. Have a beautiful day anyway.

6 comments:

sweetbay said...

I very much feel your pain. Those two canes do look indicative of RRD to me, but have you ever posted on the Antique Roses forum of GardenWeb? Ann Peck, who has authored an e-book on RRD, is a frequent poster there and will help you out.

There are roses I keep looking at and wondering if they are showing early signs of RRD. And I'm talking mildew, funny colored leaves, things that aren't even truly indicative of RRD, but may be forewarnings. Roses that I lose I intend to replace with another sort of plant. Little compares to the beauty of a rose, but little else seems to die so easily either.

Dee @ Red Dirt Ramblings said...

Oh Ruth, I'm so sorry this has stricken your garden. I grow a lot of roses, and it would break my heart to lose them all.

I can see why you're so worried. The one in the container 'Marie Daly', can it spread the disease if not in the soil where the other roses are? I don't know much about this terrible disease.~~Dee

Ruth said...

sweet bay - When I first found your blog, I remember thinking, well, even if I loose all my roses, I can still look at her roses. I also remember hoping that you wouldn't ever get RRD in your garden.

I have read Ann Peck's ebook - several times over! I think I even linked to it when I first posted about RRD. I haven't posted on the Antique Roses forum, though. I look into that. Thanks.

Dee - The disease apparently doesn't infect the soil. It is spread by a tiny mite. You can check out the ebook that sweet bay mentioned. I think it is www.rosegeek.com.

Thank you both for your sympathy. This is so tough!

Pam's English Garden said...

Ruth, This is a very important post and follows on from my last entry about the multiflora rose. I tried to link our two posts, but the technology defeated me. I really am so sorry that you have this problem and thank you for drawing my attention to RRD. I will certainly be on the look out for it as I have so much multiflora. Take care. Pam x

Pam's English Garden said...

Ruth, I put a link to this post in a PS at the bottom of mine. Thanks again. Pam

Anonymous said...

Please forgive me for my ignorance in this matter.... can you leave the roses until you know for sure that they do indeed have the disease, so you aren't having to get rid of them needlessly?

~Anne~