Hi Beetle, I could have been clearer ~ First comes that WoW moment when you spot the spike, Then you Wait! :) I'm waiting for my two mature Phals to bloom (spikes are forming flower buds) plus a baby which surprised me with a skinny little spike that is now 2 inches long. Anyway, Congratulations 2U!! Please post a pic of your spiker when it blooms. Sweetcicely

ah, that's most certainly it. you guys are good! is it something that spreads and should be pulled or just let it be? i don't want to tick off the surrounding gardeners...

Hornman, The real problem with RRD is that the symptoms are neither simple nor predictable. Sometimes the hyperthorniness happens, sometimes it doesn't. That's a major reason that rose growers need to look beyond the first glance. In my own garden I look for a minimum of three symptoms. Buford's Ballernina has at least seven symptoms. Perhaps the strangest one is seen in the two blue-r photos. Look at the initial leaf axil breaks. They happened way too early in the season (which is not something that HMusks do, it's the multiflora in them that is conservative as to when HMusks start to grow). These axil breaks started so early (and remember she's near Atlanta) that they were frosted back - leading to their black color now. Most roses would have abandoned those axils. This rose didn't but in some cases continued to grow through the dead material. Another symptom on these canes (in addition to the caliper problems) is that the growth was so rapid that the cane was weighted down as it grew, leading to the curves in the canes. Way shortened internodal distances ....and on and on. Here is a link that might be useful: Rose Rosette E-book

I have called that man a 'Snake Oil Merchant' from the very beginning and many a rose in my garden grows there because of his words alone, sight unseen. Ahem: This would be Angel Guimara"handsome glossy foliage, large waxy flowers of an extraordinary shade of white. The large white petals are tinted rose and yellow towards the base which glow up the petals in a magical way. Scented of tropical fruits." Mme. Joseph Parraud--'Large petaled flowrs of high-centered form, deep golden yellow, tinted with scarlet outsideand iinside a cup of deep coppy gold." Mme.d'Enfert"a seedling of Mme. Ernst Calvat waith the fragrance and generosity of its parent;flowers are large, globular, with rolled petal edges, lilac-blush to white tinted with rosy lilac on the edes almost in a picotee fashion. Superb fragrance." Check out the blurbs in the Vintage Catalog...if you dare. Of course if you have ever heard Gregg say "I love Mme. Calvat or any other of his 4000 roses you will begin to suspect more than snake oil...magic comes to mind. la la