Weird mutant growth on Aloha rose

11 years ago

I first noticed this last year; about a third of the new growth on my 10-year old Aloha rose was weird fat canes with lots more thorns and lots of smaller leaves than usual, and the flowers on those canes were shriveled little balls that never opened properly. I pruned the rose severely at the end of the summer, but now about half the new growth this spring is the same.

I pruned off all the mutant growth today and was reminded of another feature of it: the canes are very weak; I could break them right off the instead of needing to cut them. My pictures didn't turn out as good as I'd hoped, but here's one that seems to show it relatively well.

Any idea what this is and whether I can do anything about it?

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Comments (6)

ellenlp
Original Author
11 years ago
Wow, I should have just read further down in this thread -- rose rosette disease, obviously. So, if I dig up this rose and get rid of it, do I have to wait a year or years to plant a new one? What if I can't dig it up thoroughly?

The last time I tried to dig up a rose, the roots were so big and deep I couldn't begin to get them out and ended up just sawing it off at ground level, and it keeps growing back. (Not that this would really be a bad thing, it's just that it's a climber that was growing as much on my neighbor's side of the fence as mine, and I felt I should get rid of it rather than tormenting her with it growing into her yard. Neither of us could keep it decently pruned.)
buford
11 years ago
Definitely RRD. Try to dig up what you can. I had to dig up one of my roses that had RRD and was own root. I thought I got it all but this spring some new growth is coming up in that area. So far it looks ok, but I'm keeping an eye on it.

I would wait at least through this year to see if any suckers come up. If you plant something else there, you may not see it.
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This is what we do in the UK to avoid the heavy work of endl;ess digging in compacted clay. First off, we clear an area of top growth (you can use round-up for this, or simply dig out as much as you can. Then, we sow a bed of green manures with long taproots such as buckwheat, hungarian grazing rye, vetches or tares or, if you start in June, clovers). We leave this to grow throughout August, September and October and then turn it all in at least one depth of the spade deep. If the soil is really compacted (and yours look like it has a very hard pan) then we will let the roots do the work for us over a whole season. These weedy green manures will send out deep, deep foraging roots (I think purslane might be good in AL?) which will make channels for microlife, fiberize the soil and will also extract nutrients from the hard subsoil. You can turn this vegetable growth back into the soil (It will not look pretty, but it is doing its job). It might take a couple of years of steadily breaking down the subsoil (and you can help with regular mulching or even lasagne beds) but if you can plan ahead, you will eventually end up with some really good friable earth without damaging the overall soil structure by rotovating or heavy digging. Until then, maybe plant up some containers with fragrant herbs and colourful annuals so you have something to keep you going while your soil is maturing. Don't despair - some of the most fertile soils on earth are often heavy clay, you just need to be able to get it workable.
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anntn6b
11 years ago
I wait a year. That seems to be enough for roses that aren't decades old.

The best time to watch for the come-back-sick new growth that may be a foot or three from the original plant is early morning or late evening when the colors pop with incident light.

May I save your picture? AND use it in a future presentation? I've never seen it on Aloha and your photo and description of what happened are good.

The soft canes you mention are because the rose sick with RRD grows very fast and stays flexible until it eventually hardens up.

When you take it out, bag it before you dig. Don't carry the sick canes past other roses.
ellenlp
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks, Buford and Ann. I guess I'll just dig and hack at the roots the best I can and hope it stays gone -- or that new growth is healthy.

Ann, you certainly are welcome to use my photo and descriptioin -- I'm flattered!

I sure am heartbroken to lose that rose. I originally bought it because it was described as a climber, but in fact it grew very slowly, and it's lucky I also planted a lilac along that side of the fence. The Aloha would never have spread out and covered it like the New Dawn did the other side (I live in a city neighborhood of ugly chain-link-fenced yards that I was trying to conceal and pretty-up), but after about eight years it had finally grown to about six feet tall and was glorious. So I only had a few years to really enjoy it. And now that spot is going to look bare and ugly....

Thanks again. It's been years since I spent any time on GardenWeb and now I wonder why -- it's such a wonderful place.
anntn6b
11 years ago
Aloha (from what I hear) should have been introduced as a Hybrid Tea, albeit a large one. I have been able to get mine up to about eight feet but I can't get it to go over the structure it's next to.

This year - it's not too late to put in some annuals, maybe even a big old honkin' mass of tall zinneas.

Next year, go for some of the modern climbers- they really have been bread to climb and bloom on laterals.
Maryl (Okla. Zone 7a)
11 years ago
Aloha has worked out for me simply because it's not much of a climber. And as I've aged, neither am I. So the Arbor that used to support the tip top of my 25 year old 8-9 foot Aloha is simply a decorative aside. I now prune my Aloha down to a more manageable tallish HT, and don't have to climb up on ladders anymore to control it. It's been a win-win situation for me....I'm sorry you had to loose yours though. It's a very nice rose with a good fragrance. I lost one of mine to Verticilum wilt years ago (the other side of the arbor) and am so glad with all the RRD we experience around here, this old beauty still is virus free.......Maryl

Weird mutant growth on Aloha rose

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ellenlp
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buford

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Maryl (Okla. Zone 7a)

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Weird mutant growth on Aloha rose

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ellenlpOriginal Author

buford

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anntn6b

ellenlpOriginal Author

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Maryl (Okla. Zone 7a)

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ellenlp
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