I'm not an expert in this area, but they look like healthy new growth to me. However, I always keep a close eye on such new growth--just to make sure.

In the pics I have seen of RRD, the growth is UGLY and BIZARRE. Yours looks vigorous but relatively normal.

But I'm sure Ann will show up and give a more definitive answer.

Kate

Looks OK to me, but the pics are not definitive. You want to watch the very bottom of suspicious shoots to see whether the oldest thorns and leaves are maturing normally. It's OK if leaves and thorns are larger than average for the plant, but once they harden up they should have similar-to-normal form and texture. Examine where the shoots are coming from. Early RRD shoots are almost always laterals, not basals, and they look very different from other equally young growth on the plant at the same time. Sometimes people are alarmed when a youngish plant finally starts growing according to its genetic potential.

One thing I look for when trying to identify RRD is whether the lateral growth is one bud at a node or more than one. Many times with RRD, the dominant bud AND the secondary buds (I think that's what they're called) will break and grow at the same time. You end up with three shoots growing from the same node, which is quite unusual and has helped me diagnose RRD in a number of cases.

Connie

P.S. I tried to post photos of RRD growth and normal new growth on Mandeville Pink from my garden last year to illustrate what I'm talking about, but PhotoBucket is being stupid and won't cooperate. I can email you the photos if you want. Just let me know.

Thank you for your responses. I think that Marie Daly is probably fine for right now and I just go a little scared about her new growth. It is firming up and turning green. No extra thorns or odd growth. There a lots of spider mites in my garden right now which would explain the wrinkled leaves.

I really don't know about the orange rose.

The deep red cane on Ballerina comes from the ground (basal) (I grow own-root roses) but there are 2 canes (lateral) that have more prickles/thorns than other new growth and those 2 canes are growing from nodes that already have canes, so there are 2 canes in each spot, but not three. Connie, I think I understand what you are talking about, but thank-you for your offer of pictures. I have looked at the pictures on rosegeek.com several times.

I still am waiting to see what else develops on the roses, so I haven't pulled any of them out yet.

Thank you for your help!

Ruth

As a Hybrid Musk Ballerina will have an extra large genetic heritage from R. multiflora, so bear that in mind as you keep an eye on her. It might be your most susceptible rose. If Ballerina's new growth is smooth and those stems are hyper thorny (even with small thorns) that would definitely concern me, but I'm not by any means an expert in diagnosing RRD.

I donÂt think that everything that looks like RRD is RRD or if it is, itÂs a death sentence. IÂve had a few cases that looked like RRD but after cutting away the deformed canes nearly all were fine and after continued to be healthy. Out of the maybe dozen cases, I had 2 cases that were real .