I got clobbered this year in Westchester County, NY.

Is anyone able to post these results on a map so we can see where the infestations are?

Sorry, I don't know how.

I'll try to put this together and on my website, which isn't going to be just ugly roses (RRD) but other problems and even some good things about growing roses.
Right now DH is spending half his time working to redo our sailboat hull that went through the eye of Katrina so I only see him every other week (and I get to take care of our place, aged cats, drought hit roses, etc.) (DH is the one who's computer savy, BTW.)

What bothers me about rose problems is that there's no general body of knowledge out there in books. And because the pests and sicknesses of roses are so little known, we can loose our roses to them before we know what the problem is.

Major pestilences:
Rose Rosette
Chili Thrips
Midge
Downey Mildew

Heck of a list.

Anita, I repeatedly explored the Oregon State University site which has a variety of photographs; there can be no doubt.

I'm going to decline stating the obvious (to me) about how they came to live in my little yarden.

I will say that I will need to start treating my little pot ghetto with more of a "quarantine" mentality which will include proactively treating new acquisitions with chemicals whether they appear to need it or not.

MichaelAT

Central Illinois YES

The OP, back in 2007, had an interesting idea. Did anything ever come of it? I've been looking for such a map, but can't find one anywhere.

rifis did you check Ann's web page to see if anything is on there.

You can add LaSalle County, Illinois to that list. They have been here since 2008 and seen in all nurseries from here to Chicago.

I did look at her web book at Rosegeeks.com, but didn't see anything about midge there.

Central Pa--------------YES

Why don't you folks just go to the professionals at the American Rose Society if you have questions. They are the experts!!

American Rose Society.....Experts? Wow, I guess we all can breathe a sigh of relief! When we tuck our little ones in bed for the night we can be certain that the ARS will be 'Experts,' when they raise their little heads in the morning.

Chesapeake City/County, SE Virginia-- yes

We are only a few miles north of NC border so not surprised NC is on the list.

I'm not against the ARS or any other rose organization how ever. The only correct information I was able to obtain was thru Ann Peck. It took others untold years before coming out with accurate information. Some still have not a clue of what they speak.

LOL about the idea of the ARS being "experts" about anything having to do with roses also.

Jackie

Dan, if that were true there wouldn't be a need for this forum. I'm a newbie, but am not aware of midge in Cincinnati. I'm very interested to know if I should be on the lookout.

Yes, vaporvac I'm quite certain that you should be on the lookout. It takes them a little while to find a new garden. Unfortunately find it they will. There is the classic damage but also damage that people don't recognize. This year for me the midge got started before most of the roses had buds. At this point they will deposit their eggs in where new lateral growth buds are forming. Terrible damage occurs to the structure of the bush. You can see the damage if it is present by gently pulling back a leaf set where the lateral should grow. When you see a brown dead area instead of the nice green bud tip midge is present. You will also have a year or so to plan your course of action before their numbers get out of control

Do you have a Menards in your area. You can go and see a lot of midge damage on their roses.

Thank you Patty. We do have Menards;do you mean they have damage on the roses they sell or the one's in their landscape? I've never bought their roses. What does one do to kill/control them? I check my roses everyday, so I need to educate myself on this as I'm also trying to do on RRD.

Yes, the roses they sell have midge damage. I got my Above and Beyond from Sunrise Greenhouses 2 years ago and did not pay attention until I returned. Two of the roses My Girl and AaB had midge damage.

It is not the leaves that are damaged but the growth bud. The new forming laterals are damaged in the same way that terminals with buds are. Last year on Flower Girl is where my first damage showed. She had no buds yet but where those side branches/laterals form it will look and feel like a burnt match stick just very tiny. That lateral/branch will no longer grow. The rose will begin to grow a new one instead. I'll try to take a photo next year but the damaged area is so small I doubt my camera will pick it up.

Midge remains one of the most difficult insects to control, mostly due to the short life cycle. We (in the Penn-Jersey District) still disagree on the most effective treatment.

rifis (zone 6b-7a NJ), why don't you ask Ann about her progress? She is now stillanntn6b.

I can now say it's in Cincinnati, Oh in my garden. : ( but I'm not going down easily and my organic method is working, fingers crossed.

Dallas and Collin County, Texas - No

This is a great idea , Ann. I was looking for midge distribution maps myself, and couldn't find any ...good of you to start the effort. I honestly wondered why I'd never seen or heard of midge until hearing about it here. I seem to have every other form of rose pestilence!

I'm not positive it's midge but almost certain since some roses I bought from a nursery in northern CT have the little white things that look like tiny grains of rice but no wings so not white flies- so southern Worcester County MA and northeastern quiet corner of CT- yes.

Keepingon- I wondered if that is how I got this? I live in a very rural area and no-one grows roses in my neighborhood besides me. Neighbors are over 500 feet from my house so they must be coming in on the roses I buy. I never had spider mites but got them on mail order rose.

Can the roses be soaked overnight to drown these little suckers? Does anyone know how long the rose can be submerged in water before it suffocates? This would work for small bands and bare roots but not for nursery purchased roses.

Sharon

I think I may of got Rose Midge from a online nursery...Since I've checked roses elsewhere all through our town and no sign of rose midge....I'll be buying new roses only in May and will strip soil off roots and soak entire rose bush in water for awhile or buy bareroot...

70% of our backyard are effected so far...Roses out front and at the side of house are ok... ALL areas got the same load of mulch & compost so I do not think that was the source...

jim- how long can the rose be soaked? I'm considering doing this too with any future purchases.

Looking at online images, what I thought was whiteflies in early Spring, could have been rose midge. It is time to purchase a magnifying glass.

Baltimore - yes, sadly.

The best way to stop midge, is to put plastic sheeting under your plants. When the midge drop to the soil to repopulate, they can't get in and the cycle is stopped.

I had it one years ago, 300 roses and not one bloom, boy did the leaves look great though!!

Middlesex County/New Haven County line in Southern CT - no evidence of midge here...yet.

Chesapeake Virginia near NC border--yes

Jim, which online nursery did the midge come from?

Central Virginia Albemarle County near Charlottesville - no. Sue

Boise, SW Idaho, Ada County and Canyon County--no

As far as I know, rose midge is found across North America. Research and reports have come from New York to Oregon!

This comment was made by an Entomologist I asked from Ohio State University

Essex county - NJ, yes :(

I'd like to revise my August 4th response from "no midge here yet" to "complete midge infestation here in Southern CT"

Condolences, eb. They're sneaky like that. It seems that you, at least, got bloom until now?

So bad here in my garden in upstate NY. I'm not bringing in any new own root roses. I had a gorgeous spring flush! Then I rec'd many new own roots this year from various vendors. Many of these I haven't seen 1 bloom, just dead little black dried up fringes for blooms. My yellow sticky traps and cups are covered in them. I got rid of this once about 7 years ago by spraying the soil and turf stuff. I think I did it twice in 10 day intervals. Maybe again in the fall. Now I have dogs that go out there and my son has a veggie garden, and I haven't wanted to do it.

I will be using every chemical at my disposal next season. Sorry environment, but I haven't the time to tinker with home remedies. These bugs need to die.

Mary- it's recommended to rinse all of the soil from the root ball before planting and cutting off all new tender growth if the rose is large enough. I have also been soaking the rootball in a permethrin solution that I keep in a covered container. I'll be doing this with even bare root to be on the safe side.

Dan- did you leave the plastic over the winter? Also some roses seem to really resent it. Jim said his Fiji got black spot from this. I'm having an issue with Kordes 'Poseidon'.

Another question- what do you do for climbing roses? I have tow 'Lady Ashe' that are exhibiting some midge symptoms.

Sharon

So if I'm receiving own root roses from RU in South Carolina this week or next, what precautionary measures should I take?

needmoremulch- it's recommended to rinse the soil completely from the root ball and prune all new growth if it won't stress the plant and discard in the trash.

Sharon

Sharon, should I spray it with something, too?

It depends if you want to go the organic route or not. Moses sprays just the new growth with Bayer Insect 3 in 1 is a systemic if applied as a soil drench which amkes any part of the plant toxic but spraying just the new growth and tiny buds is less toxic. If the bud is larger than a green pea it should not be susceptible to midge at that point. Others use Spinosad on just the new growth and buds. Both are very toxic to bees though so caution is necessary. Moses sprays at dusk when the bees are not active.

I have rinsed the soil then potted the roses up in purchased potting soil then wrapped the pot with a plastic shopping bag tied around the cane base to try to keep any midge from dropping into the potted soil. These will be going in the ground pot and all over the winter here in MA. and planted next spring. I'll rinse the soil from the roots again and keep an eye on new growth for signs of midge. It seems it takes a while to eradicate this scourge from the garden. I've also used the yellow cups, in my case pinwheels, sprayed with vegetable oil to catch the midge as they fly around. Patty from IL has had very good luck with the cup method as has Samuel from NY. I am catching insects just not quite sure if they're midge or something else. It seems it's a long drawn out process to rid your garden of midge but taking precautions should help a lot.

Jim and Samuel are also trying beneficial nematodes to see if this will help. Here's a link to that discussion.

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/4834388/jim-in-pa-and-samuel-in-adirondacks-which-nematodes?n=57

and here's Moses routine-

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/4331751/rose-midgean-approach-that-works-for-me?n=18

Hope this helps.

Sharon

I don't have midge in my garden yet, but I just want to prevent importing it! I am mostly organic, but don't object to going another route for an occasional thorny problem.

I've seen it here in my So CA garden. So far, it was only evident on one rose, planted in a half whiskey barrel. I had the rose for almost a year with no blooms. I hope I caught it in time. I don't see it any more. Lisa

What did you do to get rid of it, Lisa?

I cut every cane way back and defoliated it. Bagged that stuff and threw it away. Then I used the Bayer soil drench in the whiskey barrel. I only used that stuff because I only saw midge in that one potted rose. I didn't feel so bad using the Bayer in a potted rose. I do not want this in my garden beds, that's for sure. It's now about 4-6weeks later, and my Boule de Neige is fully leaved out again with no sign of midge damage. I keep checking it and every else, but so far so good. Here's Boule de Neige today, fully leaved out again with no midge damage.

I nervously check my roses, especially the ones that are not in bloom right now. I'm not finding any more signs of midge anywhere. Lisa

Lisa- I hope that's the end of it for you. What a horrible, vile creature!

Sharon

None here that I know of. I did have 2 bent buds, that something had ate a hole in the bottom side. I hope that isn't midge.

Could be midge. That's how mine started and I just thought it was thrips or something. It wasn't until I saw the burnt tips that I figured it out. However, let others comment as I'm a newbie.