Ann, you are such an expert, that I hesitate to post. I feel that the hot weather can create "false RRD". We water so much, and the heat is over 100. Suddenly many roses grow fast with odd shaped blooms. The leaves are too close together and they may have little bitty blooms (possibly caterpillars help this.) If you wait 2 ro 3 weeks, everything sort of evens out. I find this mainly on my red roses.

Sammy

Is there anything we can do besides be vigilant?

Yes, the heat can do funny things to rose development and you're right.
But RRD may not show up until several weeks or months after the heat is over.
And example. We had grubbed out a massive R. multiflora and thought we had taken it out before RRD got into it. The ground was cracked, nothing was growing and there were four rather puny stems left - and we had had NO rain, and one of those stems had breaks at every leaf axil and they went from nothing to five inches long in two days. Color of the new aberrant growth amber green; color of newer multiflora growth on fencelines (at least the last new growth that had happened) bland green.
Never look at just one part of the plant; look at leaf margins, sepal edges, and see how fast the new growth comes on. (And when the plant has RRD, chances are the sexual parts of the rose will be messed up or even missing.)

I wish I had taken pictures of my deformed roses that I'm sure had RRD. The flowers were so weird, puny and almost fringe like.

I've seen growth similar to RRD on some roses, usually during spring and fall cold spells, but when it keeps coming back after you cut and cut, it's time for it to go.

Ann, what you say is making plenty of sense to someone who has experienced a lot of RRD within a growing season ,as last year when we had our own "big dig" related to RRD, the weather had been very dry. We did not see all those roses at one time and I am convinced the RRD did not show up all at once. It was not only a hot dry summer, but a dry fall as well.

I hesitate to ask this...but here goes..I have a Multiflora growing, that was rootstock from a departed Gallica...does the Muliflora need to go? It seems healthy and blooms a lot...I kind of like it..but...

Melva,
Multiflora in and of itself isn't bad and the spring bloom and the way it scents the garden is truly grand.
What I should have done with our big one was keep it under control from the getgo. But I let it get massive and the massive form makes a baffle to trap based on aerodynamics the RRD vector mites.
I now am growing a multiflora (on purpose as opposed to along fencelines where they are harder to control) and I'm using it to experiment with different kinds of rooting on the mist table (and finding that it roots oh so easily). I want to be able to reproduce roses that get RRD before RRD goes through the whole plant. With this plant, we cut it back in early fall to almost nothing and it comes back and we enjoy the bloom, but we'll never let it get massive.
So, you get a yes and no answer.

My experience (although limited) has been that the larger the rose the greater the chance for RRD. Multiflora is the primary host plant because it is plentiful in the wild and forms HUGE thickets, thusly it is the most likely rose to encounter the mite that spreads the disease. NEW DAWN for example is a wichuraiana climber that is very prone to RRD (I had a neighbor who lost several). Why? Because it is a very common, very big climber. Large shrubs, standards, climbers and ramblers are usually the first hit by this horrid disease.

Thanks for the warning Ann. I'll keep an eye out.

I really wanted to be wrong on this one.
BUT, today I found RRD on our R.multiflora platyphylla 'Seven Sister' that is/was growing along the fence line.
RRD on two canes, showed up in the past four days. Our temps have been hideously hot this summer with over 30 days over 90 already this summer and August and September are historically our hot temp months.
Damn, damn, damn, damn.
Ann

Ann--I'm so sorry to hear this.

You have such a lovely garden and I know how much you love all your roses.

Thanks for the warning.

Florence

Ann,I am really sorry to hear about your Seven Sister.
Olga

Ann, could stress be a factor?? Lack of rain and the extreme temps..asking becuase of the breakout south of us.

Yes, Kaye,
I think it could be stress to the RRD host plants that sends the mites airborne.
What is so frustrating is that my garden has had decent rainfall this summer but the RRD areas along US 11W (about 3 miles upwind)have been much drier- parched grass, wilted weeds until about nine days ago- and I don't think it's that my target plants have been that much more susceptible for being greener, but that there are more mites wafting in.
I would, however, like to thank Blush Noisette who engulfed me in a joyful mass of fragrance as I came back up the hill, dejected. I needed that gentle reminder.
Noisettes rule!
Ann

Hello Ann,

I'm sorry to hear about your 'Seven Sister's', none of us likes to lose a rose, especially to something that we can't directly take the blame for.

We just returned from vacation 1/2 an hour ago... we were in Cumberland Co., TN staying with my wife's parents in Crossville. My FIL commented a few times on how hot and humid it's been there for him this year even though he's on a plateau and hasn't had heat like this in the tens years he's lived there.

They have several wild 'R. multiflora' growing around their 5 acre pond among blackberries, cattails, and ornamental grasses. They don't know the first thing about roses, and don't really care, but he did ask me what the strange growth on the wild roses meant. I immediately spotted the RRD, (unmistakable, even though it was the first time I saw it in person), I told him it meant he should dig up the bushes and burn them... but he's not too concerned about the whole issue, even after I gave him the unabridged version.

On our 3rd day there we went to Burgess Falls State Park. There were dozens of wild roses growing along the trails, but I couldn't identify them as 'R. multiflora', they had different thorns and leaf edges, BUT I believe that 3 of the 40+ bushes we saw had RRD. I couldn't locate the ranger on duty otherwise I would have alerted him to it... who knows if they would even act on it anyway. My wife informed me that if I took 1 picture of a rose bush, I would be getting the "SPECIAL TOUR" of the high falls... so I don't have a picture to share.

I'm really beginning to worry about RRD in Wisconsin, our weather has been so hot and humid this year, and with the majority of our rose stock coming from warmer states... it seems it's only a matter of time.

Better Tomorrows,
BC:)

I've lost 3 big roses to rrd this summer. Darlow's Enigma, New Dawn, Gislane de Feligonde, and my 2 semiplenas have it, I 've been removing branches, but I think I'm gonna have to pull both of them. It seems like only my big roses are getting it. Weird.
Al

Ann and all,
I just finally went over to Ann's e-book about RRD and read a portion of it this afternoon.

It brings many questions to my mind, but the first one is the one that I am in a panic over: does anyone know if we have RRD in Texas yet, and if so, where is it? I do not recall having seen it here in northeastern Montgomery County. I hope I never will. But after reading the article, I can certainly sympathize with all of you who battle against this killer.

Ann, so sorry to hear that your Seven Sisters has been infected. I'll be happy to start cuttings of the one you shared with us so you'll have a replacement if needed.

Lisa

Your predictions on hot temps linked to RRD appear spot-on. I had never seen RRD, and Iowa State told me that they believed its presence in Iowa was limited to Southern Iowa. Iowa State acknowledged getting it at Reiman Gardens in Ames on a few of their plants. I noticed symptoms on mine just after the 100 degree days in July, although I did not know what it was, at the time.

I removed a large percentage of my roses, today.

Ann - Please post the url for your current RRD e-book. The one I have is out of date and I would like to take a look at it again to update myself. Thanks much!

Allison,
I lost a rose this spring, that had RRD and I am in Denton County..it was Excellenz von Schubert.

Right now the E-book is down for an update. And we're trying to do some more on a related site.
I will be crowing in delight when we get things back up.
Ann

Plant-sucking mites often said to like hot and dry conditions.

Because of the summer drought, I think this thread may be even more suitable to the summer of '07.
This year, we've seen RRD on the western end of Long Island (in the city). And there are more reports from Wisconsin.
The ebook has a new address

Here is a link that might be useful: Rose Rosette E-book

Ann, did you check your stem-girdler topic?

Thank you for keeping us updated on these issues and others.

Carla

The summer of 07 may be an additional test.

Well, we started having a drought the year I lost so many, 2005, and last year still a drought but not quite as bad but with only 1 case of RRD that we noticed. This year it seems loss of roses to RRD will surpass 2005, but we cannot water to ensure it does not. We are under serious water restrictions.

Yes, we hate losing our roses, but this drought is really bad. I am not sure how long we have before our household water is going to be monitored.

Ann, two weeks ago we ended a very hot spell. We are still behind in rainfall according to the weather man by 10 inches. Last Tuesday I found RRD on Arethusa-three canes. Cut them back to the ground and will keep an eye on it. I think these are the conditions similar to what you described. Night temps were very hot as well.

Molineux, Arethusa is very small in my garden and surrounded by big roses. It is only about 2 feet tall and at least as wide. Its companions are easily 4 to 6 feet. I don't think bigger roses have a greater propensity towards RRD other than they are big enough to get in the way of the mite. I have found roses of all sizes get RRD in my garden. Last year I lost a mini, Lavendar Pink Parfeit to RRD.
Barbara