The last year that I had them really bad, I filled up about 10 of the beetle bags in less than a week! I used them in conjunction with hand picking. I hope I never have them that bad again. They devastated a peach tree that was covered with huge peaches almost ready to pick in one morning! The next year I used milk jugs with the bait inside and only filled it up partially. The last few years I have only had a few. I figure I prevented millions of JB from being born.

I SP'd my Sunsprite due to Witches Broom that it and a Hot Cocoa developed in my original rose bed. Sunsprite was already on the SP list as it was a BS magnet and the blooms blew in one day after blooming and the bush itself was not very vigorous growing either. I replaced the Hot Cocoa last year and so far the new plant isn't near as good as the first one I had which is a bummer. I grow Julia Child and Moondance as well and have found them to be very healthy, but I do spray every three weeks to make sure they stay that way. JC is a favorite yellow floribunda for alot of rosarians. I like it, but not as much as many other floribundas that I grow. DayBreaker and Our Lady of Guadalupe are my favorites and I have not seen any disease of any kind on them so far. John

Jim for me its my rosa rogosas first, they always attack them first and most. I have a first year plant robusto rose which is a glossy kordes, they seem to like that as well. But they do eat anything, the really like my corn stalks and potatoe plants and bean plants all the rest of my flowers (except lillium and hermocallis and hostas). Also seem to enjoy rasberry and blackberry foliage but seem to leave the fruit only, which is ok by me. ITs been a lighter year than normal here, just picked off a few dozen yesterday, nothing like the hundreds some years.

Melian, I re-read what you post: 3 years of little BS, until the 3rd year that it hits hard. It's typical for roses to get huge the 3rd year, and break out in diseases due to both lack of air circulation and not enough water to support the massive growth. Hard pruning will help to cut off the diseased part, and to keep roses small, thus less demand on water. I'm in zone 5a, where winter-kill to the crown is blessing. University of Illinois recommended pruning drastically to a few inches, so that the new growth will be free of BS in the spring. The advantage of horse manure over bark mulch are: 1) lime in the manure is a natural fungicide 2) horse manure has beneficial bacteria that suppress fungal growth 3) horse manure dries off fast, versus wet bark mulch that foster fungal growth. At least 20 of my roses are in their 2nd year, still zero blackspots. Winter-kill in zone 5a keep my roses really small, and new shoots in spring have plenty of vigor and water to fight off any diseases. How much diseases you have is dependent on how much potassium in your soil. Potassium is needed to fight diseases, strong stems, and bloom production. It's worth it to have your soil tested at $20 by EarthCo., county extension, or University extension to see if your soil is deficient in potassium. The remedy? Sulphate of potash, less chemical fertilizer (salt in chemicals drive down potassium). My soil is tested a tiny bit deficient in potassium, that's why I use organic fertilizer like manure and alfalfa meal to avoid the salt that drives down potassium in soil.