Something's sounding a little strange here -- "evidence at the tips" of RRD. Many roses grow red at the tips, and that is not necessarily RRD. And it doesn't look from that picture like your garden is next to wild multiflora plants (i.e. out in the middle of fields or somewhere kind of wild). Take a look at these pics of normal red growth on roses, which is in no way related to RRD, before you pull out any more plants.

I went around my garden one day last spring when someone was panicing about normal new growth that he thought might be RRD. We don't have RRD in California, so what is shown in this set of 20 pics is all completely normal for new growth.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pictures of red new growth that is NOT RRD

What about some of the red hybrid musks, like Wind Chimes or Nur Mahal?

Ingrid

You sure you don't want to replace KO? It looks pretty good in that picture.

Laurie

If you'd like a little darker red than Knockout, I might recommend "Hope for Humanity". Deep red, blooming it's head off. It grows well here, gets a little blackspot, but it can stand heat well. A picture below:

{{gwi:310575}}

Here is a link that might be useful: Garden Musings Blog

professorroush , thank you for posting the picture. I will definitely grow this rose next season, please keep the pictures coming.

kstrong--I am 100% certain it was RRD. My point in mentioning that it was "at the tips" was to point out that: I dare to replant the hole with another rose because I am hoping the RRD never made it down the canes and into the roots.

Ingrid--Ann has recommended avoiding H. Musks because they seem to be more susceptible in this area. Those are tempting choices otherwise.

msrose--Ann has recommended not planting the same rose there for risk of immediate contamination via root-to-root passage.

professorroush--lovely!! I wonder how it would handle our hot sun. Many reds here become crispy in the heat. Anyone near me grow Hope for Humanity?

...More suggestions please!

:o)

Ronda, I too was hit with RRD. It took out a lot of my hybrid musks and polyanthas, both of which have a lot of R. multiflora in them, and some with wichuriana and even some chinas--basically, anything with oriental genes and over 3 ft tall.

So I'd choose your lineage very carefully.

RRD is not a risk in most of California, but we aren't free of it (see link to map).

Prairie Fire fits your criteria, and one of its parents (r. arkansana) is immune to RRD, so it may be also. I don't know how it does in the SE part of the country, though.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:310569}}

I don't want to get in an argument with well-informed people, but I question whether lineage is an issue in RRD. Wild multiflora is the bridge species, not because it is particularly susceptible, but simply because it is super-abundant in the wild and no other rose is. I've seen hybrid musks with RRD too, but it seems likely that such anecdotal observations are just coincidence, except for the fact that large dense plants are more likely to snag a mite than small, sparse plants.

HMsks 'Belinda' (deep pink) and 'Mozart' (cherry red) are spectacular with good large-shrub habit, heavy bloom with good repeat, and blackspot resistance. They do very well in no-spray, no-coddle public gardens here in the Asheville area.

On RRD and lineage, there's been quite a lot of study done, although not enough. It's clear that several species native to the US and Canada are immune -- this is, I'd imagine, related to the fact that RRD was first discovered in Canada, and has probably plagued North American roses for millenia. They became immune, or became extinct. To test the immunity of those species, researchers even resorted to things like grafting them onto diseased stock, then testing them for presence of the virus over a period of a couple of years. They did become infected, but never showed symptoms, and cleared the virus out of their systems over a couple of years.

With the exception of those native roses, R. spiniosissima/pimpinellifolia seems to be the only non-native species that is immune, although R. bracteata has some resistance. Everything else seems to be vulnerable. PDF attached for those who like details.

Now, we have no idea what the mechanisms are behind immunity, whether they're dominant traits, recessive traits, or a mixture of both. So my idea, that a R. arkansana hybrid might be resistant or immune, is completely untested. I do think it's worth a try, though.

Here is a link that might be useful: Amrine's paper on R. multiflora and RRD

I've got a couple I would suggest:

Cramoisi Superieur
Home Run (modern but wonderful for me)
Maggie (may work for you)...it's doing better for me now that I feed her.

ffff, thanks for the link. In suggesting that lineage may not matter much, I was talking about hybrid garden roses and not native American species.

Why is Amrine's RRD map so empty in the Southeast where the disease is already bad to terrible?

Ronda - I haven't personally tried Valentine, but I know Randy (gnabonnand) has it and likes it. Here's what ARE's website says about it:

Valentine
1951

�Valentine�s� long pointed buds open to velvety, semi-double flowers of rich scarlet that can be 3 or 4 inches across on a mature plant. The nearly thornless bush is slightly open. The foliage is very full and rich and is rarely affected by heat, humidity, insects, or disease. This is a rose grown for show and will attract considerable attention. �Valentine� is one of our most popular red roses.
3 to 4 feet Z5-9 R mr

BTW, was your KO the double or the regular?

Laurie

Michaelg: We're in complete agreement WRT garden roses that (like 99% of those in commerce) have no ancestors that are immune. The only normal garden rose that was thought to maybe have some resistance was Bonica, and the OP lost hers to RRD recently. So now our list of non-hybrid garden roses with resistance is completely empty.

Amrine's map understates the problem because he's reusing the same map that's been floating around for, IIRC, 11 years. Things are considerably worse than that now. I can't imagine it getting much better while some areas continue to deliberately spread RRD to their wild multiflora populations. The people who originally proposed RRD as a control mechanism for multiflora claimed that non-multiflora roses were resistant, and that there'd be no risk to garden roses that weren't within half a mile of deliberately infected multiflora colonies. This is obviously false, since it's now in states like Colorado which have no wild multiflora populations, but the myth is slow to die.

I just thought of another one you might like...Thomas Affleck. It's another one Randy recommended and I did have it at my last house. It and SDLM are the only two I had previously that I will be buying for my new house.

Thomas Affleck
{{gwi:310577}}

Laurie

The KO that had RRD was the original (single variety)

Wow...Valentine sounds perfect.

Is Thomas Affleck quick to blow in heat? Seems like I heard that about that rose.

Anyone have a full shot of Valentine?

Oh my...I forgot how fun it is to find the 'perfect' rose. I haven't bought a new rose in 2 years!!

Ronda

Not near as quick as Molineux did in my yard, but it's definitely not one of your long lasting roses.

Laurie

I second Thomas Affleck and Valentine. Another two that blooms lots and are tough for me are Cadenza and Champlain. All can be bought own root from Chamblees at $8.95/gallon.

I want to second Rjlinva's suggestion. Cramoisi Superieur

This is one of the world's great shrub roses. It is as tough as the knock out, maybe tougher -- no disease, no black spot, no spraying. Every garden that can grow this rose should have it. Medium dark red, fragrant, globular blooms a little bigger than golf balls gently nod, not particularly good for cutting, but a superior garden rose hardly ever out of bloom -- blooming heavily Spring and Fall. Excellent dense foliage, can be clipped as a hedge. Requires much less care and fertilizer than other roses. Can grow very large and tall, or be kept smaller by pruning. Does extremely well on its own root. Very few small thorns. Blends beautifully and lends sophistication to any garden setting.

Thrives on its own root. Available from ARE and others.

It's native to warm climates, don't know how it does in zone 7, but probably that's about its northern range.

Mutibilis is another china rose of similar garden merit, reliability, and toughness, that will climb small trees if you ask it to. But alas, its large single blooms are not red, but various shades of pastel yellows. creams, and pinks. It would also be perfect in the location you have in mind.

Of my approximately 100 roses, these are two I would least like to part with.