How did you eliminate the possibility of herbicide damage from weed and feed lawn treatments or weed killer treatments?

I stopped using a lawn service last year, the only thing we do now is mow and hand pull weeds. I haven't used any round up this year. My backyard borders a forested area, which I have seen one multiflora with rrd symptoms that I had cut back as much as I could a few years ago. I don't know if my roses are just in a prime spot to get RRD because of the natural area or if I'm just that lucky :(

There isn't much you can do, beyond being very vigilant in checking roses for symptoms. Sometimes you can save a rose by taking out a cane, if that is the only one infected. If you do have a lot of multiflora near you, It's going to be tough.

I wish I could give the person who came up with the bright idea of using RRD as a multiflora control method a good screaming at. It makes as much sense as cutting the rodent population by giving them the plague.

I'll put in a plug for Rosa carolina, which last I heard, was still not getting RRD, and is an attractive and fragrant rose, and some strains have a litt;le rebloom. Likewise for R. californica and Burnet roses. Rosa palustris and setigera should be safe picks, though strictly once-bloomers. Aside from switching to wild American roses such as those, there's not much you can do, unless your can talk all of your neighbors into adopting a sane multiflora control method (e.g., bulldozer). Virtually all garden roses, no matter how disease resistant they may be otherwise, are vulnerable, whether they're OGRs or moderns, as are Eurasian wild roses and even many American wild roses. I suppose you could try Baltimore Belle, Souvenir de Brod, Commander Gillette or Bonica, since the latter has shown at least *some* resistance, and the others are hybrids of resistant species.

This post was edited by ffff on Sun, Nov 2, 14 at 15:28

Like you, in 2010, I had RRD come at me from the multiflora in the woods beyond my yard. It was growing along the creek that borders the bottom half of my yard. I lost nearly 75 roses to it. I hacked back the multifora and periodically hit new growth with Round-Up, but it still comes up. However, I haven't had another outbreak since then. But the other thing I'm trying is a windbreak. I'm planting evergreens and then various shrubs along the RRD route in hope that the mites wont get thru, or at least fewer will. I haven't given up on roses, but I have bought fewer--mainly replacing favorites I lost--and am waiting until my windbreak fills in before splurging again.

When I think of RRD, I think of bugs. The bugs (mites) are carried by the wind, and can be dropped on more than one rose.

We don't know when it begins and we do not know if the mites hit in the nursery, and the infected parts are "cut out" (not). If you bought one or more rose in a place where they do not care well for the roses, you may have purchased infected roses. If your roses are close together, or if you did not pull the infected rose from your garden early enough, it could have spread.

Do you know for a fact that it is RRD, and not new fast growth? I believe that Anne lives near you and she is a true expert. You are in the right city for an .opinion from the state agriculture division if you do not reach Anne.

I have taken out many roses at a time, just to be careful. Then I plant more. I buy nice roses, but am careful since I may lose any of them.

Sammy

I remove infected roses at the first signs of RRD to limit the spreading. I also have rose beds spread out in my yard with grass and other trees and shrubs mixed in. While roses will always be my favorite, I think a monoculture is risky from a disease point of view and so mixed beds and borders are better. Viburnums, mock orange, daphne, lilac, buddlea, and others offer fragrant, healthy alternatives to roses mixed into a garden and I love them too.

I agree with Lori, if you put all your eggs in one basket, they will eventually get broken. And disease has a very easy ready means to spread from one plant of a species to another.

Diversify...you'll be glad you did.

I think that both windbreaks and mixed plants are the best approaches. From what I understand, the mites are carried by wind. No wind, well, I won't say no mites, but certainly fewer.

And monoculture is just a bad idea, no matter how beautiful or useful the plant.

RRD may eventually mean no more rose gardens, but I don't think it will have to mean no roses in gardens.

Rosefolly