I just planted her last year and she showed signs of virus as soon as she leafed out, but that disappeared when the warm weather arrived, and she did great all summer into fall. So, it was only visible in spring. This year she is showing the lightning patterns heavily now. I hope they go away again like last year when the warm weather really takes over. To answer your question, yes that's RMV on the right side. Mine shows the signs before first flush, and then went away. So, I am giving her just this year to show me her stuff or she's out. She's a beauty when she does look good though. Shame, I bought her before I knew better about where to go for roses. I bought her at Dutch Gardens. I see they are still selling her too. Probably just as virused, and they don't care. Here's a pic of her in bloom last year (sorry it's so large, photobucket is having trouble resizing it I guess lol):

henryinct 6b, the problem with that argument is your statement "to my knowledge" i.e. you have not ELSIA tested the neighboring bushes as symptoms may take many years to show up (or never but still be infected). Others have reported spread because they observed visible signs of infection in the direction that they pruned. Since they did not run ELSIA tests when the plants were purchased, these observations also do not qualify as "simple proof". From my web page: "Does RMV Spread Naturally? I have seen a number of comments where someone states that 5 or 8 years after they purchased a bush that it displayed RMV symptoms. Someone then replies along the line "It did not spread to it; it always had it". I also have read statements along the line: someone had a bush that performed well for several years and then declined or winter died for no apparent reason. Are these cases of plants catching RMV? Since we do not have home ELSIA kits, we do not know. One person can no more claim that these were "all" cases of RMV spread then can another who states that since a homeowner cannot prove that the bush was not virused when it was purchased that there are "no" cases where it did catch it by spreading. This simply is not a disease that the homeowner can say for certain does or does not spread. We have to rely on 1) published scientific studies, 2) RMV found occurring naturally in roses, 3) in progress scientific studies and 4) the observations of hybridizers who have reported virus in never grafted seedlings." Concerning your statement: "Henry, I'm a fan of the idea that it never has been shown that RMV can be spread." "Never" is a very easy word to attack. My link has a number of "non-nevers" but only 1 is needed to answer a "never": "In a 2005 paper they reported: 500 Rosa multiflora "Burr"plants were planted approximately 30 cm (11.8 inches) apart in rows (the distance between the rows was not given). Alternate plants were graft inoculated with 5 virus sources. Half were hedged with a gas-powered hedge trimmer four to six times during the growing season. In one year virus was detected in 10% of both the hedged and unhedged plants. After the second year, the number was 17 %; after the third year it was 31 %. Mechanical hedging did not increase the rate of spread in these trials, implying that another mechanism, possibly root grafting, was responsible."

I just discovered that two of my grafted Brownell's which I have had for years have RMV....two Charlotte Brownells and one of my Rhode Island Red climbers. I have read somewhere that most of the grafted Brownells are virused, but I was hoping I would be one of the lucky ones. This will be the first incident of RMV ever for me. The sad thing is, both of my virused Charlotte Brownells have been the most productive bloomers of all my hybrid teas. For years they put all the others to shame. Since nothing is blooming here until next month, I don't know if the bloom quality will be the same but in terms of the bush and foliage they are growing vigorously and setting loads of buds. I know they will eventually start to decline, but so far, the only telltale sign was the leaf markings which are now fading into shiny green now that the weather has warmed up. If I hadn't seen the markings earlier I would never guess these were virused roses. The problem here in zone 4 is that these poor plants have a lot to face going into winter. Its hard enough on the healthy roses! I plan on keeping them just as they are until they look sickly. They have brought me years of pleasure so I will have a hard time parting with them. I don't believe they pose any danger to surrounding roses. Sorry about your Maria Stern. So far mine has not shown any signs, but I would not be too surprised if its just a matter of time. Celeste

These two are fairly equivalent in performance in my gardens. Maria Stern is sold as a hardy rose, but the only garden I have had success with it in is a bed protected from winds, where it grows at least 6' tall, and is very productive. Everywhere else it has been a shrimp. Gold Medal does make a nice cut flower as stated above. Like many yellows, it is not very hardy. In your Zone, it would likely be wonderful; it has high-centered blooms and is somewhat of a bicolor rose. Its flowers are just as beautiful as Maria Stern. It is a grandiflora.