For blackspot, I recommend spraying a fungicide called Bayer Garden Disease Control for Roses, Flowers, and Shrubs--available at Lowe's or online. You will also need to buy a sprayer container--available at Home Depot (and maybe at Lowe's also) for about $20. Follow directions carefully for mixing up the fungicide and water. It is best to spray on a windless (or nearly) day--like earlier in the morning--to avoid a face full of spray if the wind is blowing. You need to decide if you want to spray--read the warnings--and to do it carefully if you decide to. I spray as little as possible, but I do spray a couple times in the spring and again in the fall. The rest of the time it is too hot for much BS to grow and I tolerate the occasional minor appearances of it, plucking off some of the offending leaves. Mid-summer there isn't much BS around here in my garden, thank goodness--too hot for much BS. If you only have one or two roses, you can buy a ready-mix spray bottle of Daconil (fungicide available at Wal-Mart and other places) and use it instead --it will cover a handful of roses at most. The Bayer I recommended above covers many roses per batch you mix up. If you use Daconil, don't spray it on the rose Double Delight which hates Daconil. Wash up afterwards--to protect yourself. Kate

I would remove a lot of the old gray wood next March--cut the canes at the ground or at the graft if one is visible. Hopefully it will respond by making some strong shoots from the ground. It looks like this rose is best grown as a climber with all the strong shoots fastened to the fence. Tie them rather than weaving through the lattice. Create a fan pattern by leading the first canes low and almost horizontal, the next in a low arc above the first, etc. Having lots of cane nearly horizontal (or 45 degrees) will greatly increase the amount of bloom. Most roses have canes that are best trained after they have grown well out and become fibrous. Then they will bend without breaking. After it begins to get crowded again, remove a fraction of the oldest canes each year at the base, Do the main pruning in June after blooming to maximize the amount of bloom. You can also remove the stronger laterals (strong secondary shoots off the main canes) unless you need them to fill in. Cut the shorter laterals back to 2-3 leaves after blooming. The spots visible in pics 6 and 7 are blackspot disease, but the plant must be somewhat resistant or it would be defoliated by now. The foliage appears to be of modern type. The hooked thorns suggest the parentage includes climbing species. You can show us blooms and buds next May.

It just doesn't sound like cannas. Cannas can be very easily pulled out of the ground. Sounds to me more like bamboo? Bamboo is a terribly invasive plant and will literally eat you up if your not careful! Best way to kill it is to cover it with a dark tarp. Without the sun nourishing the leaves, the roots will eventually die. It's very important there is no straggler peeking out or the root system will be fed. Good luck Tom, hope you rid your monsters!! Tammy

They look like some sort of spinossisima to me. As a group, they prefer to be grown lean, and dislike pampering. If you are following anything remotely like 'standard rose care' as defined by hybrid tea growers you are overwatering, overfeeding, and over-who-knows-what. So I'd start by leaving them alone. Absolutely no fertilizer, no spraying, and watering only if it has been very, very dry. They tend to be very hardy, tough plants, and can come back from near death experiences quite well. They are once-bloomers, starting out the rose season in May here. This is Mary, Queen of Scots