Did Blue Girl show other symptoms of RRD? Did the canes that started red turn green? Or did other symptoms arise on that bush? Transmission within a garden seldom has ever happend in that sort a period of time. The vector mite populations don't spike until September in zone 5 conditions (this from the juried scientific literature.) When the rose arrived at your home from Michigan Bulb, was it leafed out, or was it bare of leaves, and had it been dipped in wax? You may not have heard of RRD before this happened. Most people haven't. But you might want to consider that the disease has been to the north of you in Canada, to the south of you in Pennsylvania, in every county in Ohio to the west of you. And so far, I've seen it to the east of you in the BBG in Brooklyn...in the middle of the city. The vector mites are easily carried by winds and fall infections on hybrid teas show most often in new growth the following spring. This I know from my own garden experiences and it fits what others see, as well. There is no way to say where the vector mites came from that infected the rose in your garden that is near your new rose. (And there is no lab test to identify the disease; experienced plant pathologists depend on a collection of symptoms for identification.) There is NO reason to tear up an entire rose bed. As suggested above, remove the sick rose(s). That's what we do when other diseases strike and it works for RRD. Do look upwind of your home for Rosa multiflora. You may find it along stream beds or even growing up into trees. With the disease pressure on roses to the north west and south of your state, RRD is moving into New York, even though it doesn't get talked about. Good luck. Don't panic or make yourself ill about this. I can say this because I've been dealing with RRD in my garden for ten years. I continue to grow roses. I loose a couple of plants each year to RRD. There's RRD in wild roses three miles away. It's become a fact of life, but I can enjoy the ones that live and try to mourn the ones I loose....a lot like life, really. My E-book linked below has twelve chapters about rose rosette as well as a FAQ. It's based on a lot of visiting other gardens with RRD in them as well as a lot of research. The Bibliography at the back is up to date, science wise, if you can stand to read about the intentional spread of RRD to kill multiflora.

You need a "training collar" and a 6' leash for basic obedience work. A "training" collar is what too many people call a "choke" collar. And it's only a choke collar if you put it on the dog incorrectly! I urge you to sign up for a Basic Obedience class... this is what the class is for, to teach you HOW. "Walking politely" is walking with you, often out beside you or in front of you... but NOT pulling on the leash. Your dog has a notion of just how far is acceptable, and knows that pulling is NOT OK. You begin by setting out for your walk as usual. The moment your dog begins to pull, you give a quick tug on the leash and head off in the OPPOSITE DIRECTION. I warn you, you won't get very far on the first few walks, lol. But the point is, you dog must learn that pulling gets him/her NOWHERE and fast! As soon as your dog turns back to you, it's PRAISE, PRAISE, PRAISE. And then then you set off again. You have to be patient and willing to suffer the "learning curve", and you must insist the dog NOT PULL. The way we were taught basic obedience was built on "walking politely"... the understanding of the leash, its constraints, and your ability to enforce commands via the leash. "Heel" was introduced later... after the dog was already walking politely, sitting, staying, "downing" with voice and hand commands. Walking politely was taught in conjunction with "watch me", getting the dog to look you in the eyes; important because getting the dog's attentiion is key to teaching obedience. I've found "watch me" to be the toughest command we've had to master... I'm STILL working on it 2 years hence! Sign yourselves up for a class. You'll LOVE IT! it's fun, rewarding, and gives you a whole new perspective on your dog. And mazer's "walkies" are an integral part of the whole process. The more you walk your dog and practice the commands, the easier it gets and the more fun it becomes. It's downright infectious. ;)

Another little update and another question: Yard is greening up nicely. Section F1 is trailing far behind B1, but I'm not concerned at this point. Since I last checked in I've continued with the plan and added a 24-25-4 starter fertilizer. I supplemented that with Milorganite at 1/2 label rate. Next up in the soil plan is the epsom salt and potassium sulfate this weekend. I *could* put that down, but I'll be aerating in 2 weeks though,at the same time as my next starter fertilizer and Milo application. So if I wait and apply the epsom salt, the potassium sulfate, and the fertilizers at the same time, they'll have the benefit of deeper soil access. Should I worry about applying those at the same time though? Is there the potential to burn the grass?

"I assume azdoctor has reviewed your lab results? Unless someone is willing to go the extra mile and explain their rationale, I'd just ignore them. Maybe he thinks lawns don't need any chemical other than nitrogen, but we'll never know unless he decides it is worth his time to explain his understanding of healthy soil chemistry." Sorry - I did not explain myself very well. I based my recommendations on the soil test provided. It was not a blanket statement. Grasses, like all other plants require N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S, B, Cl, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni, Zn. The soil test indicated that most of these did not require adjustment, hence my recommendation. There is a sliver of truth to some of the comments regarding BCSR and soil structure. We use exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP) to evaluate the impact of sodium on soil structure. Alternatively, we can use the Sodium Adsorption Ratio (SAR) a ratio of the chemical activities of sodium to calcium plus magnesium. These are routinely used, and are not nutrient based (sodium is not a plant nutrient). These are most important in high CEC, clayey soils. Structure is less important in sandy soils. Somewhere I posted some articles that describe results of tests comparing BCSR and SLAN. Science is not a belief system. It is a method of evaluating facts. Read up on the facts and then make a conclusion - NOT A BELIEF.