Hi, Ingrid- We've had more rust on the cemetery roses this spring than ever before. I blame the climate. We defoliated the roses last winter, so are starting fresh, but the rust is coating the leaves top and bottom right now. Definitely, you need to get the rust-infected leaves off the roses and clean up the area underneath. A layer of fresh mulch would be good, too. I don't spray with anything. 'Admirable' was badly rusted in my home garden about a month ago - I took off all of the leaves, cleaned up the area, cut the rose back, fertilized - when I got home from my travels, it's covered in new foliage and looks spotless. Overhead watering is fine, and washes off mites, mildew and aphids, but you need to do it in the morning so that the roses dry out by evening. Also, I think that water just splashes rust spores around. I would defoliate the rusty leaves before overhead watering again. I haven't noticed rust spreading from one plant to another. It seems that some are susceptible to it, and get it if conditions are right, and some are not. Anita

Is your water supply high in iron? Are you getting bits of iron from your washing machine, dryer, or plumbing? Once in storage, these bits of iron will oxidate (rust). Have you tried citric acid? If you have some Fruit Fresh on hand, it contains citric acid an ascorbic acid, and both those ingredients will help lift the rust. An old-fashioned treatment is to use lemon juice (ascorbic acid) or white vinegar on the cloth and then set it in the sun to bleach it (until the juice or vinegar is dry). There are products, like Iron-Out, designed to remove iron and you'll find that in the laundry section. -Grainlady

NewHB: Thanks!! The flowers and herbs (both in pots and in the garden) have actually managed to stay alive this year -- thanks to slightly cooler (and now chilly! LOL!) temperatures around Dallas! The silk flowers in the large half-basket have been replaced with fall ones -- always a nice change! Of course the front door area is now filled with spooky Halloween decor! LOL!

Thanks for the nice comments. I'm adding a pic that shows a swatch of the cushion fabric with an accent pillow on my rug. The tweed fabric ties in the rusts and golds. Unfortunately, the sheen on the cloth seems to turn it to more of a coral & tangerine in my pics. It is more subdued IRL, but they do add a color punch that works all 4 seasons. Confession - My dogs haven't been on them yet. As some here predicted, they found other good spots to scout outdoors when the furniture got changed out. Puck does his lookout from the sofa in the upstairs TV room and Riley hangs with me & watches birds & squirrels on the back deck. If they jump up on the new cushions I'll let them. But if they don't seem interested I probably won't encourage it. The window benches have already proved their worth, even without the cushions. My DS made a surprise visit home when he was in the U.S. on business and we had a big family dinner. The fruit trees and lilac bushes were in bloom and people loved perching on the benches by the open windows to catch the scents. For Lyban, the dogs are brother/sister littermate mini labradoodles. Turning 12 this year but still acting like pups! And, they did end up keeping their favorite loveseat! I convinced DH to move it in to their finished basement "dog room" (which is also DH's exercise room). We had to remove a cabinet to make it fit so DH had to rewire the TV & mount it to the wall. All's well that ends well ;)