Here in the PNW we have two types of cane borers--rose cane borers and raspberry cane borers. Rose cane borers are mostly annoying. They kill the top inch or two of the rose cane but new growth will emerge further down the cane and the rose will be fine. Some people will seal the cane but those of us who have lots of roses don't bother--it takes too much time! Raspberry cane borers are a differant matter. They will burrrow all the way down the cane and even into the crown of the plant and maybe kill the rose. Since you say your rose was killed I'm guessing that this is what you have. The good news is that roses are not the prefered food of raspberry cane borers--they prefer raspberries and if they can't get them they go for blackberries. If you have them on your roses it is usually a sign that somewhere in your neighborhood someone has taken out their raspberries or taken out blackberries and the hungry critters ate your roses. After a few years the cane borers will either die out or the raspberries or blackberries will come back and they will go eat those. In the meantime, you can control the borers by keeping an eye on your roses and if you see dieback on the canes below two inches, cut back the cane to below the dieback. You will see a catapillar-ish looking thing at the bottom of the tunnel. Dispose of it. The good news is that since these critters have a one year life cycle, once you have disposed of them, they will not come back for a year. I don't know if a systemic insecticide will work. Systemics cannot be used on edibles and since this is mainly a pest of raspberries, the insecticides will not be labeled for use on raspberry cane borers. But they might work for raspberry cane borers on roses. But it is probably less work to just cut them out when you see them rather than spraying.

For the public herb garden we made rectangular bronze labels cut out of a sheet of bronze with a band saw. We taped the edges with masking tape to form a border and used stick on letters to mask where the name's letters went. Then the labels were dipped in a ferric chloride bath until enough was eaten away so the letter and edges were raised above the background. The label were then neutralized with baking soda and copious amounts of water and the masking tape and letters were removed. Finally holes were drilled in the four corners of the border. Since the herb garden beds were outlined with railroad ties around the outer edges and landscaping timbers around the paths, the labels could be nailed into these wooden edges of the beds. Very classic and very work intensive. We didn't move the plants much and with practice I became very good at prying the labels off with a screw driver and a dandelion digger on the rare occasions they needed to be moved. On the other end of the spectrum, I have made labels out of strips of used gallon milk jugs with the letters punched with a paper punch. The labels were attached to the plants by making a slit in one end of the label, curling the label around a plant stem and inserting the other end in the slit. Cath

A story for future reference for anyone who is having their houses painted: A few years ago we had our 3 story Victorian house painted, and one wall of shingles replaced, and the roof repaired, all at once. The house was surrounded on three sides by 3 stories of scaffolding for 5 weeks - that was why we took advantage of that to have everything done at once. I had at that time 4 huge roses on two sides of the house which were growing all the way up to the roof (star jasmine ditto on the third shady side), as well as at least a half dozen large but shorter roses near the house. The large climbers covered 100% of the walls, so obviously the house could not be painted with them there. I asked for advice on this forum, and followed it. We cut back all of the roses ourselves, to about 7 feet tall by 3 feet wide for the huge climbers, and smaller for the others. We then covered them in burlap - protected them from the paint, but still let in air. The real thing we were able to do was because my DH is a retired general contractor.(I take some credit because I put out home made cookies and coffee each morning, but he really did it). He stayed home every day and chatted up the painters, builders, etc. He helped them a bit, exchanged stories, etc. etc. , all the while checking their work, because the painting company owner came by each evening to also do that, and always listened to my DH and had things corrected. My DH explained to the painters at the beginning that they were not to touch the roses, and were to stay off the beds (except where he had put large boards & pieces of wood for them to walk on when they needed to paint the first story). By the end of the first day, of course, I noticed that they were using my flower beds as places to stage supplies and equipment. My DH had a talk with all of them, basically begging for their cooperation so that I woiuld not kill him! My wrath was said to be astounding and horrible. We giggled about it, but it worked! They must have all had wives they did not want to annoy... After that everything went wonderfully. By the end of the 5 weeks, the roses were sticking new growth out through the burlap, and they all thrived and the huge climbers recovered their height within a year or two. The only plant we lost was the aforementioned plum tree. I do believe that most of the roses actually benefitted from this one time hard pruning. So, hands on and constant vigilance is what saved my borders - I don't think painters really hate plants, but they definitely only see them as some stuff that is in their way. Jackie

I don't know if you can print a form online, but you can order 'Field Report of Rose Characteristics', written by Judy Dean, Lynne Storm, and Bev Vierra. It is a book of about 60 pages,very detailed info on each and every part of a rose, and instructions of taking cuttings...and more... The field report 'worksheet' is also there. You can try mailing Lynne for more info: storm@caltel.com Alida