buford, can you send me photos of your Round Up damage. These will be great for me to have! Olga, not RRD on your Lady Hillingdon? I know how much you enjoy this rose, and I am so sorry to hear this. Sammy, with RRD I have almost never found a case that is so subtle that it required great thought about its diagnosis ... it is never just ONE thing that leads me to the decision that an infected rose is RRD vs. Round-up, but a combination of symptoms. I have a great photo of Round Up damage that I found on my Sombruiel, but I can't locate it on my computer right now ... grrrrr. It shows perfectly the characteristics of RU damage of thready growth and twisted leaves, and I know for a FACT that it's Round-up ... because I'm the one that got a little bit careless with the sprayer in that spot just a few weeks before while I was spraying weeds. The larger caliper growth you talk about is ONE symptom of RRD that MAY contribute to diagnosis, but it can also happen on perfectly healthy roses that are growing happily ... my Jean Guichard (wichurana rambler) scared the crap out of me this summer with a cane that was larger than I thought it should be that was growing from another cane, but it turned out to be perfectly normal. I did what I council others to do ... if you're not sure, wait and see what happens. In this case, the cane grew out perfectly normally, and I expect that it will flower beautifully in May. Here are a few examples of RRD that I photographed this year. This is an unknown OGR. I noticed this while winter pruning in a garden recently. I removed this cane at the ground, and I tied a piece of survey tape to the rose to mark it for observation this spring when it breaks dormancy. This is an infected stand of roses outside a Best Buy store in Central Park in Fredericksburg, Virginia (I have notified the management of the problem, and they blew me off.) See how the growth is concentrated, and thorny, and contorted and large? This is advanced disease, and it's been there for a while. This is in the same location, in a nearby rose. What I found fascinating about this one is that the growth is a completely different color and it is almost thornless on most of the diseased canes. It's the same variety as the rose #2 above, a small-flowered dark red landscape rose of some sort, and the disease manifested itself a little differently in this rose. GW folks are a bit more educated about this than most. A month or so ago, when I was talking to another rosarian, I mentioned that I was working on a program about Rose Rosette Disease. Her response was, "Rose What Disease?" Many rose gardeners are unaware that the weird growth on their roses is something to be concerned about ... I hope to change this for as many folks as I can. Can we bring this thread back to its original intent. As of now, my program only contains stories and photos that I have gathered in person. I know there are others that will be good to include, especially from folks in other parts of the country. If we want to talk about RRD and diagnosis and treatment, can we start another thread to do that or search and bring up all the other ones that are here. (If anyone wants to discuss this privately with me, just shoot me an email.) RRD is scary, and this program I'm working on is (hopefully) going to empower rose growers with education and images ... to help replace the fear they feel with information and a plan of action, and maybe help them breathe a little easier. Here is a link that might be useful: Ann Peck's RRD e-book ... Have You Read This Yet?

I wish I had read this 6 hours ago! I had a hankering for a burger... never thought of chili but today would have been perfect. Called a friend and we were going to go to Chili's or Red Robin and settled on Red Robin. Then my van wouldn't start - battery wasn't up to it. Surprised me because it had warmed up to a sweltering -9° and old "Vanna" always starts like the champ she is. So put the booster on there, fired it up. Had trouble keeping it running. I feared gasline freeze. Once running, I let it run for a while to charge the battery, maybe thaw the fuel line a bit and then thought I'd shut it off and make sure it'd start, and make sure the battery was holding a charge. It didn't. Booster back on. I was determined to get a burger so I was going with or without a charged battery. Started it up and got over there in time for an A1 Peppercorn burger and it was great. Wish I had thought about the chili burger! Oh, I took the booster/charger with me in case it wouldn't start. Parked close to an outdoor outlet, just in case, but Vanna fired up for me when I left. It hit me on the way home that in this frigid week, I was driving with the defroster on full, headlights on, rear window defroster and probably the radio too. So there's no way the alternator could keep up with charging that poor thing's battery! Didn't even think about that! So, now I'll keep it in mind. One of those DUH moments... Course now it's going up to about 30° over the weekend. Anyway, back to the topic. I like my chili THICK! None of this watery, soupy stuff for me, I want man-food. Something to sink my teeth into. So thick you don't use a spoon, use club crackers, bacon thins or chicken in a biscuit and scoop that stuff up and shovel it in. Not overly seasoned but it must have a bit of a zing, lots of meat, and yes, heresy to some but I want kidney beans! Occasionally some crusty garlic bread on the side, but normally, crackers. Just another thing I don't get anywhere near enough of lately!!! ;)

I had cabbage/kraut/mushroom filled crepes that had been breaded and fried for lunch (with sour cream...mmmm!). And for dinner, I made "rolled pancakes"...fried kielbasa and real smoked bacon on the side. I got the kind that has the rind on it, which gets all crunchy and good, Les Oreilles du Christ, for those French Canadians out there LOL. My mom raised us on "French Pancakes" - thicker than a crepe but not fluffy like an American pancake. What I make is a crepe recipe. The flavour is the same (and I cook them on BOTH sides, with one side being golden brown thank you), they are just thinner. If DH makes pancakes, it is buttermilk fluffy things. If I make them, it is crepes. Since I roll them for DD, the name "rolled pancakes" was born! I am no longer Catholic/Christian, but something about having pancakes for dinner on Shrove Tuesday is like a comfort thing. I like food traditions, even if they aren't my own ;)

As I'm sitting here this a.m., I'm noticing how poorly my head feels. This is definitely something that I shouldn't be having, esp as it's not improving like the rest of my body is. I'm going to have to keep exploring and experimenting and hopefully find a solution. Esp given how excellent...truly excellent... like better than I had in years and years...I was feeling right up until surgery. I want to go back there and don't want to compromise or be dismissed. It was only last week that I was feeling so super, so it's not an aging thing or an unattainable thing. It was real, and I'm going to do my best to get it back.