Hi rosesforme,
Personally I don't worry at all about blackspot.
You have said that your rose is making new leaves and in my observation a lot of roses discard their old leaves this way.
Blackspot like all rose problems comes in cycles so just wait it out.
By all means pick off the offending leaves and dispose of them.
I don't use any chemicals in my garden and sure the roses look ratty at times but that is part of life's cycles.
Just water and fertilize regularly as you have been doing and the rose will recover I am sure.
regards
sandie

Thanks Sandie
Maybe the rose is losing its leaves ready for the dormant time.Thanks,very interesting.
I have read that BS can cause the rose to lose all its leaves and conk out. Maybe I misunderstood.Have you lost any to BS?
cheers

Hi,
This is my first post, and I'm very new to growing roses. Yesterday we went to the Rosarie at The Briars and Treloar's new place in Mt Eliza and there was more than a bit of BS around. When I asked what they were doing about it the answer from both was, nothing. It's the strange weather we've had in Melbourne and at this time of the year there's no point spraying or fretting, they'll be pruned soon and come up fine in spring.
I'm feeling happier now about some of my spotty babies.
Over Easter we went to the Adelaide Botanical Gardens and there was lots of BS and more aphids than you could imagine. I felt quite morally superior.

Thanks--I wont worry now.I would love to go to the Peninsula and see the nusuries .I will do that soon. I went to Magic Gardens in Healesville recently and was in rose heaven.(BTW they have a great website) If you can go it is worth the trip. I found it very hard to leave!!
The trouble is I find it almost impossible not to buy some.I have absolutely no room but....
cheers

Hi,
It's a problem isn't it? I'm really spoilt by Treloar's. They're literally just down the hill, so I can pop in anytime to check on what a rose really looks like. But there are always beautiful specimens of something I hadn't thought of before, all budded up, just looking for a good home. If all my current lot grow to expectations we will need to move out of the house. I'm negotiating new space with my husband.

Hi Susette

I can easily understand. I went to Magic Gardens with the plan to by 1 rose. I ended up with 6!!!The prices were unbelievable -about $30-35 for a tall standard to $15-$10 for a well developed shrub. I couldnt believe it.
Also It was beautiful to wander around the gardens ,seeing roses that I already have and compling a list of ones I would like in the future.Oh dear--I think I should exersize some restraint or we will have to magically make our garden bigger.(smile)
Are the roses well priced at Treloars?. I cant wait to go there.
cheers

I went through a phase of not worrying about autumn black spot. I figured winter was approaching and it wasn't worth defending foliage that would soon be off anyway.

For comparison, the next year I kept up the spray and feeding right up until late April. I'm so glad I did. What I found was that the effort extended flowering season right until the end of June. And not just any flowering, either. Late autumn and winter blooms are slow maturing and they are the best of the season for size, shape and fragrance.

Keeping the plant strength up in the approach to winter also led to a better start the following spring, and less weak wood to prune in the meantime.

Hi Daniel
I have continued to remove the BS and feed as usual.the bush is looking very straggly but there is some new growth happening.
I have done the same for my other roses and I have lots of new buds to look forward to the opening over the next few weeks.
I dont want to take the risk as lose the rose or create a situation where they allend up in a bad state and then have to fix them up for spring.

Black spot spores are blown from leaf to leaf in order for that spore to develope into black spot itself it needs to remain moist for 6 hours (hence the reason for our huge black spot problem in victoria this year with all our rain) Things that you can do to help the situation apart from spraying every 10 to 14 days
1/ inspect your roses weekly and remove any infected leaves and place them in the rubbish bin
2/in spring and autumn prune your roses like you would a fruit tree that is making a gap in the middle of the bush to allow sunlight and wind to ventilate the plant to dry any over night dews or rains
3/never water at night during spring and autumn unless its very warm
4/all else fails you can prune the rose and remove all the leaves and it will come back bigger and stronger in 6 to 7 weeks
hope it helps
speaking of cheap prices i found a fantasic little rose farm in the back blocks of Carrum Downs Victoria called Lando Plants they had 3 ft standard roses for $20.00 and bush rose for just 13.50 and the selection was huge and the quality great .i went there just for a look and ended up walking out with 5 bush roses

Thanks bomber46
good advice.
It sounds like a great find there in Carrum. I will take a note and add it too my list of rose places to visit.

Well,I have some great follow up news!
The rose has recovered,although not back to its original form and has lots of twiggy healthy branches.
I am glad I stuck to the feeding routine and removal of leaves.
I am amazed at the rate of improvement.
Thanks for all your help(smile)