Shooting down into the broom. Looks gray . . . Again, thanks.

My Zone is not showing up. Did we lose them in the Houzz move? I am 7B. And dear, heaven, I do see some red streaks in that tissue now. Someone please tell me it is not Rose Rosette . . .

Others will answer soon but in the mean time it doesn't look good. Any chance that herbicide was used near the rose. Farmers around where I live have been spraying fields with a combination of nitrogen/herbicide. Winds were blowing 30 miles an hour.

The buds look to be in good shape is what makes me think it's not rrd. Should you start to see any red feathery growth along with what you have now. Then rrd would be likely.

The powdery stuff appears to be mildew. Hose it down and then spray with oil (any labelled for use on roses), sulfur, or bicarbonate. Be sure the plant is hydrated and spray in the cool of the morning.

About the RRD concern, I can't tell from the picture. We need sharp focussed mages from the side that clearly show the structure of excessive branching. Also are the thorns and flowers normal?

RRD can cause unusual susceptibility to PM. On the other hand, ordinary PM can cause cupped and distorted foliage.

Love your front garden, very pretty. It looks like Mildew to me.

I mix my own for PM: 2 1/2 table spoons of Horticultural oil & 4 teaspoon of Baking Soda, diluted in a gallon of water, spray below 80 degrees. One of my rose friends told me this. It works.

Don't hose it off yet in my opinion. You don't want to knock any mites off if it is rrd. That long cane in pic 2 does not look good distance between leaf set is way off. There is some fat growth coming out of much thiner canes in picture no.3.

Thank you all. I will get better pictures and begin spraying for PM in the morning. This bed does get a bit more shade than it should. Is it true that witch brooming can be caused by Round Up? I did spray a little on some stubborn dandelions nearby that no amount of pulling could eradicate. I can't think it could have gotten on them, but . . .?

Are there other causes of witch brooming? These are my first drifts. Before I'd worked only with hybrid teas, but that was when I was a teenager, 40 years ago . . .

Again, a thousand thanks!

Thanks, Patty W. It is worrisome. I console myself that we have had so little RRD in my area. But there has been some. The leaves do look like they've been dipped in ash. Not spotted, but consistently pale gray. We had a long rain from a tropical storm Sunday, and the a nasty, hot humid day yesterday came out of nowhere.

summersrhythm, thanks for the recipe. Must find some oil labeled for roses. I'm unfamiliar. Is it easily found?

You can find the oil at any nursery.

I really don't think it looks like RRD, to me it looks like some very mild herbicide damage if anything. Perhaps a breeze took some spray to the plant when you were attacking your dandelions. I would agree to treat the powdery mildew and just keep a watch on it. In the meantime do some google searches for rrd, I think that will make you feel abit better as to me it just doesn't have the same look.

I agree with Jackie, this does not look like RRD to me. You do have a good case of PM though. Horticultural oil and a change in the weather should clear that up. It won't undo the damage that's there, only pruners will do that, but new growth should be fine.

Thank you all for your time, advice, and reassurance. Now I have a plan. Tomorrow I go to work!

Okay. I hit the garden center early this morning and bought my horticultural oil, mixed up a concoction and sprayed down the affected rose bed. It made the powdery mildew temporarily disappear. Which oddly made the red parts more worrisome. I pruned out the worst. Here are some close up shots. Interestingly, there are almost no thorns on these witch broom areas:

My neighbor across the street has a front bed of knockouts. I have six more peach drifts in a sunnier bed about 30 yards away. Can I afford to watch this bed and see what happens after I spray?

Can herbicide cause that type of growth? I'd really like to know. Look at the over grown petioles. The growth is so odd. That can't be caused by mildew or at least I've never had mildew affect a plant that way. What about proliferation as a possibility? That might explain those thick stems that go to the buds

I've had RRD that looked like that. Strange rubbery looking stems. Doesn't look like herbicide damage to me. Roundup cause a lot of tiny leaves. At least on my roses that's what it does.

Either way, I would remove those stems as low as you can and get rid of them. If it is RRD, hope that it hasn't spread to the roots.

Yes, herbicide damage can look like the photos. Agree with removing the canes, and we'll all hope that it is nothing more than herbicide damage. Oh, and herbicide spray can drift 20+ feet.

I meant faciation(sp) but it's not that either.