First, go into Your Houzz, click on Advanced Settings and scroll down to the part marked Gardening Zones for Gardenweb. Put in Southeastern NY, zone 6B. It will not keep the riffraff out of your threads, but it will make it easier for others to ID them when they show up.

Floribundas are going to get blackspot. That's what the picture looks like. If you are going to grow roses, either spray them or pull them. There really aren't any other choices. I don't spray, so I can't really help with advice. However, Bayer Advanced disease control, which many people here use, is not legal for sale in New York.

Knock Outs do get canker, but that isn't what is in the picture. It isn't spread by pruners, but is caused by leaving material to overwinter around the stems. Make sure there are no leaves, mulch, or anything else near the canes in the fall, and prepare to cut them back hard if things blow in.

Since the spots are fungal in nature, if a rose isn't showing them now, it isn't likely to spontaneously pick them up.

There is a learning curve involved in spraying. Roses will have problems until you figure it out.

thank you! so weird about the zone as you say mine is 6 and this site does say that. But when I originally went to look, I had gone to http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/ and with my zip it tells me I am 7a. I guess it's not a huge difference, but certainly a little odd!

You can buy Bayer Advanced on Amazon with free prime shipping. You do really need to spray those poor things. I just use the type with the hose end sprayer. Hook it to your hose every 10 days or so and your good to go.

Calm down, really. You live on the east coast. We get blackspot and canker, and it overwinters on the canes. I have it on probably all of my roses. As mad gallica stated, you'll need a good fungicide spray or pull them and find some that are more disease resistant. You might still get canker or a touch of blackspot anyway, but it isn't fatal.

Elizabeth, it's understandable to be worried about your roses when just starting out. The most disease resistant roses will worry you the least. If you go to a public garden, when the disease pressure is the highest, take a look at the rose plants that look the healthiest and note down or photo their names. Have you been to the Peggy Rockefeller garden? They try to grow disease resistant varieties.

Elizabeth, I'm the odd man out here. If it where mine I would take out the top part of the cane on the right. It's the one that looks the worst. I'd cut it down to the healthier lateral that appears to grow towards you in the photo. Thats just my opinion thou. Have you checked any of the canes to see if there is healthy pith inside?

Lots of my roses look like this. I just wait it out and see if the cane thrives or not. I don't spray. Patience is a virtue with roses. We don't always have to jump in and "save" them with a chemical or knife. Wait until after the first flush and see how they are doing.

It's tough loving roses but just like kids, you gotta let go and let them grow!

It will all be fine!

Susan

Elizabeth,

We all go through this. It's merely a part of the educational process. If I can grow healthy roses in balmy South Florida, you can definitely grow roses in your area.

My recomendation:

http://www.amazon.com/Propiconazole-Honor-Guard-Spectrum-Fungicide/dp/B015X6FIYS/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1459184785&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=generic+banner+maxx

and

http://www.domyownpestcontrol.com/manzate-prostick-and-fungicide-p-2765.html?sale=weeds1610&gclid=CjwKEAjwrOO3BRCX55-L9_WojHoSJAAPxcSPJtaI2UpPJDF8dMkOYK1bBH7KpIP1bKHi-NjxNoElwRoCgnrw_wcB

Along with alternating between the Ortho and Bayer stuff.

Check our the recommendations from sites like www.rosemania.com on treatment schedules (especially the recommendation on the use of Mancozeb/Manzate). Nothing is full-proof, but attacking the problem head-on will go a long way later.

And Elizabeth, it took me quite some time to be patient (like 3 years)! Ha. Let's just say now I TRY to be patient MORE often.

I concur with Patty W., I would take out the thin cane at the top right. I would have taken that one out in any case because it is thinner than the others.

jasmine, that's also wonderful advice. I looked up that park and we are going to take a day trip there this summer!! (ps - i just ordered a 1 gallon pot of the impressionist!)

here are the pretty purple canes on my knockout

Elizabeth, I hope you like The Impressionist, but be prepared, I heard it black spots terribly. What do you think of the climbing rose, Honeymoon? It looks beautiful and is supposed to be disease resistant. If you like Honeymoon, it is available at Norhtland Rosarium. Your thread on Colette lead me to that site. Thanks!

I hope to go to the Peggy Rockefeller rose garden someday. Enjoy.

Heirloom Roses has good plants, but that doesn't mean all are disease resistant for your area. My The Impressionist got a touch of black spot, but didn't defoliate. I'm fortunate to be in an area that doesn't have black spot pressure and so far, I've have a no spray garden. Summer heat and thrips are my biggest problem and really had me down last year. If they appear again, I'm going to try alternating insecticidal soap and Spinosad at dawn or dusk when bees aren't active.

My Double Knockout...lol... I don't spray and I'm not cutting these out as they will still bloom this year and maybe next year or so then I'll deal with em...

Our other roses have nice clear canes so maybe in certain areas KO's are just prone to some cane canker??? But anyhow they still perform very well here in spite of the spots...

Same rose bush last year...

Generally I recommend cutting Knock Out down to less than a foot. If the cankers spread, and girdle the cane, the cane dies off about the same time healthy canes are putting out buds. So the dying canes look awful, and can be tough to get out without damaging other growth.