In Oregon, at the (?) John Day wildlife management area (May not be the exact right name) there is a huge amount of R. multiflora gone wild. (One scientist has been watching it for over a decade). In addition, in Oregon and in many eastern states, R. multiflora was mass planted along interstates as ecologically sound crash barriers. Instead of trees to stop speeding cars.

Kudzu has a lovely lavender sweet pea like bloom that mades a rather good jelly. The other thing about Kudzu is that apparently it's good livestock feed.

Thanks jbriekstins

That's really encouraging news. Because apparently there have been isolated incidences in your area since 2002.

Re San Diego. The vector mite for RRD was first described (full scientific description) where the scientist Kiefer found it /them in a rose bud in a canyon somewhere east of San Diego. Jim Amrine visited the site and told me it was really in the middle of nowhere, over barely there roads. I don't think he could find the rose bush there.

Waaaaa!!!!!!

Thinking it over as the wildfire burns all around us tonight :(

Blessings for everyone's safety! This is a horrendous night for many. Hopefully, any possible "wild" infection sources will get TOASTED tonight!

Looking at maps of what's burning where just makes us to the east of youall send as many hopes for control and clearer skies soonest.

Oh, Kitty! Stay safe. I'll try to send you some rain when it arrives tomorrow. I keep returning to my deer in headlights comment: wow. Carol

Oh, no. Could the bad news please stop coming?? It seems to never end lately. Please, not RRD, too.

The potted kudzu might be worth a try Kim, but I'm afraid I'd worry about some enterprising bird or squirrel picking up seeds and spreading them everywhere as a result. You'd hate to be known as a Typhoid Mary, or in this case Kudzu Kim, which has a certain rhythm to it but not what you'd wish for your legacy - particularly with the lovely Annie Laurie McDowell and Lauren to carry that legacy instead.

Prayers and best wishes for those in the fire's path, as well as all the other natural and man-made disasters happening in these last few weeks. I'd say warm wishes to the fire regions, but that seems a bit out of place - perhaps we can wish cool breezes to bring lots of rain? I'm sure the East Coast and Gulf regions would happily send plenty of rain from the most recent hurricane (are we up to Nate already??). Heck, we have plenty to spare too - we got 6 inches of rain this recent weekend and skies are ready to drop more today. Knowing how much California needs rain in so many ways, it doesn't seem fair to rain so much in these parts.

Stay safe and keep us posted!

Cynthia

It's terrible even in Canada, with around 100 wildfires burning presently, and they've had fires there for months. The ones in California have already taken lives and destroyed many homes. We've had a few in our area but they seem to be quickly put out in spite of the Santa Ana winds the last two days. Honestly, the way everything if going I wish I were a drinker. When it becomes legal to buy marijuana I'll be trying the candy or brownies since I can't stand smoke in my lungs. The constant underlying anxiety from the state of politics and the environment is taking its toll. I wonder if I'm the only one.

You are definitely NOT the only one. I have a lot of family up around Sta Rosa and worry about them.

You are not alone, Ingrid! We're hanging on together. I'm relieved to hear the fires in your area have been quickly extinguished! I'd been wondering how your area is faring. I must say, I'll be glad to see the backside of 2017! My goals for 2018 include implementing strategies for establishing world peace, eliminating world hunger, guaranteeing justice for all, finding a cure for cancer and developing a RRD inoculation. And just maybe shoehorning another antique rose into my garden. Carol

In case a reader does not understand why some appear to be so concerned about RRD in the WASCO fields news:

"WASCO, Calif. - The city of Wasco considers itself the rosiest place on Earth, when you consider that over 55% of all roses grown in the U.S. are grown in Wasco."

http://www.seecalifornia.com/farms/california-roses.html

(The bold was added by me, Henry Kuska.)

I would hope that we do not have to be too concerned until/unless they also find evidence of the mite being present. Is WASCO a dry climate? Apparently the mite does not like dry climates.

Yes, Wasco is traditionally a dry climate.

But, those fields are flooded and the plants well hydrated to get the growth that they do.

What I've seen and several scientists have also seen is that the mites seem to move on more aggressively in dry conditions- looking for better/moister substrates to live on.

Basicly, one of my own working hypotheses has been "In drought, spread is more serious".

And in a wet winter, they can get some helacious rain out there. Been there, done that.

Ann, but if the mites are not there, your observations would not apply to this situation. This is why I stated: "I would hope that we do not have to be too concerned until/unless they also find evidence of the mite being present."

Henry, I agree if the mites aren't there. BUT how did they get a big enough mess of sick plants to notice them? One sick plant would imply one bud eye graft, and only one.

BUT, multiples. If the vector mite were in one of the buds used for grafting.

And to get a sick bud, there is the question did the PCR tests give them a false negative? And I don't think that will ever be answered.

Ann, I do not know how many test plants were returned to the propagation fields. I would assume that each "test infected" plant produced a number of bud eyes that were grafted on budwoods. And then I assume that each of those plants later were used to provide a number of budeyes for another stage of multiplication. Etc. If these were mixed with the multiplication of non infected plants, they would not be able to immediately identify the infected ones without testing all of their stock.

Florida found some imported diseased plants in several counties. Apparently they were able to get rid of all of the infected ones. Is this because there were no mites present in Florida so no additional infection was possible?

The following quote: "(Not known to be present in Florida)"

is from:

http://nwdistrict.ifas.ufl.edu/green/2016/05/24/it-is-time-to-monitor-for-rose-rosette-disease-in-florida/

Obviously Florida is humid enough to support the mites. If the mites do not exist in Florida, why?

More Florida articles:

https://www.google.com/search?num=100&newwindow=1&source=hp&q=Florida+%22rose+rosette%22&oq=Florida+%22rose+rosette%22&gs_l=psy-ab.12...1612.11172.0.13946.23.22.0.0.0.0.194.2380.6j16.22.0....0...1.1.64.psy-ab..1.21.2274.0..0j46j35i39k1j0i131k1j0i46k1j0i20i264k1j0i3k1j0i22i30k1j0i8i13i30k1j33i160k1.0.-0g6F30Bc4A

The rose hybridizers' thread on this subject is growing:

http://rosebreeders.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=55732

"Although Keifer described finding Phyllocoptes fructiphilus on Rosa californica in California in 1940, it is not found on commercially produced roses grown in the southern San Joaquin Valley at present. Whether this is due to the pesticides applied to these roses or to climatic conditions that result in low relative humidity is unknown. However, Phyllocoptes fructiphilus can be found on roses in the eastern half of the USA and it, and the disease it transmits, appear to be spreading into the New England states. As of 2013, this mite is not known to occur in Florida or the southern half of other Gulf States. It is interesting that the mite and the disease are not found on cultivated roses grown in large-scale nurseries in dry areas of California and Arizona, despite having been first identified on roses in California. Thus, it is not entirely certain what the native range or native host of the mite may be. Most assume that Phyllocoptes fructiphilus is native to North America on native rose species and has adapted to multiflora roses and cultivated roses."

http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/ORN/ph_fructiphilus.htm

The bold added by Henry Kuska.

This is the U.S. government research report which includes papers that were presented in 2017:

https://portal.nifa.usda.gov/web/crisprojectpages/1004350-combatting-rose-rosette-disease-short-and-long-term-approaches.html

At least one nursery person received this explanation from Weeks. "We
found a small cluster of roses in one area of 1 field. About 30 plants, out of
the millions of roses that we grow. These infected plants were shipped to us
from out of state, for research.

We
immediately destroyed these plants, as well as the surrounding perimeter rows
& plants. We are confident we are clean, & will be shipping rosette free
roses this Spring. We are just taking an overabundance of
caution.

I
hope this eases your mind a bit, but we wanted to be honest with the industry
with that letter."Of course, the old J&P would have had them sequestered at their R&D center in Somis and the old Weeks would have likely held them at their facility in Upland, but the "new" Weeks obviously decided it was easier and perhaps less costly to plant them in one of their PRODUCTION fields. Apparently, NOT a great idea.

Terrible and gut-wrenchingly sad news!

RRDis everywhere where I live on feral multiflora, and the most recent infection I've seen is on a friend's Fourth of July, and only on one newer cane. I told him to prune it low/to ground and keep an eye on it. That red, malformed, hyper thorny growth is all to obvious.

I hope you out West manage to avoid RRD as much as possible.

Aren't globalism, free trade, and open borders fantastic! We will get to experience EVERY invasive pest and disease eventually! No, of course we still won't be able to import the plants WE want, but big companies will continue to do so and introduce foreign terrors.

Who wouldn't love more things like marmorated stink bugs, emerald Ash borers, Dutch Elm Disease, garlic mustard, giant hogweed, kudzu, pampas grass, phloem necrosis, West Nile virus, chestnut blight, and goodness knows what else, plus ultra?

Steven

A little caution is better than a lot of regret. CA has some strict agriculture import policies and I think it's smart. Now to get people to respect the laws.

I know a number of people have had their gardens decimated by RRD, but I am not the only one who has not. There is RRD in my area and I have lost some plants to it over the past 15 or so years. I think it's been about 12- 15 plants I've lost, and to me that is not so horrible over a period of 15 years. It hasn't spread like wildfire, and it is not true that a plant adjacent to an infected plant is apt to get it. Have not seen it happen. I grow approx. 350 roses so the percentage I've lost is not that high. So I wouldn't panic too much if it comes to your area.

I do think it is risky to cut down an infected branch and wait on it. It's like saying that one plant is worth maybe all the rest of your plants put together, not that they'd all get it, but they're at risk. If I was going to cut it down and give it a chance I'd cut down as much of the plant as I could without killing it, leave a small area to observe, and spray it with a miticide. Then wait. The idea is to have less surface area for mites to come and go on in case the whole plant turns out to be infected. I'd also err on the side of caution and sterilize pruners often. I have heard conflicting opinions about whether RRD can be spread by pruners so for me it is better to sterilize often.

You don't need a lot of wild infected multiflora to have a big reservoir of RRD near you. Untended Knockouts can act like untended multiflora. I don't know about your town but in my entire area the towns love Knockouts and that is where I see 90% of RRD. There is something that can be done about it..it is not as difficult to talk to a town landscape mgr about it as it is to talk to a homeowner about it. You can ask the town to get rid of any affected plants and educate them. If the town has a newsletter they can publish info for home gardeners so that infected plants may be disposed of quickly. Garden clubs should also be worth talking to and maybe local ag extension agents who may not know about RRD.

Since the climate in CA may not be favorable to the mite possibly it won't spread fast there.

The vector mite was first described from east of San Diego where Kiefer found it in a hip of wild roses. So much for no tolerance of California's Climate. That rose didn't have RRD. The early Nebraska RRD had the mites and the mites were sent to California, to the scientist Kiefer, who identified them. (I have copies of the correspondence.)

Additional early finds of RRD were near Lander Wyoming and from northern California north of Weaverville.

And those, I think, were ALL in wild roses, right?

Let me say that I am very glad never to have seen a Knockout anywhere I've been in CA.

All in wild roses?

The San Diego mite was in a wild rose.

We visited the northern California at Carrville and after we found that the person who was sending in "plants" at that time was working with the CCC. The local CCC camp was moving along the top of the timber line clearing dead trees up around 5000', so that was probably where it was as (according to one of the few locals who remembered the CCC, "those boys seldom came down off the mountains".

In Lander Wyoming it was reported to be on a cultivated rose, but there are no roses now near where it was found. It was in town, next to a building.

I was always hopeful that it wouldn't make it across the deserts. But, of course, it probably hitched a ride.

In case some readers of this forum do not also follow the general roses forum:

Title: Scientists seek public assistance in tackling rose rosette disease

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/4922477/scientists-seek-public-assistance-in-tackling-rose-rosette-disease

So sorry to hear this. I've lost a few and have managed to save some. What helps is constant vigilance. At the first sign, cut down that cane. Then watch it like a hawk. If it shows signs again, take it out and either trash it (not compost) or burn it.

I referred back to this thread - I just got a beautiful color catalog from a well regarded nursery that sells many Weeks roses, some new ones that I would love to have. But how to know if they came from the Wasco infected fields or the Arizona [supposedly clean] fields? I am afraid to order any Weeks roses now. To err on the side of caution is my thought. Is it advisable to just not order any Weeks roses, no matter which company they are from? I would rather do without these roses I would like to order rather than infect my currently clean group of roses. Thoughts?

Judith

Hi Judith! How lovely to "see you"! How can you really know? How would anyone know if potentially affected wood from Wasco was moved to Arizona to produce more plants? How would you honestly know if that plant was from which state? And, as an "added bonus", have you looked on line at their catalog? Last year, you were told whether the rose could be sold to those states without RRD and in what permutation. For instance, there was that grandiflora (whose name I don't recall and I find insufficiently important to go search for) which was available across the country own root, but not to the non RRD states as a budded plant. Now, you have to be a wholesale customer to see that information. I guess that variety took a sufficient hit in sales to make that information unavailable to their end customers? Personally, I'm not adding ANYTHING commercially produced from ANYONE until more of this shakes out. I guess if RRD is something that naturally exists around you, it may be worth paying for the privilege of playing Russian Roulette of potentially bringing it into your garden. Here (thankfully!) it doesn't "naturally exist". I'm not paying for, nor accepting any potential exposure. Period. There simply isn't anything I want badly enough to risk it.

Same here Kim...just not worth losing what I have...

take good care!

claire

Kim, I am going to ask a dumb question. In this new rose catalog, I see roses listed by their hybridizer - like Kordes, Bedard, Fryer, Delbard, Meilland......but I dont know if they are introduced by Weeks and if these roses would be suspect.......I am not willing to bring in roses to my garden that could possibly be carriers of RRD, but not sure how to differentiate.......could you please help me figure this out? Sorry for asking a question I am sure most know the answer to........but I want to be very cautious about not exposing my garden to RRD. Thank you for any help - you are immensley knowledgable and I love reading and learing from all your comments!

Judith

I'm with Claire and Kim. No new addition is that important to me.

Hey Judith -- Part of the problem is that Weeks shared budwood from their roses with other growers. There's really no way, now, to know which plants had contact with infected material and which did not.

It is, as Kim indicated, a game of Russian Roulette.

Claire's decision, and Kim's, and mine, is to add absolutely NO commercially-produced roses to my garden in the foreseeable future. But everyone's going to have to decide on their own what they want to risk.

I certainly dont want to risk what I already have. I raise horses, and understand that if I go to a horse show, bring home a horse that got infected with strangles and it can be passed to my other horses - it will be a huge mess. I would think that if enough people refuse to order.....sales go down.......the growers will take action. I do have more than enough to keep me busy anyway. Taking no chances! Thanks for the reply!

Judith

Ah Judith!

as soon as I read horses, strangles popped into my mind...bio security is something we really need to practice in gardens as well as out in the barn!

take care. Claire

The whole issue is potentially really quite terrible. Weeks brought "research material" into their production fields and propagated it beside roses they made for sale to the public. Some of that material was infected with RRD. That was four, perhaps longer, years ago. It can take several years for RRD to manifest itself. In the several years since the initial infection, bud wood, cuttings and bare root plants have been distributed to virtually every commercial rose source in the US as well as abroad. That means, worst case scenario, there are RRD time bombs at every production source of roses in this and perhaps many other countries. By now, who knows how many Weeks roses (and other varieties they propagated) may have been exposed? Perhaps none. Perhaps... Yes, if no one buys, the industry and its members suffer and perhaps fail. How much of a gambler are YOU?

If I had a yard full of roses I could easily replace and if RRD existed outside my fences, I may feel differently. I don't and it doesn't.

Thanks to Roseseek for a concise explanation.

I am pathetically grateful that NO ONE in my immediate neighborhood grows roses ... other than a handful at the garden next door. All of those have been in place for years, and two of them came from my garden. So there is no close source of infection. And I'm not going to be the one to introduce it.

There are quite a few roses sitting out in "pot city", needing to go into the ground. I have no need to buy more roses at this point -- so I can maintain quarantine here, without hardship.

https://roserosette.org/distribution-map/

I noticed the map was updated 10/2018. Cannot help but notice where there are reported cases of RRD, but just as important, where there are no reported cases. I am left wondering why?? What is different in or about those locations? Is the lack of RRD in certain places just luck and it is coming? Is there something to learn from this map regarding how the mite spreads?

My understanding is humidity levels and wind patterns have tremendous effects on their distribution. Add nothing in their preferred habitat growing within their wind-blown travel range and that certainly helps prevent spread.

Looking at that map, I'd say that human behavior is at least as responsible for where things are and are not reported as mite behavior.

Very likely. I wish chilli thrips presence had been mapped in Southern California. I'm sure human behavior has been even more guilty in their spread here.

The map I believe is updated when people report, which we know all people do not report, or know about the map.