This IS the season for rust. I removed RdR from my Newhall garden many years ago because of its proclivity to rust. Many of the Portland, Damask Perpetual, etc. class can more easily rust, so where that's an issue, be forewarned. Rust is a geriatric disease, attacking old foliage. What you have on your plant is very likely the foliage left over from last summer, so it's "geriatric". If you remove the old foliage, very likely new, healthy foliage will replace it and should remain as healthy as you found it to be most of last year. Something I've observed with roses prone to rust is water stress can force them to rust. I would check to see if the pot might need more soil and perhaps repotting into a large pot. Many roses I've had rust issues with improved when I paid better attention to how much water they received to make sure they got enough and making sure they weren't too root bound, which can easily lead to water stress. If you have the energy and time, spraying with the hort oil/soap after removing the rusty leaves should also help to smother the spores and any insect eggs waiting for "spring" growth.

Would putting the rose in the ground help? Is it happy in a pot?

I had 3 very large, 7 year old RdR plants that developed a severe case of rust in their 5th year. I finally removed them. They were planted in the ground and irrigated, but mildly neglected otherwise :)

The first flush was always nice, with only hints of rust. Then as that flush aged, the rust would come on fast and furious while we had what's referred to as "June Gloom" in the PNW: lots of overcast days.

The last two years I tried completely defoliating the plants, but the rust even affected the new growth when it came out, although not as severely.

I hope your outcome is better!

I have not had any rust in a while, but when I do (it only appears on my 3 mid 20th century HT bushes, so they are easy to get at. As matter of fact, I have all of them in huge pots on the patio, to keep them away from my other roses.), I CAREFULLY remove ALL of the rusted leaves. This is important because the rust spores are like very light dust - the slightest jiggling of the leaves sends them floating in the air, all over. So, I get a brown paper bag and hold it beneath the leaf before I CUT it cleanly (do not pull) it off, so that the leaf falls immediately into the bag. Then I carefully close the bag and put it into the garbage bin - not the green can or re-cycling.

Jackie

I just revisited this thread -- so sorry, I missed all of your very helpful comments and suggestions from last January as I was off the forums for several months. Thank you all for these ideas and for the comiseration! I'm happy to report that (at least as of now), my RdR is doing wonderfully -- lots of new growth and nice healthy foliage, no signs of rust or black spot, and as of this morning, the first wonderful blooms this year! What a beautiful rose, and the fragrance is heaven. I'm sure the black spot and rust will hit later, but at least I know that the plant is in itself pretty healthy and happy, and I'll just have to go through the defoliating, etc., down the line. (Jackie, I'll try your method, should I have rust to deal with.)

Here are a couple of pix from this morning. Unfortunately, my phone camera cannot capture at all the color -- it's much deeper and richer. (That's a bit of my little Ceres rose at bottom right.)