About your other question, I think Chamblee, Roses Unlimited or David Austin are all first-rate nurseries and I would not hesitate to order from any of them. My personal preference is for Roses Unlimited, but I don't know if I have a good reason for that preference. I just love opening their boxes and seeing the roses already in bloom. On the other hand, I have to wait until after mid-May to get them--which is 3-4 weeks later than I usually plant, at the latest, my other roses. It is very upsetting to discover RRD in your garden--it's happened three different times in a three year period in my gardens, but fortunately only one plant per year--but still, that is upsetting. I'm no RRD expert, but I don't think you need to worry very much about plants close by "catching" the disease. If the wind blew the mites off of the roses that got RRD, it probably blew those tiny, tiny critters half-way into the next county, not a couple feet away to the next rose. At least in my garden, the roses near by the infected rose never exhibited RRD symptoms. The next year when another rose came down with RRD, it was way on the other side of the back yard. Same thing with the third year when a third rose broke out in symptoms--way far away from the two previous ones. I don't know where my disease-causing mites are blowing in from since I live in the middle of a small town, but I'm assuming it is from the wild stuff growing outside of town, not from other roses in my garden--since I immediately get rid of any infected rose in my garden. As the other posters noted, spraying will not help the problem. As upsetting as RRD is, I think you should just go ahead with your garden plans, assuming everything will be all right--since there is not much you can do about RRD other than destroying the infected plants. Good luck. Kate

There are a number of viruses that affect roses. Also, often there are different strains of each virus. Plus a rose can be infected by more than one virus. PNRSV which is considered by some/many as the most common rose virus in the U.S. is a temperature sensitive virus (its effects are more severe in lower temperature climates). This is explained by the rose's immune system being better able to fight the virus at high temperature. But remember there are more and less "strong" strains of even this one virus, PNRSV.

Maybe we can spray the rrd mites with roundup on their way to the sea! There was a guy at OSH yesterday asking the salesman if roundup would work on mice and rats.... 24

This April 2009 "University of Georgia Agricultural Extension article" is of interest because it does NOT mention the confusing, misleading term "RMV" and DOES mention spread by prunning and insects: "Viral Diseases There are several viral diseases of roses. Most of these maladies are transmitted to non-infected plants through vegetative propagation processes used by commercial rose producers or through pruning. There is some evidence that at least two of these viral diseases are transmitted to other plants by insects or spider mites. Viral infected roses tend to be less vigorous, are more susceptible to other diseases, and are less likely to tolerate environmental stresses as healthy plants do. There are at least six known viral diseases of roses. Yellow and green mosaic patterns, leaf distortion and ring spots are possible symptoms of virus infections. (Figure 12) Others that exhibit viral-like symptoms have not been linked to a particular virus. It is not unusual to encounter plants infected with more than one virus. Also, such occurrences usually cause problems in positive identification. Some chemical toxicities and nutrient deficiencies express symptoms similar to those caused by viral diseases. Removing severely infected plants may be the only solution. Preventive measures to prohibit the spread of viruses include disinfecting pruning shears when moving from one plant to another, and a good insect control program is a must. Also, buy plants that are apparently healthy and exhibit no peculiar foliar symptoms (Figure 13)." ----------------------------------------------------- The 2010 University of California Davis -Ventura County extension article on rose virus also does not use the term "RMV" and also discusses pruning as a means of spread: http://ceventura.ucdavis.edu/Coastal_Gardener/Rose_Virus.htm Here is a link that might be useful: U. of Georgia article