That's awful. I suppose it depends on how much the plants absorbed. The only thing you could do next time is hose everything down as soon as possible. It's pretty hard to kill a rose bush with just some herbicide.

Are soybeans the crop that was sprayed?
Or cotton?
Possibly corn?

Contact your county extension agent and see what your rights are. The agent can probably make an educated guess as to what was sprayed. And what you can do at this time.

Oh, that is awful! How totally irresponsible of them. I hope for the best for your garden.

Thanks for your sympathies. The crop in the field is peanuts...and it is a most sorry looking crop. I can't imagine it was a sound financial decision for someone to bother spraying there are so pitifully few out there! The Zinna blooms are now looking sorry. The Confederate Rose is dropping leaves like you wouldn't believe. Thing that bothers me most right now is the River Birch is starting to drop leaves. Praying the tree is mature enough that it will through this off and keep going.

Couldn't get the number off the plane. By the way, my husband is a helicopter pilot. He tells me that the FAA regulations only require the number on the planes to be a inch and a half tall....hm, now whose bright idea do you suppose that might have been? Works out real well for those spraying irresponsibly near someones property doesn't it!

Have a call in to the county extension office. Will let you know what he says since it could be useful info for others to have.

I never heard of spraying herbicide from an aircraft. It sounds crazy. Although I imagine all the farmers in Alabama are going crazy this growing season.

I'm not at all up on what's new with peanuts, but I haven't heard of Genetially Modified (GM) peanuts. The reason I asked about soybeans is that there are GM soybeans that can be sprayed with roundup and that are undamaged by that round up.
Your county agent should know what's being sprayed at this time of the year. There's science behind farming, and it's based on what works and what doesn't year after year. So it's predictable. Although with our drought this year, times may be different.

I am concerned about you, your family, neighbors, pets and wildlife in the area and any streams, wells, ponds etc. that may have been contaminated. From your discription, even the drift had a fast and strong effect- I would most certainly feel the right to know what and who, and get medical attention asap. I hope it will be benign and resolved, but I wouldn't take any chances.

Doesn't sound like herbicide - more likely either insecticide or fungicide or both. The roses will probably survive. Contact the local DEC about contamination of your soil, family, clothing, pets, water, etc. (but not in that order!) Advice about Extension agent good - they'd know what peanuts get sprayed with - last I heard they were not herbicide resistant. More likely that your plants are exhibiting phytotoxic effect of fungicide or insecticide.
I'd also contact local paper about overspray. And it might be a good idea to get a friendly lawyer to write a letter to tfarm owner citing health concerns (and I don't mean about roses).

Excellent advise Oldroser!!!!!

Am waiting for a visit from a guy from the state. They will take samples look, things over, and let us know exactly what was sprayed. Local nursery owner said to get back to her once I know this and she'll let me know what kind of clean up will be needed before we plant again....and when we can plant. We have a contact person with the local TV station. Started to call them right away, then decided we needed to have some facts in hand before we got them involved. It still could be that some of the plants are just being affected by some disease. But clearly the majority has to be from the spray for all 30+ varieties of stuff to have spotting.

It was definitely an herbicide, as weeds in the field began dying right away. Some herbicide are intended to kill only certain plants. Others are intended to kill everything. So far, I can still see green plants out in the field so I want to believe it isn't going to take everything. Roses were still not showing an abundance of spots last evening. The Confederate Rose and Angel Trumpet as well as the zinnas are clearly going to be done in. The Butterly Ginger took longer to show spots than most any of the rest, yet it was covered with them yesterday and leaves were a bit pale. Still hopeful, that's a pretty tough plant. Hey, at least the weeds are most all dying, eh?

By the way, the nursery folks (they are being very helpful) said that washing a plant down immediately after you know it was hit with something is not necessarily wise. You need to know exactly what was sprayed. Is the spray intended to wash down into the roots, or is it intended to cling to the foliage? So, if you are ever in a situation like this, find out as quickly as you can what has been used.

And doesn't this show you that it is a great thing to passalong to friends starts of whatever you can in your yard? Thankfully I have, and so will be able to get many starts of plants back eventually. I'll be especially concerned about getting back certain plants that can't be replaced otherwise.....those that were given me by an aunt who died several years ago, my grandma who is also dead now, my mom who no longer lives in the house where the plants were growing, and plants I brought from an old house...I had taken the sole specimens that were growing there that had been planted likely 100 years ago. Still hoping for the best.

So sorry to learn of this , Ala8South.
I hope that you quickly learn what was sprayed and what can be done. I also hope that whoever is responsible for this will come and see what their negligence has wrought, and make restitution.

Best Wishes
Allison