Almost definitely RMV, yes

Austin Roses are (in)famous for sending out virused roses, but they're not the only ones. I have a number of them but it hasn't been a huge problem and the roses seem to carry on as usual, sometimes for years.

I think my Purple Lodge shows RMV this year. This was the Ludwig's Roses own root plant.

Thank you all for your responses; this forum is/has been a wonderful friend to me for many years. I never stop learning lessons in gardening. Mistakes surely have become my friends, learn all the time from them.

Some keep the roses that are infected, some discard them. Today, I am on the fence on that decision on what to do with my La Ville De Bruxelles. I plan to find another source in hopes of getting another one sooner than later if I can accomplish this.

Patty

The symptom is mottle (mosaic has sharp borders, mottle is more like what your photo shows). All a part of the viruses that affect so many roses.

Sure Sheila -- own root roses which were grown from cuttings taken from a virused plant will almost certainly be virused.

And don't be fooled by the idea that plants imported from Europe are by definition free of virus. (Virused roses were surely shipped to Europe in the past.)

Also, don't be fooled into thinking virus will show up right away. We have seen plants grow for 20 years before displaying signs of virus!

I was delighted to learn that our "George Washington Richardson" (which seems to be a match for the rose ID'd as 'Mlle. de Sombreuil') tested free of known viruses. (So did the Atmore family clone of 'Lamarque'.)

I always feel that a rose from the 19th Century stands a good chance of being virus-free ... but testing is the only way to be certain.

Roses have an immune system that attempts to fight against virus infections. For some / many of the viruses that infect roses the immune system is temperature dependent. i.e. It is not as effective at low temperatures as it is at high temperatures.

https://sites.google.com/site/temperatureandrosemosaicvirus/home

I have roses that show RMV, but IME, for whatever reason, the grafted Austin roses show the MOST obvious symptoms of RMV. I have no idea why this is, and I live in warm climate, but my grafted DA’s show more symptoms than any other Dr. Huey or ownroot roses in my garden. My ‘Mary Rose’ was a blooming machine, but was SO covered in Mosaic mottled leaves it looked like a variegated specimen. This particular Mary Rose also came down with every disease possible. I never get blackspot in my hot and dry climate, yet Mary Rose managed to blackspot. After several years of magnificent blooming and foliage sickened by one thing after another, I finally ripped her out. It’s too bad, because she was about 7 years old and bloomed constantly in the shade. I could have lived with some mottled foliage, but she seemed unable to fight off anything. I had to let her go and I started over with a small ownroot Mary Rose. I know this one is surely virused, too. I just think it can’t possibly be infected with as many different viruses and strains as the first one. Lisa

I've had roses like that myself, Lisa.

Maybe, your DA roses (on Huey?) show more symptoms because of the specific type/types of virus that infects them?

Anyhow, that's why I won't order roses from Austin -- even tho that's the only source I can find for a budded 'Prospero'.

Why buy trouble? The greater % of roses we're adding now are either known, or suspected, to be virus-free. Old things, from cemeteries. I don't need to add KNOWN virus problems.

I'm seeing some "mottle" on a number of mine this spring, Patty. I am skeptical about whether it's RMV. I think it has to do with the crazy weather.

I feel your pain, Patty! It definitely looks like a RMV type infection to me, too. DA's Dr. Huey must be some of the most hard core RMV infected stock out there! DA roses really do seem to break out in dramatic "variegation." With that said, your rose may well live and thrive. I have never, to my knowledge, lost a rose due to RMV complications.

FYI: the Heirloom website contains some (I hesitate to use the word "beautiful") photos of four patterns of mosaic-type virus patterns: line banding, mosaic, watermarking and vein banding. They're very clear and descriptive.

RVR has the real deal LVdB own root. It's vigorous, and I haven't seen signs of a virus. But RVR is on the opposite coast, and its orders have been rather scrambled of late. I also snagged a LVdB from Pickering a while back before that wonderful nursery departed. Pickering's LVdB is grafted on R multiflora and seems to be virus free. If it is infected, it's shown no signs. If I get any rootable suckers, I'll let you know. I'm definitely hoping for suckers! Carol

Patty's plant most definitely displays virus infection. There seems to be a strain that is prevalent in the Gallica/Damask section which manifests as mottling rather than the classic "lightning" marks. But I'm certain that plant is showing evidence of virus infection.

Pretty shameful that DA/USA is shipping a significant percentage of their inventory with virus in it.

I think so too, Paul. Shameful is the right word, and I cannot support it with a purchase.

Paul, I suspect it's more likely that it's the rose class, or more likely, the leaf structure of that class, that determines the symptom type, rather than a different viral strain. For example, we know that the old Roses of Yesterday and Today had all of their collection infected, apparently with the exact same strain of PNRSV (introduced via their rootstock), yet their Damasks and Damask Perpetuals were mottled, rather than striped, just as you say. Yet other roses from them showed classic line patterns.

And some ROY&T roses went decades without showing evidence of what we knew was there.
This rose came from them, @ 1990 or so ... and still rarely shows a mark.