This is devastating. I feel HORRIBLE for you! Trying to solve this problem seems difficult. Could you form a neighborhood RRD enlightenment session and go forth as a neighborhood trying to combat this? Or how about a greenhouse...although since you're in Texas...it might get too hot for a greenhouse?

I'm so, so sorry. :(

So sorry you are dealing with this. Is the infected cul de sac area public or private? Reading that using leaf blowers substantially increases the spread, don't know if that helps or not.

I do not think it is coming from the cul de sac, although I had success with one of the residents who removed their K.O roses... unfortunately, the old ones have just been replaced with four new bushes, while the homes two doors down in both directions, and directly across the street still have diseased K/O roses. I doubt those new roses will remain disease-free for less than a year...

Today, I sent a letter to the people who I contacted earlier this year regarding their K/O bush with RRD. Hopefully, they will remove the plant and I can only cross my fingers that their bush is the culprit and has not infected anything else... I am doubtful...

The only thing I am certain of at this point is I will not bring any new roses into this yard :( and do not know if I will grow roses at our new residence. It is kind of heartbreaking. I went out of my way to facilitate the purchase of Ludwig's roses once Anja left and now have the roses my aunt that I recommended for her (she moved from Houston to Dallas) and gifted many roses from her collection to me. Many of the roses obtained from her are irreplaceable or difficult to acquire... but right now... I just feel like giving up...

So sorry to hear this. I think it is a good idea to cancel all your orders for now. Since all your roses are still in pots, maybe relocate them in groups? The ones closed to RRD move to a new location together and others grouped and separate them?

I wish that I could build an enclosed building with temperature control for my roses. Out of 30+, only 3 are still alive. I also felt defeated and discouraged. But growing roses brings me so much joy (even though I haven’t seen a single bloom before they died). I am still want to try for another year or maybe I will grow them as annual from October to May. Buying only cheap ones and start new every year.

So sorry! If you know the wind direction, could you erect some type of barrier? Just thinking aloud..

Hello,

Thank you for the suggestions. We are living in a rental with a small yard that has open wrought iron fencing on one side. Most of the rose were strategically placed in the yard, with the exception of two. Duchesse de Brabant was not in the protected location, but I thought the large trees it was near would provide cover. Blue Girl was in the most protected area in the yard. I am so worried now that the RRD was blown from the two infected roses to those irreplaceable roses I truly treasure

I am so sorry to hear this, Lynn. It really does take a village to have a healthy rose environment. Similar neglect of concern for others has us losing plants and people this year. They could sell roses with a tag explaining RRD and treatment but ignorant people will likely still ignore it.

I like Carol's suggestion. I bet someone from the local rose society would love to speak on RRD and wouldn't even charge just to educate people. Getting your neighbors to come would be the only problem. Unless they are gardeners, they probably wouldn't be interested. Maybe an incentive like a Hermes handbag door prize would get them there. And serve cheesecake. At least serve cheesecake.

Seeing it in more than one place in your neighborhood is scary and would cause me to think twice about growing roses, too.

Sheila, I've wondered why breeders or vendors don't do what you suggested. It's almost as if they stop caring as soon as the rose is sold. Most people have never heard of RRD. I learned about it here after I had been growing roses for 20 years.

Lek's idea of growing roses as annuals makes sense where there is heavy RRD pressure. Body bags can be found for around the same price as some annuals in early spring. If they live more than one season, that's more than you bargained for.

Good luck, Lynn. I hope your remaining roses are ok and you can do something to stop the spread of it in your area.

I feel your pain. When the thing you love the most gets taken away, it's like a knife in the heart. I'm glad you were able to cancel your orders. I'm sure that doing that was a sad (but necessary) thing to do. I don't know if roses are your first plant-love. Orchids were mine, and I still grow a number of orchids (and not just phals) even here in the desert. No, they are not the same as roses. Yes, it is a totally different mind-set. But maybe if roses are no longer possible, there might be other options. Hopefully you won't need other options.

@Lynn-in-TX-Z8b- Austin Area/Hill Country

Awww, that's so sad and upsetting. It's such a personal blow, isn't it? And then you start doubting all your other roses...getting paranoid...pulling out roses that seem suspicious, only to later realize they might have been OK. I've had RRD nightmares, no joke.

I had three roses with RRD three summers ago. There was one infected first; I didn't know anything about RRD so I initially didn't take it out. If definitely infected the ones on either side. Then there were two more that looked suspicious that I removed but in retrospect might have just been normal new growth (I was a novice back then). I don't have a huge garden so the loss of five roses in two months was devastating.

After that I gave myself a one-year moratorium on buying new roses. It was super hard and I had to appoint a friend to enforce it when I felt weak. But I wanted to make sure nobody else had RRD.

I live near a lot of shopping malls with infected knock-outs. Last year I tried educating the businesses on getting them removed but there's no connection between the renters and the landscapers. I also handed out flyers to all the nearby houses with RRD. I totally failed in getting ANY roses removed.

But I haven't had any infections since that first summer! (Oh no I've jinxed myself this is the End.)

This year I bought roses again! My rules:

1) Space roses out as much as possible with other perennials in between

2) Only get a few each season (this isn't hard as my garden is very full)

I have privacy fencing on either side so the only wind exposure is from the front. I hope that's helped. I heard that fencing or hedges that block the wind can make a big difference.

My advice would definitely be to stop buying roses for at least a year. I think RRD only shows when roses are actively growing? So I'd make sure next year's spring growth is all normal before buying more. And if you can arrange roses behind wind barriers definitely do that.

Good luck! You are not alone.

So sorry to hear this, Lynn. I can't understand why people who have these diseased rose don't take them out even before they are educated about the disease. The bush just looks so tortured and ugly! I would want to take out anything quickly that looked that bad.

Lek - that's terrible! Oh my gosh!!!

Lynn - We're all hoping for the best for you and your roses. {{{{{{hugs}}}}}}

Straw - I really hope you're right! This sounds like wonderful advice to me! So by increasing potassium...the mites may land...but may not have the mouth parts that can get through the thickened plant epidermis. !!! Wow!

Thank you for your thorough post, Straw. Because this is a temporary residence, all of my roses are in pots. I feed the roses Osmocote Plus 2-3 times per year.

When I walked out and saw the rose, I immediately recognized the new RRD that was growing at the tip of one cane. The top of the cane was removed, bagged, and sent to the lab for testing. Within minutes, the entire rose was bagged and a Blue Girl that looked suspicious was also removed.

Thank you all for your support. This is my first encounter with RRD in my garden. Now, I think I have a less fatalistic perspective regarding growing roses.

If it makes you feel any better, I'm downsizing my roses after the watering system failed and I'm realizing that there are some areas of the garden that just can't get enough water unless I'm out there for hours every day with a hose, or totally revamp my irrigation system (i.e. pipe sizes from the main). I don't have time or funds for that. Took out 3 Bolero's today. More yet to go.

Noseometer - Sigh and darn. It's so sad to read of everyone's problems. You all need to come and move to Alberta.

:(, Noseometer... As rose growers, we have our challenges...

Yes we do! I discovered why my potted Abes were not doing well. Today when I dug one out in exasperation, I found that the potting mix had become water repellent, and water was just preferential channeling through. So although the top 1/2 inch was wet, the entire rest of the pot was bone dry. Oh well. Now Abe is replaced with kale. Somehow, it's a bit less exciting.

Really? I wonder why? Yes, Kale would be less exciting. :(

I need to lift the pots to see if they need water. I really should pull out my planted OR Evelyn. I'm tempted to do it tomorrow. I could soak it and repot it in rose potting mix in a pot. An autopsy is always good if you don't know what a plant is up to.

Spoken like a doctor! :) :)

Carol, but then there is the "do no harm" piece. I'm still on the fence on timing, but will not put a DA rose in hot sandy soil ever again. I have good water emitters, but it wasn't enough.

Noseo,

Abe vs Kale, thanks for the laugh.

I have done the opposite, replaced all my edibles with roses. I Have given up on tomatoes, peaches, passion fruit, berries, it seems every creature gets to eat some except for me!

I agree water repellent soil can sneak up on you , esp in a pot. I like to tip my pots to see how heavy it is , and that usually tells me if the soil has absorbed water.

Sheila - we're always learning, and we try our best. :)

Ben - try growing peas in pots...they work really well! Plant them in concentric circles in a pot and use bamboo poles for them to climb up. I do the same with beans.

Ben, I remember when I first moved here, I planted tomatoes like I did in California. I spent $70 on soil amendment, tomato cages, plants, mulch. Half of the plants got wilt in the middle of the season and collapsed. It wouldn't have mattered anyway. The other half didn't bloom until a couple of weeks before the first frost. I think I harvested 2 or 3 green tomatoes at the end of the season. Now my doctors say no tomatoes. I planted an apple allee, peaches, plums. Now about 5 or six years later, they are all full bearing size, and I'm not supposed to have any of them. No apples, no peaches, no plums (and no strawberries, no alcohol, no citrus of any kind, no peppers, it goes on and on). Sigh. To take out all the trees? At least kale is still okay, whoopee. lol!

Noseometer - that's terrible!!! And Kale is okay? Boooooo!!! Seriously...that sucks.

Oh, Gee, Noseometer :(... I have been trying to reduce my sodium intake, doing it... but complaining... and I do not like any of the salt substitutes. Good luck with the changes!

Abe vs. Kale... smh...

Thanks, Lynn. It's Not so hard short term. Long term is another story.

Sheila, I love your "autopsy" comment. That's exactly what it was. Something that I learned from orchid growing: when in doubt, repot and check the planting medium and roots.

Yes, rosecanadian, kale is okay, but chocolate cake (my #1 favorite) is off. Kale is a poor substitute for chocolate cake in my book. But cherries are okay. Apricots are okay. So I'm thinking of replacing the apple trees with cherries. Of course that will take another 5-6 years to get fruit...but what the heck. At least something to look forward to.

Noseometer - cherries...the best fruit in existence!!! Apricots sound good too! But no CHOCOLATE???!!!! Horrible.

Peas in pots Carol? All my pots are occupied by roses or jasmine. They do not share very well with peas or any other plants, lol.

Ben - no, :) I have pots of peas, pots of beans and pots of roses...the veggies are in much smaller pots. I have them interspersed between my roses so I can nibble as I go around. Actually, I'm not growing veggies this year or last as my poodle decided he liked to poop in my pots sometimes. I'm waiting until we get a new deck. :)