Wow, I am no help not having this rose. It looks extra happy to me. I have seen that where the plants differ for no obvious reason.

I'm not sure, but I believe your rose is diseased. The bunches of blooms and excessive thorniness are symptoms of RRD. I'm so sorry, and I hope I'm wrong.

@woodrose hmm not sure, hopefully not! Haha There is no leaf or flower distortion. I see what you mean about the excessive thorniness. It’s been like that for several years now, foliage always looks good. Time will tell, I guess.

I have Autumn Damask and this looks very abnormal to me. While it does produce blooms in dense sprays and is a very thorny rose, they don't look like this and the excessive red thorns seem like a red flag for Rose Rosette Disease. You might want to post this in the Antique Roses forum to get thoughts from others who know this rose.

Will do, thank you!

Where are you located, E Leon?

I am in Los Angeles, the San Fernando valley area, zone 9b. It’s very hot and dry here. I went to look at the rose again this afternoon and noticed the excessive thorniness is only on the very new growth where it suckered and flowered. Not sure if that is significant or not. Below are some pics of how most of the rose bush looks like. Thoughts?

My Munstead Wood can have scary new growth that has all settled to normal. We are not RRD afflicted here yet.

@E Leon

That looks nothing like RRD.

@Artist-FKA-Novice Zone 7B GA thank you! 😅

Interesting! I have 'Autumn Damask', but mine has never done this! Mine is an own-root from ARE. Mine has also not ever rebloomed. Its growth is vigorous, lanky, and just weird sometimes.

Hi MIGreenThumb, your rose looks pretty good. Mine has not rebloomed much, it’s been in the ground a few years now. Hopefully it will start to soon. How is the scent?
My Autumn Damasks from High Country seem to be a little different than the ones I have from Heirloom.

I wonder if we actually know how to identify RRD on roses with unusual habits? Almost all the information I've seen is specific to hybrid tea types or landscape roses like Knockouts.

@ElfRosaPNW8b I say yes, absolutely.

Those of us here in the Midwest or Great lakes areas can readily identify it on Rosa multiflora which is highly susceptible to it, and 22 years ago I had a galica fall victim to the virus.

The distinctive symptoms present themselves very well and surprisingly similarly across many different varieties of roses.

Follow-Up: I can see how it would make more sense for somebody from the Pacific Northwest to not be able to properly identify it because from my understanding, the disease is not present in your area and you should be very thankful for that!

@MiGreenThumb (Z5b S.Michigan/Sunset 41) Elevation: 1091 feet Then why is this particular example being discussed so differently? These same features on a hybrid tea type would not be escaping scrutiny.

Your diatribe is shameful, and you seem to have missed that the OP (E Leon) does not live in the PNW.