Yup. No mistaking that look!

Get out the spade and dispose of it in a tightly sealed plastic bag as quickly as you can. And dig up as many roots as possible.

I'm so sorry--breaks my heart every time I have to do this to my lovely roses.

Kate

Oh, so sad! Can you put another rose in that place or some other plant? And if so, what plants are acceptable?

"break my heart every time" for us there won't be that many times because I can't afford to replace my garden over and over.

I'm so sorry you are losing this rose! I've read alot about this disease, and yes you can plant another rose in the same location, you just have to make sure you dig up the entire root system. So you may want to dig out some surrounding soil to make sure you got it all out.

Thank you. Well, at least that is small consolation. I have 4 or 5 roses in pots that are "on deck" and I will plant one of those in its place.

I have several times planted new roses in the same spot where I dug up the RRD rose. It worked fine. But I'd make sure I dug out roots very thoroughly, to be on the safe side.

Can't say how often it will happen. There were several years there when I would get 1 or 2 cases/per year. Since then, no problem at all. I think I may have increased the problem the first time or two because I didn't really know what the problem was. I kept watching the distorted growth, but I didn't do anything about it. By the time I figured out what the problem was and disposed of the RRD rose, the RRD mite had evidently already spread it on to a couple other roses--at least the next season, I had a couple more cases. Those I got rid of quickly, and now it has been several years since I have had any RRD in my garden.

You have the advantage that you know what RRD is. Act quickly, and you maybe will have no more problems with it. At least we will all be rooting for you!

Kate

You did not state whether there was any herbicide use in your yard including a lawn service weed and feed treatment.

Also, you did not state if only one cane was affected. If only one cane is affected I would recommend cutting that cane off and applying hydrogen peroxide as a immune system booster plus a possible mite killer.

Here is a link that might be useful: my rose rosette virus web page

I can't believe it, but I agree with Henry on this one. Shovel pruning the whole bush is a panic attack. If only one cane is affected, cut it out and do what Henry says. You may find that it saves the entire bush. Keep a close eye on it and see what transpires.

I had a Scentimental that displayed a very yellow and disfigured cane once. I cut it out and it's been 4 years with no repeat. It's one of the most vigorous bushes I own.

You shouldn't leave this to chance, necessarily, just keep your eyes wide open and take one step at a time. ;-)

Henry, how do you apply hydrogen peroxide? Spray? Paint the stem?

As a possible mite killer, I assume that one would have to spray for as complete coverage as possible.

To trigger the immune response, I assume either paint some leaves or spray would do. I do not know what the effect of painting the top of the exposed cane cutting would be. I remember reading many years ago about introducing chemicals into plants using fine hypodermic needle/syringe delivery systems. See link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: introducing chemicals into plants using syringe

Well, we did not apply any herbicide or week killer. My Husband cuts the grass and we have not used any chemicals. The only thing applied was the Bayer fungicide that I normally use everywhere on roses.

The first picture with the bunched blooms and the second pictures of the thorny growth are not the same cane. Two different canes and the blooms were also just not right.

What do you think I should do?

If two canes are affected, you should take the whole plant immediately. If only one, and you found it very early, you can try removing it at the graft or crown. This usually does not work, but it's worth trying for a mature rose or one that would be hard to replace. A more radical approach is to dig the whole plant and then split the crown, saving a cane or two and associated roots on the opposite side from the RRD cane. Then replant the hopeful part as a bare-root. This doesn't work with own-roots that have formed a taproot nor with grafted roses that haven't gone own-root. The rose needs to have a crown wide enough to split. Use a hatchet driven with a sledge or maul.

If the RRD rose was touching another rose, prune that side of the neighbor rose severely. I have definitely seen contagion by crawling to neighbor plants.

Very sorry you have an RRD rose, but I'm glad to hear from you, redsox. How is the garden otherwise?

Howdy, Michael! I think we will go ahead and remove the whole rose. I am suspicious of a neighbor too, and it is one that I believe you have as well: Mother of Pearl. Not that I have seen any strange growth, just that the spring flush seemed disappointing.

I am proud of my garden for the most part, although it grows despite a bit of benign neglect as I am part of the sandwich generation. My orchids suffer too.

Hope all is well with you!