Maybe it's just natural senescence? A lot of the leaves that have carried over all year look pretty ratty now on my plants. The new ones look clean.

I agree with bluegirl; I'm seeing the same phenomenon with many of my roses. If you're seeing it on new leaves, Josh, that would be a different thing. If it's only on the older ones, I wouldn't worry.

Ingrid

Take a look at the link below and see if you think it might be anthracnose. Most roses that get it don't seem to be very highly impacted, but I have seen a few roses that were made very sick.

Folly

Here is a link that might be useful: Anthracnose on Baldo's rose disease website

This looks like fungal attack. Might be spot anthracnose although superficially it looks more like cercospora to me. Btw senescence is often accompanied by fungal attacks. If this appears on newer leaves or has spread all over and you normally spray for blackspot with organic fungicides, spray it. Otherwise you can spray with a copper based fungicide which is more benign than organic chemicals.

In general it is a good practice to spray with a copper based solution at least once per year, just after pruning. Mixing the copper fungicide with lime sulphur will provide very good 'organic' control not only against fungal spores but also against overwintering pests. Lime sulphur should ony be used on dormant plants and where evergreens or turf are not in the vicinity. It will also help in defoliating the rose which is a good thing in the dormancy period. Appropriate eye and skin protection should be used when handling lime sulphur as it is caustic. Also, it smells foul.
Nik

This post was edited by nikthegreek on Thu, Feb 20, 14 at 15:58

Most years I do a copper fungicide spray at pruning time, just as you suggest. I am convinced it is a good practice, and I need to spray the peach tree for peach leaf curl control anyway, so I might as well do the roses, too.

This year I got behind with me pruning late and new growth pushing early. The front garden got its spray but the rest of the place did not. I hope I do not come to regret this.

Folly