There is a nice ‘Fairy’ rose in my yard that was there when I moved in 6 years ago. Three years ago I rooted two cuttings from it and gave them to a friend. This year all three plants showed clear signs of having rose rosette disease!
Obviously the parent had the disease for at least three years showing no signs. I’ve destroyed all three roses (replacing my friends), but I worry about how many of the 100+ roses
in my yard may already have the disease and show no signs.
Ugh!
If you haven’t seen this before, I’m sure you will find this of interest.
Ann Peck is THE authority on RRD and her e-Book will answer a lot of questions regarding the spread of this disease and how best to track it’s spread and the best methods of combating it.
Is anyone actively working on breeding for resistance to RRD??
See the following web page if you are interested in breeding for resistance:
http://web.ntown.net/~apeck/id16.htm
Unfortunately, R. setigera is a rose that is either male or female and is a diploid. It is very vigorous (i.e. takes up a lot of room). I have at least 3 plants. I have not determined their sex yet.
The following link has the decendents of R. Setigera.
http://www.helpmefind.com/sites/rrr/pldes.php?n=5424&typ=generation&hdg=R.%20setigera
Link: www.helpmefind.com/sites/rrr/pldes.php?n=5424&typ=generation&hdg=R.%20setigera