I’ve had several plants show symptoms of rose rosette this season, and I quickly removed them. I am fairly certain that no herbicide damage occurred, so the sudden appearance of twisted growth and abnormally colored, narrow leaflets convinces me that the plants were in fact infected. I find this a little scary. I don’t know of any stands of multiflora nearby, and I read that gardens enclosed by some barriers (in my case, fences and trees) are safer from the virus-causing mites. Nevertheless plants got infected. Are there any proven methods of prevention? Since I have found, in my experience, that multiflora and its derivatives are more susceptible than other roses, I assume that some species are more resistant than others. What species are the most resistant, then, if my assumption is correct?
I apologize if all my questions have already been addressed in another thread.
Thanks!
There are a number of research projects testing commercial roses for rose rosette resistance. Most need at least one more year.
(Please let me know if I missed any).
Oklahoma Rose Rosette Disease Resistance Trial Video
“This is done two or three times per year. Some of the more susceptible roses showed symptoms in three months. Christian Bedard, research director and licensing manager at Weeks Roses, says one of his company’s roses is primed for a breakthrough after five years of testing in Tennessee, including two years of the augmentation trials.
“We’ve given plants to a professor at the University of Tennessee and he’s been trying to infect the plant with the virus for two years and he hasn’t been successful,” Bedard says. “With all the testing we’ve done, it’s shown to be rose rosette resistant.”
The new rose from the California breeder is called Top Gun and it will be available in 2018. It’s a shrub rose, with red flowers and a burgundy suffusion, hybridized by Tom Carruth from parents Memorial Day and Home Run.”
See:
Resisting rose rosette - Nursery Management
This one uses a different approach:
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/4708222/florida-rose-rosette-immune-system-research?n=4