No Cure for Fatal Rose Virus

Local gardening guru Neil Sperry warned of a fatal rose virus in a recent newsletter.  The threat is one home gardeners and rose lovers should take seriously. Sperry comments in the article that,  

“It makes the fungus black spot look bush league. Rose rosette is a fatal viral disease of rose plants, and it's showing up wherever roses are grown. The most visible symptoms: rank growth that almost resembles damage done by a broadleafed weedkiller.

Those canes are completely filled with thorns, much more so than the unaffected parts of the plants. And flowers on afflicted stems are few and abnormal.

Rose rosette is spread by small insects that move from plant to plant. There is speculation that the planting of big beds of masses of roses has accelerated its spread. But the real message is that roses that are affected by rose rosette must be dug and destroyed, roots and all. There are no organic or inorganic remedies that will prevent or cure it.”

For more photos and information about infected roses, here are two websites Sperry recommends:

American Rose Society

TAMU  Insects in the City