June 27, 2016
Remember when the ‘Knock Out Roses’ first came out and they were rose disease and pest resistant? I do. They bloomed all season. They were en masse in the landscapes at the mall and even on some of the interstates. I was so excited and couldn’t wait to plant some in our own landscape.
We have three of the original line of red Knock Out Roses in the landscape in the front yard. They seem to be doing fine. There is a yellow Knock Out Rose next to the garden bench on the walk to the back yard. The other roses we have are climbing roses, multiflora, or hybrid tea roses.
There was another beautiful pink double Knock Out next to the walk. Dave had given it to me for Mother’s Day a few years ago. Last year in August, the strange growth in the picture appeared. The new growth is red, as you can see. The thorns on the new growth are red and softer than normal growth. The bunchy growth at the ends has been referred to as ‘witch’s brooms’. You can see why.
My oldest daughter, Danielle, works at a local garden center and I showed it to her. She said to get rid of the entire plant before the other roses get this disease. Dig it up and put it in a plastic bag and get rid of it or burn it. Be sure to disinfect the pruners! (I disinfect the pruners between pruning or deadheading any of the rose bushes, just in case.)
This is ‘Rose rosette disease’. Rose rosette disease is caused by a virus carried by a tiny mite. From what I have read, there is nothing you can do to doctor the plants back to health. Destroy them. The mites have already infected the plant. Unfortunately, the mites are spread by birds and the wind. There is no controlling those two forces.
When we returned from the beach to work in the gardens, this disease had attacked another one of my ‘double Knock Out roses’. This time, it was a red one. The pink and red doubles were the ones that had succumbed to this virus. One of the articles I read on this nasty disease suggested that the doubles seemed to be more susceptible to the virus.
This is not something to take lightly. I read that one person had lost sixty rose plants to this rose disease, not just Knock Outs either. It attacked other roses as well. Another lady had left all of her infected roses in the ground and they all died before long. She didn’t know to get rid of them at the time. Who knows how far the rose disease has spread because people are leaving the plants in the ground instead of destroying them?
Another threat, which I had not even considered before, is the “mow, blow, and go” landscape companies. If they trim back the roses, do you think they disinfect their tools? They will be spreading this disease wherever they go.
There are other sites, but for more information on this nasty threat to our roses, start here ►Dread garden disease knocking out Knock Out roses.
I sincerely hope that this heartbreaking rose virus does not affect your garden.
