Any of you experts know if there's any validity to this? My wife is concerned, as we have quite a few of these.

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2013/jun/04/rose-disease-knocking-out-favorite-flower/

http://thedailysouth.southernliving.com/2013/04/21/is-knockout-rose-down-for-the-count/

At the end of the day, I probably won't do anything without compelling evidence to the contrary.

This is very true. If you listen to Neil Sperry on WBAP on Sunday, you will hear call after call about this topic. It is basically now in the Dallas area and heading south. According to Neil if you have any sign the disease, get rid of the rose quickly before it spreads to the other roses. If I remember correctly he stated it was carried by a mite.

Here is a link to a good article in FT. Worth paper by Neil Sperry.

http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/05/04/4825480/the-facts-on-rampant-rose-rosette.html

Scary stuff.

We trim our roses back to about 1ft off the ground every winter. Some of our neighbors haven't trimmed them since planting... Unreal how thick the stalks have become.

My worry is their lack of proper maintenance will ruin us all...

I wouldn't rip the roses out of the ground without trying this first. I heard Howard Garrett talking about Rose Rosette last year on his Sunday show, and found this on his homepage.

http://www.dirtdoctor.com/Rose-Rosette-Newsletter_vq4743.htm

And for more reading on the disease and treatment, search "rose rosette" on his website.

[This message has been edited by BoomGoesThe (edited 6/27/2013 6:49a).]

Ever notice in the post by Howard Garrett that he always advises to use GARRETT JUICE. I wonder who sells that and makes the money. I will bet my money on those like Neil Sperry who use research by fellow AGGIES AT THE UNIVERSITY.

He tells you how to make your own Garrett Juice, which isn't very hard. Just curious, but who funds the ag chemical research at A&M? I'm not being sarcastic, I'm honestly curious.

[This message has been edited by BoomGoesThe (edited 6/29/2013 4:12p).]