Knockout Roses Down for the Count


Here on the farm, Knockout Roses are front and center.  Both our fenced flower garden and the vegetable garden are full of them.  Both entrances have them too.  Many of them are 5 to 6 feet tall.  They have been beautiful...
until now.


The dreaded disease Rose Rosette, aptly called Witch's Broom, has taken hold.  When this happens, there is no treatment and no hope.  {sigh!}
Knockouts are dying all over the place and ours have not been spared.

The symptoms first show as heavily budded shoots that are reddish brown in color.  The flowers don't open all the way but are still pretty.  If you look closely however, (and this is the tell-tale sign) the stems are thick with tiny thorns.  Trust me they are wicked!

This started last summer and went by mostly unnoticed.
This year however, those large very thorny branches died leaving them like this...



and then this...


Looks like something a goolish witch in a fairy tale might sweep with, doesn't it?


The only treatment is to remove them completely, stumps and all, and not replant because the dreaded disease is in the roots.

So this winter, we will remove them from the farm ~ all 28 of them. :(


Psalm 1:1
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked...

Comments

  1. Had the same thing happen to my knockouts. Granted, I only have four but they are decades old and it's sad to see them wither away... Best of luck with the removal and replacement!

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  2. Oh, I am so sorry to see this. I've always admired those---but never bought any ( I am hopeless when it comes to growing roses)

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  3. What heartbreak; I'm so sorry!

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  4. What a shame. Growing up we had a beautiful red climbing rose bush. I've always loved them. To lose 28 of them is a huge loss. I hope you can find an equally beautiful alternative to replace them with.

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  5. So what will go in their place?? You know, when you take the Christmas tree out, the spot looks so naked.... That is a lot of empty places :o(

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  6. I realize this is more than a year ago , I have been trying to get through over 3,000 blog posts-but I'm finally down to about 1400! Anyway, we had this happen to all of our roses also😢 I don't know if I'll ever be able to plant rose bushes again😢

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