In article m, Shiva
wrote:

On Mon, 30 Jun 2003 15:10:39 GMT, "Theo Asir"
wrote:


Cass your pictures triggered of
a memory in my head...

So I went looking and this is apparently
not very well known but Downy Mildew apparently
causes these blotches on rose canes.

Theo, this is right on. There is a garbage shrub out by one of my
beds, it is really a weed that grows into a tough woody shrub really
fast. Among the many reasons for which I hate it (I have hacked it to
the ground three times), it gets covered with thicky, gaggy looking
white mildew all over its thick, shiny, hollyish leaves. Well--I just
checked and both Tropical Sunset and Pensioner's Voice have that
purple, bruised looking cane and are cankering all to hell.

It has been a great day, my friend. The voles killed my lovely
Sunsprite AND Lover's Lane, and it looks like White Lightnin' might be
half gone. I dug up the ownroot Scentimental beside WL and plunked it
in a pot to see if I can save it from the same. I think it is safe to
say that using thick mulch around here, especially oak leaves, is a
mistake. There was Permatil in every one of those holes, all the way
around the bottom and the sides! I think the little f*kkers went in
from above, instead of below! Wahhhhh! Two weeks ago they got Reine
des Violettes, Granada, and their second Europeana!

I know that I have personally po'd the rose god. Right after I received
the word about DM from not one but *two* careful researchers, I
determined that I have improved the soil enough to attract... pocket
gophers. They have a rough time making a living here, but they've found
my raised beds. I hope they're big enough to be discouraged by wire
planting cages. So far, the bunkers excavated with my jackhammer are
secure. Sheesh. What next? Blue ice?