"Allegra" wrote in message
news:3eGPa.37407$N7.4525@sccrnsc03...

[major snippage here because I have no clue about Rugosas or what Allegra is
talking about, sigh]

Something you can accomplish without
going the spraying route. If you can take all the diseased foliage
from the plant by hand - grant you defoliating by hand 7 feet
canes is not a trivial matter
- and clean all the area around the
base of your plant, mulch with some newspapers and then cover
the newspapers with some natural mulch, you may avoid at
least for the summer further contamination by the fungus.

Yes!!! I really felt like an idiot while trying to explain to my hubby that
I had a use for all the newspapers that were stacking up. (And, believe me,
if you get the Wall Street Journal plus local paper, you're talking about a
*serious* amount of newsprint every week!)

The weeds in my "rose bed" (hah!) had gotten out of control this spring --
actually, I misspoke. I put down Preen Plus last fall; the roses seemed to
like it, and most weeds were killed off, but the 5% that were not killed off
apparently love Preen --, so I took the easy way out -- I watered the
roses thoroughly, then put down newspapers around the roses, watered the
newspapers, then shoveled shredded-hardwood bark mulch on top of that. I
don't know that I'd call this whole thing "pretty" exactly, but I can say
it's pretty much weed free! (And pulling out a weed or two once a week
beats the heck out of what I had to deal with before!)

PS to my local "homeys" -- you know who you are! -- if you want some
newspaper or hardwood mulch (6 cubic yards can go a loooong way), give me a
call!

Anne Lurie
Raleigh, NC