I live in Central Mi. zone 5. I have a third year Hunter Rugossa that has a
good ammount of blackspot. I know you are not supposed to spray Rugossas,
but this variety seems to not look much like most Rugossas. This rose is
about 5 ft. tall, with huge 1 in. diameter canes. It is sending out more
new canes, 1 of which is about 7 ft. tall. The flush of blooms it put out
in June was amazing. I mean it was loaded. Has anyone ever tried to spray
this rose for blackspot ? I would hate to try it, and loose it. The only
reason for my inquiry is that I heard this rose is a complex hybrid with
many other rose types in it's make up. Thanks in advance

Tony

"S.La Rocca" wrote in message
. ..
I live in Central Mi. zone 5. I have a third year Hunter Rugossa that has
a
good ammount of blackspot. I know you are not supposed to spray Rugossas,
but this variety seems to not look much like most Rugossas. This rose is
about 5 ft. tall, with huge 1 in. diameter canes. It is sending out more
new canes, 1 of which is about 7 ft. tall. The flush of blooms it put out
in June was amazing. I mean it was loaded. Has anyone ever tried to spray
this rose for blackspot ? I would hate to try it, and loose it. The only
reason for my inquiry is that I heard this rose is a complex hybrid with
many other rose types in it's make up. Thanks in advance

Tony

Hi Tony,

the general consensus is not to spray. There is a valid reason
for it since the rugate (wrinkled) character of their leaves
can bring a host of problems to the plant, inability to process
photosynthesis, "breathing" the necessary oxygen to produce
the means to carry the auxin all the way to the flowering ends,
and because any kind of spray that will have to stay on the surface
of the leaf will end accumulating in the rugae the plant will
show you how unhappy she really is by burning every leaf into
a crisp brown paper sample to drop it as soon as she is through
teaching you ;)

There is a school of thought which I do not follow however, that
suggests that you could only spray the lower part of the plant
and see what happens. I can tell you what I think it happens: all
the foliage will drop, the plant will be stressed and eventually the
new foliage will grow. 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.

I don't grow Hunter now, but I remember that ever since it came
out people have spoken about its habit of getting black spot.
It was a magnet here, and eventually in spite of the gorgeous red
and the sweet fragrance, found its way out of the garden all on its
own. I hope yours doesn't do that.

Allegra

"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

"Anne Lurie" wrote in message

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

Hello Anne Lurie,

oh dear! here you have a bit of a reference

http://www.hort.uconn.edu/plants/r/rosrug/rosrug1.html

This is a good site and if you feel like filing this for
future reference the next time you are going to the
Library check out Rosa Rugosa by Suzy Verrier.
It is not as many people thinks the "ultimate" or
even the "definite" book on rugosas, but it has some
very valuable information and the photos are just
enough to enable those who are willing to try rugosas.

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!)

In some circles this is a modified version of what is
called a lasagna bed. The idea is two fold: recycling
the paper and smothered the weeds while creating
a barrier between the under foliage surface otherwise
known as the landing platform for those pesky spores.

Make sure that you water really to capacity before
laying the newspapers to aid the decomposition. If
any water sits on the surface, poke a couple of holes
and that will take care of it.

Nice to see more than one way to skin a fungus, isn't it?

Allegra