Ragdoll Cat Forums

A question for all you gardeners out there. Over the last three years I've built up quite a collection of roses. They were starting to bloom beautifully, but I've noticed white mildewy stuff on some of the leaves along with spittle and it seems to be spreading rapidly. My mother in law said to take off all the leaves affected and burn them but my whole bed of roses will be bald

My main worry is a gorgeous climbing rose that came from my mother's garden. I took it as a keepsake after she passed away 2 years ago and I would be heartbroken to lose it, but it's smothered in this stuff.

Have I got to dig all the roses out and start again .... or is there hope?

Hi Jen,
I have had a similar problem before, mostly affected the older type of cottage roses. Eventually I did have to get rid of them but only as the garden was redesigned in that area. The spital is what they call 'cuckoo spit', don't know why!! You could try using 'rose clear' that is supposed to get rid of most of the rose problems, but you really need to start treating the roses as soon as the leaves start to appear in early spring, so you may have missed the boat for this year, but it won't do any harm to try. I'm not sure about taking off all the leaves and burning them, I know that is advised for 'black spot' but I never have done it. It is unsightly, but the roses still bloom. You could try 'googling' powdery mildew on roses' and see what comes up. Hope this helps a bit.
Try this site :
http://www.gardenseeker.com/roses/mildew_on_roses.htm

Oh goodness Jen - I do hope that you get it sorted soon - especially the one of your mom's. I have some things from my mom's garden too and constantly fear that something could happen to them, so I know how you feel.