Black spot on roses?

[oboechick42]

My rose garden had a spell of black spot on every single bush a few years ago. From what I've read, black spot is a mold and will your roses. Here's where it gets weird:

My roses are doing better than ever. I used a fungicide on them for a few months when I discovered the black spot, and tried to be good about keeping the bed clean and free from debris. Then, I got pregnant, had my son and got distracted for a few years (bad!). I went out to my garden the other day to do a clean up, prune, weed, etc., and my roses look fantastic. They don't have any foliage from where the black spot was, but the rest of the bushes are doing well.

Any ideas? Did I just get lucky?!

 

[Chuck]

My rose garden had a spell of black spot on every single bush a few years ago. From what I've read, black spot is a mold and will your roses. Here's where it gets weird:

My roses are doing better than ever. I used a fungicide on them for a few months when I discovered the black spot, and tried to be good about keeping the bed clean and free from debris. Then, I got pregnant, had my son and got distracted for a few years (bad!). I went out to my garden the other day to do a clean up, prune, weed, etc., and my roses look fantastic. They don't have any foliage from where the black spot was, but the rest of the bushes are doing well.

Any ideas? Did I just get lucky?!

Scratch the limbs where there is not any foliage. If it is brown the limb is dead. Most roses these days are grafted. Check the base of the bush to see if the limbs that are alive are coming from above or below the graft. If below the graft the growth is from the root stock and the rose bush you thought you had is dead. If above the graft just prune out any deadwood. If it is an own root rose it will not have a graft and all is well except for pruning out the deadwood.