Have you see this? Jason from Fraser Valley Rose Farm in BC Canada
Good video, good advice too.
Very helpful, and reassuring. Thank you
Twelve years ago I was a consultant for Edmunds Roses in Oregon. I often got calls from rose growers about spots on canes. My reply was often, how long have you grown sally holms. They were always surprised because they had not mentioned the name of the rose. I spent some time investigating this problem and found something interesting. In my garden of 1100 roses of over 700 varieites there were roses with these spots. At the time they were Sally Holmes, Habba dabba doo, Home Run, Fire Fighter and The Finest. One like the finest I had three bushes of that were at least 100 feet apart. But all three of them looked alike with their spots on the early spring stems. I went out into the garden today March 6 and the same roses had spots on their stems. I did not see any significant spotting on any other varieties. I came to the conclusion that this is not a disease but is a genetic manifestation in particular varieties of roses. If it were a disease I would expect it to have spread to the roses around the ones that have the spots but this has not been the case over the years. Today years later the same bushes that had the spots years ago have them again now. With that kind of history I believe that the spots are just part of many roses genetic makeup and are not a problem except in the minds of rose gardeners that worry about anything that does not look perfect. Rich Baer MCR Portland Oregon and ARS Gold Medal Winner.
Hmm, so interesting… looks like I have to make careful observation of my different roses.