Well... poor Mr Lincoln got the chop :(

Poor old Mr Lincoln got the chop yesterday... it was rudely pulled out and tossed into the paddock where the goats cleaned it up Mr Lincoln showed signs of being infected with RMV and it was close to a number of other special roses like 'The Children's Rose' and 'Peace', and a few that I am trying to ID that I've been nursing back to health after years of neglect from the former owner ( ). So far the only documented way that RMV has been known to spread is by root grafting when roses were planted closely allowing the roots to touch, join and provide a pathway for transmission. So... out it came. Now I'm on the lookout for a clean version to replace it. So here's a tip... if you hate RMV as much as I do, and I hate it with a passion, check the first new leaves before the weather warms up too much. RMV is temperature sensitive and symptoms will be most prevalent when the weather is not too hot. This is also a good time to buy potted roses as you can inspect their leaves for any sign of RMV knowing that if they have it there is a good chance they will show it at this time of year. It's not an iron-clad guarantee but its not bad odds! Some roses are more resistant than others and it can be hard too see. In other varieties it can be infected and not show symptoms for many years and then suddenly... the characteristic oaklead pattern shows . So what does it look like?

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This is Mr Lincoln before he got shovel pruned. The yellow lines are typical of advanced RMV infection. This is also a good example of how the disease can go unnoticed for some time. When we bought this property there were about 20 roses here it terrible condition, planted in terrible positions, long and leggy, lots of scale etc etc etc. Despite being in bad condition I didn't notice any RMV in them. So... I thought I would try to nurse them back to health by moving them into better positions and giving them loads of TLC. Mr Lincoln got moved and showed no symptoms for a year. He bloomed his head off. Then... this spring his new growth came out all stunted and then I saw it My theory is this... RMV is temperature sensitive. In hot weather its numbers can be reduced above ground and the rose may appear asymptomatic. We bought the place in April, so the weather was cooler and in dead winter I pruned it heavily and moved it, root pruning it at the same time. Virus numbers would have been drastically reduced. Then... it had a full season to grow relatively unaffected by the virus but the virus was still there, building up it's numbers again. Summer came and the virus retreated to the roots and then I pruned it in winter again. Virus numbers continued to grow unseen in the roots so that when the current seasons growth appeared - THERE IT WAS... Three others also did the same thing... one whose ID I am trying to find, Pat Austin, and Altissimo I'm going to try an epxeriment with these three but Mr L is easy to come by so I figured I'd ditch it before it's roots got to big and spread too far.

RIP Mr L

No good Tas, I have a few that erally should be given the boot, BUT I cant I really need to do that this year when I prune so I can get a lot of my yummy potted ones in the ground

Aw that's a shame TasV, poor Mr L.
I shouldn't say this but so far my roses have had or got every other disease but not RMV. I know I'll regret saying this.

Val

Was there a photo of Mr Lincolin here before ? I would be very interested to see what RMV looks like, but the photo has gone ? All my roses roots would be touching. For me its the only way I can fit in all the roses I want, and I think it makes more use of the water.

Fixed