RRD Monitoring

The President of the American Rose Society

To All Consulting Rosarians

Greeting:

You are hereby called upon to enlist in an army of reporters to aid in the battle against Rose Rosette Disease (RRD), an existential threat to the rose gardens of our members and gardeners throughout the United States.

The American Rose Society has pledged its support of the Specialty Crop Research Initiative proposal entitled, “Combating Rose Rosette Disease”, a team that includes Dr. David Byrne (Texas A&M University), Dr. Kevin Ong (Texas A&M University), Dr. Mark Windham (University of Tennessee) and Dr. La Forest (University of Georgia).

That team has solicited cooperation in the recruitment of individuals to serve as citizen scientists in the RRD Monitoring Network. The objective of the RRD Monitoring Network is to determine where RRD is found and on which cultivars. To do this they need volunteers throughout the USA, in regions where RRD is currently found as well as in those where RRD is not seen.

The American Rose Society maintains a network of more than 1,200 Consulting Rosarians across America, who in each case maintain their own rose gardens and consult with others on rose culture. As President of the American Rose Society I have formed the Ad Hoc Committee on RRD Monitoring chaired by Charles Shaner, a Director of the Society in consultation with our National Consulting Rosarian Chairpersons, Dave & Gerry Mahoney.

We are soliciting our entire network of Consulting Rosarian to participate in the RRD Monitoring Network by monitoring the gardens in their area on a regular basis for symptoms of RRD. There is no limit to the number of participants. Each are asked to report back annually on the presence of RRD in their gardens and in the gardens in which they are asked to consult.

To get started you can review information at https://roserosette.org/ to learn more about this devastating disease.  This will give you a better understanding and the ability to diagnose RRD. 

Please use the following link to sign up for this activity.

ARS RRD Monitoring

Please enlist.  Our work will help develop a solution to this threat to our roses.

Yours in Roses,

Robert B. Martin Jr., President

American Rose Society