Tiny white hairy things on rose leaves

Indranil

Hi All,

I planted two rose shrubs last fall, and they did quite well with end of the season flowering. I didn't prune them, as I read that I shouldn't be pruning in the first year of replanting. This season, as they're coming back from dormancy and growing leaves, I'm finding some issues with the leaves.

1. One of the plants have dark spots on some leaves them
2. Some leaves on both the plants have white hairy things attached to them (look like ants). 

Please see the photos. If anyone could suggest what the problem could be and the fix, that'd be great.

Omori

The white things are baby aphids (nymphs), you can blast them off with a hose or wipe them off. Black spots are just that, black spot, a fungal disease. This is very common. You can use a fungicidal spray but I don’t recommend use of chemicals personally. I just live with mine. This year I’m trialing a foliar spray of seaweed extract which is supposed to help the plants fight off diseases. 

I would clear out the grass further from around the rose, and in addition, the roses are not planted deeply enough (ideally you want to cover the knobbly bit which is the graft union, and I’m not sure but I think I see a root in the second pic?). You could cover the bases with some compost etc which they would appreciate. 

Indranil

Thank you so much Omori. I have hosed them off this morning while I was in the garden. Hopefully they'll not come back.

Also thanks for pointing out the shallow planting. I'm waiting for some compost to be delivered so will cover the graft unions. Do you think that's enough, or should I replant them? I have planted 5 more roses this spring in a similar way, which I'm going to plant deeper, but scared to dig up these two as they've been in the ground for a season already. Please let me know what you think.

Omori

I personally would leave those two, and just cover them, that’s not a problem. 

Indranil

Thank you so much @Omori . Appreciate your insight.