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Saved this a while back because I thought it was pretty. My friends thought I should share this beauty with y‘all :)
u/chucknik — 2 days ago
▲ 23 r/Roses
Hello, everyone!
Two months ago, I began to formally document the RRV epidemic in Conroe, Texas (34 miles north of Houston). My goal is to document large, commercial areas in Montgomery County. Below are the 4 locations that I've covered thus far:
- Grand Central Park - Market on Loop 336 off of Interstate-45
This shopping center, in particular, has ~1000 rose shrubs. Of these, there are ~530 shrubs along the main shopping walkway—around 500 of which are infected. The only shrubs along the path that weren’t symptomatic had just been planted for the opening of a new gym. (I counted every single plant and took pictures of each batch of shrubs. Around the 300 mark, I wanted to give up and go home—not a single shrub in between the oldest to the healthy, newest shrubs was spared.)
The shrubs in the parking lot and those along the multiple entrances have both symptomatic and healthy individuals; although, the situation looks more bleak each time I pass through. We’re talking about a minimum of 700 infected roses within roughly 30 acres. (The entire market place is 88 acres, but I have yet to throughly examine the 2 other sections.)
2. Shopping Center (~2.5 miles north of #1)
The shrubs in between the Target and Home Depot are symptomatic with the exception of a batch that was newly planted. Even more concerning is that these shrubs are feet away from the roses being sold in the outdoor section of the Home Depot.
3. Bartholet Home Furnishing Store (~2 miles south from #1)
This store has a few massive, old shrubs. When I probed, they appeared to be in good shape. (The shrubs that I considered "iffy" were recently pulled out for some sort of construction.) Anyway, I mention this location because it’s perplexing (I’ll explain after #4).
4. Local Community and Former Golf Club Area (~2 miles south of #1 and across from #3)
There are many shrubs along the entrance, majority of which are symptomatic. It’s common for the homes in this area to have a few rose shrubs, but I can't speak on their condition. (I'm not probing individual homes.)
The reason I mention #3 and #4 is that I believe that landscaping companies are playing a far greater roll in this epidemic. Unlike #3, which is directly south of #1, #4 is across of I-45. (The entrance to #4 is eclipsed by an intersection bridge.) Due to this, I would’ve expected #3 to have far greater ratio of advanced/severe cases given its proximity to #1. This, however, isn't the case and it is #4 with severe cases of RRV display.
It is my understanding that there is no sole landscaping company for #1. The marketplace is so massive, that they permit the renters to occupy their own landscapers, so as long as they adhere to the design. These companies may not be practicing proper tool sanitation and thereby spreading the virus to other clients/properties.
In addition, we have examples like #2. It was super windy the weekend that I took those pictures. Many of us are aware that RRV is vectored by a wind-traveling mite. This is one of those cases where commercial landscaping has the potential to become a problem for everyone else.
Lastly, I don't believe that enough landscapers are aware of RRV and its symptoms. There's a local landscaping company—that specializes in trees—that admitted on their website that their master arborist confused RRV for herbicide damage. They also believe that they have found a cure. (I will not be including the link for this example because the last thing this community needs are copycats. This needs to be researched and peer-reviewed.)
The 30-acre menace:
This is one area, in one city, in one state. Texas is filled with examples just like #1.
We need to come together as a community and pressure governing bodies in the US to take the threat of RRV seriously and act. Landscaping companies will not do better through their own accord. All of the major landscaping companies in the area boast of their knowledge and years of experience, however, they continue to demonstrate questionable judgement.
I submitted a report to rose rosette.org earlier this year. What we need in this state, in this country, are regulations for landscaping companies.
u/chucknik — 4 months ago