Q: I am heartbroken! My New Dawn rose has contracted rose rosette virus. Watching this wicked disease destroy such a stately specimen is sickening. Please tell me there is a cure on the horizon. 

A: There is no breakthrough yet but the USDA hosts a website (www.roserosette.org) that will have the news when it comes. Scientists in Texas recently planted hundreds of roses in a research plot to see which ones might naturally resist the virus.

The vast majority of roses have no resistance to this disease. I see it all over the Atlanta area.

The best advice is still to dig and destroy any plant that shows symptoms of the virus.

See Rose Rosette Identification