Evaluation of Griffith Buck Roses for Resistance to Black Spot
Recently, roses (Rosa spp.) that require relatively little maintenance have gained in popularity in the United States. One group of these roses is the Griffith Buck roses, which were selected to survive the extremely cold winters of the north-central United States. Many of these roses were rated qualitatively as having disease resistance when they were released, but their resistance levels to black spot (Marssonina rosae) have not been quantified, compared with each other, or rated against other resistant or susceptible roses. In a field trial in Iowa in 2005 and 2006, 24 Griffith Buck roses that were originally described as disease resistant were compared with susceptible and resistant control cultivars for susceptibility to black spot. No fungicides were applied in either year. Plants were rated five times each year for black spot incidence, and also to assess overall plant appearance. Griffith Buck roses ‘Carefree Beauty’, ‘Aunt Honey’, ‘Honeysweet’, ‘Earthsong’, and ‘Pearlie Mae’ had significantly less black spot than many of the other cultivars. In addition, these cultivars also remained attractive and could be used in low-maintenance landscapes in the north-central United States, even under moderate black spot pressure.