Hi, newbie gardener here so apologies for the basic/ignorant question. We have a well established double knockout rose bush in our yard and I noticed all of the leaves have a maroonish/burnt red/brown color. I don't recall seeing this color in previous years. I don't think I see any of the other telltale signs of rose rosette disease, but the color seems off to me (the leaves on our other rose bushes are green). I'm thinking we need to take a wait and see approach to see if they turn green as the season progresses, but any feedback on the photos below from those with expertise in roses would be greatly appreciated!

That looks like normal , healthy spring growth to me. It will all be green in a few days.

Nothing wrong with that rose. Weather can make a difference in color sometimes so if you've had unusually warm or cold weather that could be why/

Not sure where you are located, but here most new growth on roses starts off that way. You'll have some beautiful blooms soon!

My Mister Lincoln leaves started very dark red this year; I'm not an expert, but yours look much like mine started.

kf

Looks normal to me too---

Does this look like the beginning of rose rosette disease or is it normal growth? This is an all American beauty hybrid. Thanks!

Looks normal to me. Enjoy the blooms!

I think it looks great!

OK experts, here's another one: none of the previous new growth on this Charisma rose has ever looked like this, and these new leaves are a completely different shape. RRD? Thanks in advance.

The thorns concern me more. I hope you get several opinions on this one.

Have you had a lot of rain?

Yes, Vaporvac. We've had a ton of rain over the past 10 days after a long dry spell.

I was going to say I recently observed something similar on my Belinda's dream after Along rain. However, upon closer inspection of your second picture I'm not so sure. I would probably cut that whole thing right down to the ground after having sprayed it with hairspray and bagged it. It looks like you have healthy growth elsewhere so I wouldn't take a chance. Sometimes these things Grow out and perfectly normal but the clustering the color and the thorns just look to abnormal. I would love to see a picture of this from a slightly further Position to see how it Difference from the surrounding growth. I would still cut it out however.

I think that is what I'll do then. This growth is VERY different from the rest of the shrub, and prior new growth hasn't looked like this either. Thanks to Vaporvac and Porkpal for weighing in.

I hope we're wrong.

Thanks for the acorns, LindsayG, and best of luck to your rose.

Wow wow! An acorn! My 1st. Smiley face