My George Burns rose starts the growing season with healthy dark green leaves. Both last year and this year about July they turn this sick looking color. The bush continues putting out lovely flowers. What would cause this? None of my other roses do this. They are all in different locations around the yard.

ooh, I've seen this.. uh.. dammit. Is it a mosaic rose virus? Is that what it's called?

How odd. It doesn't look like a disease. Is it possible that your soil is too acidic in that particular spot?

Rose mosaic virus usually produces wavy yellow lines and actually makes the foliage look variegated. This is such a uniform color that I don't think it's RMV.

But look at picture #4 on this page. It looks like your foliage and it's caused by spider mites.

http://www.extension.umn.edu/g...

Zuzu bless your heart. I didn't see anything on the leaves, I looked. Well I just took a magnifying glass out and looked again. This hug is for you.
It is spider mites. I will go get some systemic rose fertilizer/insecticide tomorrow and treat it. Anything else I should do?
Wonder why they don't get on the other rose bushes?

Yippeee! Mystery solved. I don't know why, Lynn, but spider mites usually choose one plant and don't bother the rest. They occasionally infest one of my Clivias and none of the others. I spray them off the plant with the jet setting on the garden hose two or three times a day for about three days in a row and that takes care of them. Obviously, I can't do that with indoor plants, so that's where the pesticide comes in handy. I've stopped buying specific types of pesticides for different pests. I just use Raid for Flying Insects on everything now.

Oh poo. Oh well, I'm glad it's some easily taken care of!!

Toni, here is a hug for you too.

LOL, I read that as 'here is a hug for you to group hug', what?? Reread it and you meant "a hug for you too' as in also. Just one little O changes it.

And one for you Sue.
Don't thing the systemic rose stuff will help me with my spelling.

to, too, two, that's the English language for you!

Hi, Sue. Now you have to go over to Pacific Coast Gardening and tell them to stop spelling abutilon "abuliton." It's driving me nuts. So are all of the fushsias, fuschias, tibochinas, etc. I had to run away from that forum, covering my eyes and screaming.

Yeah, I saw those and tried to ignore it before I get sucked in and start spelling it wrong too. It does help that Firefox has the automatic spell check, although it didn't recognize abutilon until I added it.

well here is a heads up MY SPELLING SUCKS I have to look up words all the time phonics is a good thing in my case
Gloria

Hukd ahn fonex werx fer mi!

I can see that it does!
This is an interesting tip:
"One of the best ways to catch spelling mistakes is to look at the document from end to beginning. When reading normally, your eye/mind will sometimes make the logical connection between words even though they are misspelled. You can read over a mistake and not even realize it. Reading from back to front forces the mind to deal with each word individually."

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by it slef but the wrod as a wlohe.

Did you know there is even a special program to find misspelt listings on eBay?
http://auctionbusinessreviews....

(and this stupid spell checker doesn't even recognize the word 'misspelt' !! It suggests Misspent, Misspell, Miss pelt, Miss-pelt)

Gloria, spelling mistakes only bother me when the person is trying to sound like a big authority. It's irritating to hear someone arrogantly dispensing information about a plant when he or she can't even spell the name of the plant. Misspelled words never bother me otherwise.

The tip on proofreading backwards is really interesting, Sue. I've let typos go through only because I knew what a word was supposed to be and saw it that way as I skimmed by.

I just added the California microbadge to my profile and I think the redwood tree looks like Big Bird dressed up for St. Patrick's Day.

Oh, it does!

I have to look up the work fuchsia. Have you done a google search on that word?
Hope I spelled it correctly.