I've had rose Madame Alfred Carriere for 2 years. I've noticed that several of the branches look different, and I'm wondering if this is rose rosette disease, witches-broom?

If it is, this plant will be removed today!

Here's another picture of the buds.

I have no experience with RRD, but I think the affected canes have a lot more thorns than usual. I can't see any excessive "thorniness" in your photos. It just looks like heat-stressed new growth to me, but someone with more experience should be coming along with an answer soon. @gemini_sage or @CindiKS, perhaps.

I can't say from the photos, but the growth does look suspicious. Right under the buds there are a lot of tiny thorns, which some varieties do. Is that normal for this rose?

Thanks zuzu and Neal for your responses.

The growth is not normal for this rose. I also found the same issue with Falstaff, and they've both been destroyed, bagged, and will be put in the trash tonight.

I can't say that I blame you, better safe than sorry. Be sure to disinfect all your tools before using them on other roses. Keep an eye out for infected plants around the neighborhood too.

So sorry, but it does look like you took appropriate action!
Keep a close eye on your other roses.

Thanks Neal and Cindi, I appreciate your responses.

The next question is can another rose be planted in that spot, and if so, how long should I wait?

Cindi, @CindiKS

I just finished reading Ann Peck's e-book on rose rosette disease and she mentioned two things that have stirred my curiosity. One was that symptoms can be seasonal and the other is that if a rose was showing only one symptom like a heavily thorned cane, it doesn't mean that the rose is necessarily infected with RRD.

Have you found that to be true in your experience ?

Annette, as long as the diseased plant was completely removed and no roots remain that could grow into a new plant, it is safe to grow a rose in that spot. As for how long to wait, I think it depends on how confident you are that you didn't leave any pieces behind. I like to wait a year.

Lyn, the only heavily thorned canes I noticed ended up being RRD. I always started out removing affected canes and waiting. In all but one instance, symptoms showed up on other canes.

Lyn, Yes!
I need to look at that e-book! For years, I have marked with a ribbon the canes that look suspicious. sometimes, the cane grows out of the rubbery red thorny stage into a regular cane, and other times it definitely develops other RRD symptoms. IF I catch symptoms early enough, AND it is just showing on ONE CANE, I can cut that cane out and save the rose. I still mark that rose for close monitoring, and in all but one case, the disease has not returned. The first few years that RRD hit my garden, i dug out over 30 roses. I wait for more than excessive thorniness before I remove the cane.
I really think some roses have fought the disease off, which explains mild symptoms like heavy thorns, but no progress on the disease. It would take lab tests to know for sure if the cane actually had RRD or some other thorny issue. I do know a few researchers were working on this because they asked for samples of plants that had symptoms one year and not the next. I have plants like this.
The symptoms do come about sort of seasonally....I see it in spring and again in fall with the new bloom flush. The areas around me are heavily infested with RRD.
i missed the ARS Fall convention last week, so I'm looking forward to reading the papers on RRD from that meerting.

Cindy ...

Here's the link to Ann's book:

http://www.rosegeeks.com/

I just started studying RRD this week because I noticed an odd cane on a 60 year old HT in my garden and the rose showed only one of the symptoms Ann mentions in her book. It may or may not be infected, but I had planned to take the cane out today just in case. There are no labs up here that I can send samples to for testing and the "expert" at our Ag Dept told me that the rose was NOT infected. Since she has never seen RRD, I prefer to be cautious.

I'll be checking all of my other roses today, too.

One of the interesting things in Ann's book is that she was at a convention where many rose experts had attended and none of them recognized the symptoms of RRD on several of the roses in one of the gardens they had visited.

Thanks for the confirmation. I only know what I have read and have not actually seen an infected plant.

Neal, I'll wait till next spring to replant in same area. Falstaff has been in that spot for only 1 year, so thankfully it didn't have a very large root ball. I'll be sure to recheck the area for any residual roots before planting another plant there. It was in my new bed that I put in last year.

Madame Alfred Carriere was in a very large pot, and thankfully was not planted in the ground. I don't want to take any chances with leaving an infected plant in my garden.

Cem, just wanted to say that RRD did not look like that on my bushes. The buds and leaves on yours only look droopy and not all gnarly and crinkley and twisted the way mine looked!!

Thanks for letting me know about your plants Teri. Unfortunately, I've already destroyed the rose.

I've removed any roses that appear to have RRD. All the other plants look good so far this year.