Ever since I saw 'Colette' in California, I wanted that rose. I found it on ebay, and like a fool, bought it. It came today, $4.11 postage due, my first red flag. (It was supposed to be "free shipping" on a $32 rose. I figured it would not be grade 1 since the eBay description gave no details of what would be sent. I was afraid it would be a barely rooted cutting, so I was pleased to see 2 nice canes and short but decent roots. But...this looks like a gall. It's woody, not soft, about the size of a golf ball cut in half. The rest of the rose looks healthy.
What do I do? Can I cut the gall off? Do I pot this, or plant in the ground away from other roses? ok, I just found a fungicide online, Actinavate, that may help, if I can find it.

Cindi ...

I don't know much about gall. I do remember asking Kim about it years ago when I saw gall on a nursery plant that was on a rose that had been on my wish list for a long, long time. His advise was not to buy the plant because the whole plant was infected, not just where the current gall was in evidence. In other words, it would never go away.

The Sacramento Cemetery had problems with gall and had to remove plants and had to sterilize the soil before they could plant new roses back in the same sites, so my guess is that you do not want to keep the rose and certainly do not want to plant it.

I am referring to crown gall. My 'Linda Campbell' has gall, like many rugosas, and doesn't miss a beat. Again, I do not understand the why of it.

This is crown gall on this plant, right?
Ugh. I've never had gall on anything here. So far what I've read is that it is a bacterium. If a systemic bacteria can be eradicated from a human body, why couldn't it be "cured" with the right chemicals on a rose?
I'm tempted to take the rose and drive 30 miles to our extension office. Honestly, though, I trust you and the other rosarians on here more.
I sent a note to the ebay seller, and I see he still has 2 more of this rose. Part of me doesn't trust anything from his garden, because it's probably in his soil there in Maryland. It's NOT in my soil. Yet.

The ebay seller responded and told me to plant it in a large pot and take care of it. He said if it fails to grow, he'll replace it. It's a climbing rose! It goes on the new arbor, not in a pot! Now I'm really mad.
I really don't want to grow it in a pot, I don't want to destroy it, don't want to infect my soil, don't want another one from him with his infected soil. I can't find any other place that still offers this rose, and nobody here has it to get cuttings. Pffft
I went to 3 nurseries today to get advice and see how prevalent this problem is here. They all said the same thing. They dispose of any rose that ever shows any sign of gall, so they never have it except on new shipments. One person pointed me towards a chemical that is used mainly for fireblight, but it does have crown gall listed on the label.
So far I'm out $32 for the rose, $4 for the postage due he stuck me with , and $17 for the chemical. What a headache.

Well, maybe you can return the chemical if it's not used? Some things in life aren't worth the hassle, and roses are supposed to be fun. The nursery I go to will sometimes do special orders, maybe there's one near you that would do the same.

That, or there's a website www.heirloomroses.com , which has Collette with free shipping. I've never bought from them but might be worth checking into. Heirloom Roses has an A+ rating with BBB.

Your link didn't work, Alyssa, so I edited to leave a space between the URL address and the comma following it.

Thanks, Alyssa. The chemical I'm keeping because it's my best option at this point. Lyn pointed me towards another chemical that is very specific for crown gall. Two nurseries did offer to special order Actinovate, but the chemical I bought today has Streptomyces, the same biological control that is in the Actinovate. I'm lucky in that I have a nursery license, buy wholesale, and have friends in the nursery business. Tomorrow I'll see if one will order Galltrol for me, assuming I don't have to order a gallon of it! I need just 2 teaspoons, please!
Heirloom doesn't have the rose now, and doesn't have any plans in the future to produce more of it. I don't know why they list roses they no longer carry or propagate. Maybe to get you to look at their website, or to get you to send your email for their waiting list.

Boy, that's a stinker. Sorry about that, it appeared to be in stock at Heirloom when I looked. Well you sound like you have it all under control and have good contacts. Hope you find it!!

I have very little under control
It is possible that a nursery in Washington will root a Colette for me.

And....$500 later.....we have a rose! Wonder why its so difficult to find? OK, so I have this awesome nursery near me and I happen to be going there today (of course) and I will ask the owner about Collette. They sell lots of rose bushes, it's actually a separate division of their business. I'll get back to you later today.

Colette is readily available here, too.
BUT, any that were bare root in January are now in 5g containers and blooming.

Hmm that's good to know, Mike. My daughter will be in the LA area in a week, and if she could find one and take it back to Portland, I could pick it up when I'm out there this summer!
Where there is a will, there is a way.
The only potential problem I see with this plan is she might decide she likes that rose and plant it in her yard. Last year, she decided to keep a couple of Japanese maples and a variegated buckeye that she was babysitting for me.

Colette is one I've wanted for a long time too, and I keep thinking I saw it offered recently. I'll keep my eyes open and see if I run into it again.

Cindi, Brushwood Nursery shows Colette as a variety they carry, but that it is currently not in stock. I've gotten great clematis plants from them before, but I've never ordered a rose from them. They have an option to send you an email when out of stock items are back in stock.

Thanks, Neal!
Brushwood sent wonderful clematis to me a few years ago. I see they also have Polka and Lunar Mist on their sold out list. Lunar Mist is a lovely sport of Colette. Wouldn't it be lovely to have both together on an arbor? Polka I grew years ago, but it didn't survive our summer move. I put my name on the waiting list for all three of those, so thank you x 3!
I bought Arctic Queen clematis this week, planning to grow it through Colette. Arctic Queen has been hard to find the past few years for some reason, and the nursery that special ordered it for me could only get 5, and by the time I got there to pick up mine, they had sold the rest. Evidently I'm not the only one who "needed" a double white clematis. If you don't have that one, and ever see it, BUY IT. It is the best double out there. I have another one growing through a Leonard Messel magnolia. The clematis starts right after the magnolia stops blooming.
I'm soaking the Colette with the gall in streptomycin right now, and I'll do surgery to remove the gall later. It will be quarantined in a large pot, out by the farm light pole, with a bluebird box to keep it company.

Cindi, don't forget to post a rating on your guy at Ebay. It won't hurt you if you ignore any nasty responses that might ensue. That would only hurt him. Then on the other hand, he may bargain a refund for a reversal of the rating. Ya never know.

I agree Molly, even the unexpected shipping due alone is enough to warrant a negative feedback response.

Cindi, that's great that you have a place to try and nurse that one back to health. I've got to check out Lunar Mist! The name alone makes it sound gorgeous and appealing.

Cindi- apparently Collette hasn't been available here for quite a few years. No one could explain why just that it's not available.

It could be that it mistakenly got labeled with a zone 7 and up rating at first. That's why our nurseries don't carry it. I know of several people in western States in zone 6 who grow it successfully.

I'm sorry to hear about all this the seller seems to be a jerk


I think a chemical could pose other unforseen circumstances. I would be careful


Alot of Rose diseases are permanent. You may have to throw it out or risk introduction to all your roses as others have stated


I know you spent alot on it and it was supposed to be nice but it wasn't meant to be