I think Donald is asking if all the foliage dies back(the plant completely disappears due to summer dormancy) would that rid the plant of rust just like winter dormancy would up north?
I personally think that it would, but the difference being up north during harsh winters I would think all the plants would die back and thus not leave any rust in the garden to reinfect the other plants. But with summer dormancy only a few of the plants would die completely back, so there would still be plenty of other rusty plants to reinfect the ones that lost all of their foliage.
By cutting back the foliage to within an inch of the crown, I am planning on creating sort of "fake dormancy" in an effort to control rust. I don't have any illusions of actually getting rid of it all together, just reducing the spread of it during peak blooming season.
