Come to think of it, the only time I saw powdery mildew in my garden was on Red Cascade when it was planted at the base of a cedar tree and the weather had been really dry for some time. I washed the mildew off, watered the rose, and that was the end of the story...
Er no. It occurred to me - as the rose was approaching its third or fourth birthday - that being planted six inches from a cedar and embedded in sod may not offer optimal growing conditions for Red Cascade and that this might explain why the rose - which was reputed to be a monster - had not made six canes and none was two feet long. So I moved it.
