My KNIGHTS IN WHITE SATIN has u-spores along the scape, which is a shame as I think my criteria for not growing a cultivar may be just that. Likewise STEVE TRIMMER which I don't find beautiful, but it flowers well. At least leaves can be ripped off so their spores don't infect others. But no point in growing a scape that you want to pull out. Our weather is A1 for rust proliferation. But until yesterday we had a spell of hot dry windy weather. Even PICCADILY PRINCESS and JEDI SUE MACORD which are very rusty in my garden, have looked almost rust free after my pulling off lots of leaves.
Some day when the plants are all strong enough to reshoot I intend, like Pat, to cut off all green foliage . Some of mine are still in the survival stage due to moving and not being able to dig enough ground. The foliage on GREEN MYSTIQUE looks bad but it needs some conditions. MILDRED MITCHELL shows spores constantly so gets lots of leaves ripped off. But it is still in a pot which is not a fair test.
Some that looked terrible when in pots are showing more resistance now they are growing strongly in the ground. I keep seeing more that have the brown black resistance marks. So when the 'cut off all green' (coag) time comes I will inspect and if any show rust on new leaves, I will keep taking those leaves off and if the plant dies, I won't replace it. Not something one could do with hundreds of plants. Spraying isn't practical here as always some wind coming up or down the valley.
