Seedfork is right. Stem galls do not infect the whole plant and just removing them is sufficient. However, crown gall is a serious problem. Crown gall is caused by a bacteria in the soil. If a rose has crown gall, the whole plant is infected
and the soil where the rose was sited is also infected so another rose should not be planted in that spot. Nor should any cuttings from the rose be taken for future propagation.
Baldo Villegas is an entomologist who was a professor at UC Davis and was a total rose nut. In his professional capacity he traveled all over and was often consulted by various agricultural departments. His love of roses drove him to study the diseases of roses, too.
Here is a link about crown gall on his site ... which I think anyone who grows roses should bookmark because it gives you a good starting point to find out what's happening with your roses.
http://sactorose.tripod.com/ip...
I know he is working with the people who run the Sacramento Cemetery Historical Rose Garden because of crown gall problems they have found in the garden. There may be an article on their site. (I didn't take the time to do the research.)
I hope this helps.
Smiles,
Lyn
