RUST

What is it? Now, this is quite serious. Rust is a fungus that eventually can kill your rose and it's quite difficult to get rid of. It looks like bright orange patches that appear under the leaves and the whole plant starts to look a bit yellow and sick.

Advice: The best thing to do with rust is to avoid it in the first place. Feed, water and mulch well to keep the plant's strength up. If you see any rust starting to appear, pick off any affected leaves and burn them. Pick up any fallen leaves in the autumn and burn them too.

The moment you see any rust spray well with a systemic fungicide like Systhane or Tumblebite. You may need to do this a few times at fortnightly intervals.

If your rose looks very sick it's probably best to get rid of it before it affects any others - sorry about that, but sometimes you have to cut your losses.