Hello Gardeners, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. A viewer wrote to us about a problem with her roses. I referred her to Clemson’s Home & Garden Information Center where horticulture experts take phone calls helping people with problems in their yard or garden. Just Search Clemson HGIC for that phone number and then press zero to get to a real, live person. She called back with the happy news that she didn’t have rose rosette virus, which is fatal, and requires that you dig up and discard your plant. Instead, sawfly larvae were eating the green tissues between the veins of her rose leaves. Sawfly larvae are sometimes mistaken for caterpillars as they have prolegs and confused with slugs because of a slimy substance they secrete. Actually, they’re the larvae of a bee family member, the Hymenoptera, important to know if you need to treat with a pesticide.
Finding an Answer for a Rose Problem
