An incurable plant disease has hit Central Texas hard this year, along with 30 other states.
Rose Rosette disease mimics the signs of herbicide damage -- and makes blooms grow into clumps with extra thorns called a "witch’s broom."
Mites drifting in the wind can carry the virus which withers the roses.
The disease hit several bushes at Woodway's Carleen Bright Arboretum, which cleared out the infected roses.
But you can find it almost anywhere.
Experts say, if your roses get the virus, you have only a few ways to address the problem.
"There are minor, preventable things you can spray for mites with some of the approved mite products on roses that may help control the insects that spread the disease. But once it's in the rosebush there's no cure for it," said Mark Barnett of Picture Perfect Landscaping.
He says gardeners can wash the mites off or cut off and throw away the affected areas -- adding that folks should not use the infected bushes for composting.
Meantime, a Texas A&M professor is leading a $4.6 million project to study the virus and find roses that aren't susceptible to it.
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