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More than half of Allentown's iconic Rose Garden roses will have to be removed due to illness.
Rosette rose infected several beds, city officials said on Wednesday. Park and recreation officials in the city are working to remove and replace infected plants.
More than 700 rose plants will be removed from the garden, officials said. They will be replaced by 450 plants.
Excavations will also be needed in the garden. The entire root system of infected pink plants should be removed and the soil should be prepared with a well-drained soil mix, city officials said.
Work should be completed by mid-spring. Replacing the roses will cost around $ 8,000, City officials said.
Maintenance staff discovered signs of illness in the garden, site of many wedding photo shoots and pre-ball pictures, in August. Root and shoot samples were taken and a laboratory confirmed the disease in February.
This is the first known outbreak of pink rosette disease in the region.
Rose rosette disease is an incurable virus that can kill roses in three years. Its symptoms include thorny stems and clusters of stems called rosettes or "witch brooms". Spread by windblown mites over about half the length of a grain of salt, the virus has been discovered in at least 30 states.
The rose rosette has been known since the early 1940s – and has already been hailed as a possible way to eradicate an invasive plant.
The disease has been identified for the first time on wild multiflora roses in California, the Rocky Mountains and Manitoba, Canada. In the 1990s and even in the early 2000s, scientists felt that it was possible to control these invasive plants.
Established in 1931, the rose garden and an old – fashioned flower garden nearby originally called Allentown Gardens. They were renamed after the former mayor of the city, Malcolm W. Gross, in 1947. A bust of the former mayor rests in the middle of the garden.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
Twitter @emilyopilo
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