John Cabot Rose with worms

by Gail
(Ottawa, ON, Canada)

Worm eating John Cabot Rose leaves

Hi Doug - I have a John Cabot rose and every spring I spend hours pulling green worms off of the leaves. They really devour the leaves and stress the plant. Last fall the rose barely had any leaves left and did not fare well over the winter. Now it looks terrible but still has flowers. The worms of course, are even greater in number. Do you have any suggestions for me? I am thinking of cutting it back seriously and would prefer an environmentally friendly solution to get rid of the worms. Thanks - Gail

Doug says dust with rotenone, diatomaceous earth or spray with neem to control these rose slugs (not a real slug) Bt doesn't work on them even though they look like a caterpillar.

This insect is a fact of life in your northern location and cutting roses back won't help at all :-(