I wouldn't do anything now. If they turn into areas of dead bark by pruning time, it is a canker fungus. Cankers are, or become, pretty large (1" or more) with concentric color zoning. Normally we prune to a budeye at least 1" below these. If smaller, it could be a lesion of blackspot or something similar. These often develop on green canes in the fall. Apparently they are not directly harmful, but release spores in spring. This may be of no concern on KO, as the leaves are resistant. Also green canes may go spotty for a while as they change color in the maturing process. I normally notice this in spring/summer, though. Usually, I completely ignore my roses from shutdown in late November until pruning time in late March. It spares some anxiety and fuss. I don't know that any harm has resulted from this policy.

Goodness, my roses have red spots and silvery patches all over the place, especially fall through spring. Young canes turn various colors as they mature from green to brown or gray. These can start as red or purple spots and streaks, yellow flushes, etc. Purplish red spots and silvery patches can be from various nearly harmless fungi. Red spots can also be black spot infections of the bark that will carry the disease over winter, or the beginning of canker infections that will kill a patch of bark. It could be a reaction to sunlight. Don't be alarmed, however. You will probably never know exactly what these spots are, and chances are you will not notice any resulting problems. I just regard cane spotting as a normal thing in my climate and ignore it. If cankers appear in spring I will deal with them then.

Hi, Brandon. Thank you for writing from my region! I have also grown roses here since the mid 1990s, and I've never had rose borer problems either until recently. I checked my neighbors' roses today and notice that many also have borers. The buggers seem to have moved in during the last couple of years or so. I can identify old holes from (at least) last year in my rose canes. Things have been rather hectic at my house, so I haven't been paying a lot of attention to my garden over the last two years. This year, the critters seem to be legion! They even bored through the Elmer's Glue and nail polish I just pasted on my Penelope. I really should prune my OGRs after bloom, anyway, so I think that's what I'll start doing. Due to time constraints, I've always pruned all my roses except ramblers in late winter. If my HTs and floribundas survive this spring, I'll seal them with something more durable each year and do what you suggest, prune them a little later in the springtime. Do you know when rose borers are done with the egg laying stage? I'm researching that topic. I'll be curious to hear if my neighborhood is an anomaly or if rose borers are becoming more plentiful in the Willamette Valley. Raspberries have grown in popularity in my area, so I'm checking out raspberry borer sites as well. Thank you again for your local feedback and any new info you discover. Carol

I have AC Navy Lady that I got from High Country Roses, and it has been a very prolific and season-round bloomer even in its second year. The best thing is how very dark red the blooms can be - as dark as LavaGlut or Black Baccara or any of the other burgundy roses. What's turning out to be odd about this rose is that it's staying 2' high but about 6' wide (so far). It seems to want to be a groundcover rose. I have it in full sun around my mailbox bed, and while I can handle ground cover roses as long as they stay short, this one is planted right at the edge of the bed and constantly needs tucking the canes back behind other canes so it doesn't reach out into the sidewalk and trip people. Mine has been effortlessly hardy in zone 5 and has no disease problems with black spot that I've noticed. This one really should be more widely grown. Here's a nice sample cluster in basic red: Here's a sample of the lovely dark red color it can have even in hot full sun: And here it is in contrast with some white phlox (one of many plants I tuck it into to keep it off the sidewalk): I have Crimson Glory but in 5 years I've not apparently taken a picture of it. Needless to say, it's a very off and on bloomer for me. Same for Europeana, but mine was a big box store rose in its first year and it doesn't yet look to have survived my winters. I have Grande Amore on order for this year but haven't grown it yet. Cynthia