Witches broom symptoms of rose rosette. Reddening of affected leaves is seen on some plants.

Last July I posted a story about rose rosette disease, which seemed to be on the rise during the summer.  A recent update to the scientific understanding has been posted by Oklahoma State University that supports the theory that RR is a virus-caused disease and preserves the notion that eriophyiid mites may be a prime force behind disease spread.

I’m not enough of a virologist to judge the strength of the research, but the story provides a little bit of insight into how scientific knowledge advances.  New knowledge often comes with false starts and surprising discoveries; but given time it is self correcting.