Can some rust on an otherwise healthy rose just be ignored? The books and websites I read all recommend drastic measures (removing all affected leaves, spraying with fungicides etc.), suggesting that rust is a deadly disease that has to be fought by all means possible the moment it occurs--but then on the other hand reading three years' worth of entries for the search word "rust" in this forum shows that a lot of people seem to have roses that get rust once in a while. Apparantely rust CAN kill a rose if it's badly affected, but can a rose live with a certain amount of rust and even continue to produce healthy leaves? The way a rose can--as even I with my limited experience know by now--live basically forever with SOME blackspot.
Reason I ask is I got a lovely Queen Elizabeth with some small rust spots on some new leaves this spring (but none the year before I seem to recall) and am completely averse to spraying with chemicals. Can I just wait and see?
Thank you for any comments!