There's nothing quite like watching black spot creep across a rose you've fussed over all summer, one leaf, then another, then suddenly the whole bush looks like it's given up on life. I tried everything sensible before I tried anything natural, which tells you how stubborn I was about it.
Thyme, it turns out, had the answer all along. Gardeners have leaned on its anti fungal qualities for years, mostly in the kitchen garden, oddly enough, long before anyone thought to turn it on roses. I just took the same soothing, detoxing properties and put them to work where they were needed most.
A gentle mist, repeated patience, and the black spot retreats. The roses, predictably, take all the credit.