Roses: Looking for a True Red, 4 by DonnaMack

DonnaMack wrote:
The only company that had grafted roses DOWN was Pickering. They used a very hearty rootstock (the name escapes me). I bought roses from them for years without understanding that they were grafted, and none of them ever reverted. David Austin grafts on Dr. Huey, which is not workable here because it is not reliably hardy in my zone, which is 5a (moving to 6). I bought at least 15 roses from them, including some zone 4 roses, like Quadra, which was a zone 4 rose. I was shocked when I finally realized I had been buying grafted roses all those years.

I have a client in my zone who bought a bunch of David Austin roses over the years and most of them reverted. Dr. Huey is the most \"popular\" rose in the United States because of grafting. I have two clients who bought other roses and ended up with Huey.

Hybrid teas are not reliably hardy in my zone because of the climate. You have to take special measures to protect them.

Have you looked at ARE\'s website? They have a considerable number of roses that are hardy in zones 6 (definitely more than 50), 7 (at least 70 - I stopped counting) and even 8 (five). One issue for me has been that I can\'t have some of their wonderful roses without overwintering them in the garage.

Now I buy only own root roses, and happily they are pretty widely available. David Austin only recently started offering own root roses - very expensively! It amuses me that the roses in the only garden center to carry Austins carries a very limited selection of about three each season, and the containers are labels \"Easy to Grow Roses\" and \"Own root\". They take some of the most reliable ones - last year it was Charlotte and Winchester Cathedral. This year it\'s those two, Queen of Sweden and an orangy rose I can\'t recall. And yes, those are some of the most reliable Austins. They are big roses, and they ask about $30, which isn\'t bad. But there are few takers and every year around this time they start selling these big plants for $20, which is great. I gave two Charlottes to a client who loved them so much she asked me to buy one for a friend. And I gave in and got a $20 three foot Winchester Cathedral, a sport of one of the most reliable Austins, Mary Rose.

I have never owned a hybrid tea, and grandifloras and foribundas die in my garden. On the other hand, I have two zone 6 bourbon roses. A rosarian in St. Louis told me to ignore the naysayers and get a bourbon called Zephirine Droughin and he was right. It made it nicely through every winter at my former home, where the temperatures commonly reach -20 fahrenheit. Even if the rose loses a lot of wood it jumps out of the ground in spring. I felt so confident that last year I acquires a sport of it - Kathleen Harrop. What a rose!!!!! (First three pictures)

I have it next to a peony I was sent by mistake, which I believe to be Edulis Superba. This rose is two years old in this picture. My neighbor across the way, who is a major Knockout fan, asked me please please please could I tell him how to acquire it.

Here is its grafted sister at my former home. I have now reacquired it, but own root, and am growing them side by side. It is sold as a climber but as you can see climbers often turn into fountains. Better yet, it reblooms throughout the year, is thornless, and smells like heaven. There is another paler sport called Martha, but I have run out of room!

Speaking of a climber that turn into a fountain - the last picture is David Austin\'s first rose, Constance Spry. It only blooms once, but with hundreds of flowers over a 6-8 week period, with flowers the size of peonies and ascent from heaven - and zone 4!!!!

My community is very tolerant. All of theses roses are on my parkway with their blessing. Which is great, because my garden style is a bit over the top.