Article on Own-Root vs Grafted Roses

General Discussion
1

I would like to grow my promising seedlings as own-root roses. However, this article suggests that grafted roses are much better than own-root plants, because own-root roses have fewer feeder roots than rootstock.
The own-root roses in my collection are not as large as the grafted roses. This makes me think that I need to feed them with root-promoting fertilizer rather than the balanced 10-10-10 I usually feed my roses. I am curious about the experience of other forum members.

My Experiences with Own Root and Grafted Roses

Dr. John B. Allen, Master Consulting Rosarian
Dallas Rose Society

http://www.rose.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/John-Allen-My-Experiences-with-Own-Root-and-Grafted-Roses_1.pdf

Cathy
Central NJ, zone 7a

2

Cathy,
I am reminded of the story of a sweet pea breeder who was making great progress in improving the size and color of his selections. Sadly, he hadn’t noticed that many of his best varieties had lost the rich fragrance of their ancestors.

The point is, when breeders concentrate solely on blooms, they may neglect other aspects of the plant. And when breeding for a world market, success of their roses growing on their own roots is less important than their success when grafted. After all, a given root system may be perfectly fine on a loose, sandy soil (for example) but fail miserably on clay. Also, a root system tolerant of damp soil probably won’t survive drought.

As Hibberd (1864) wrote, “Where Gloire de Rosamene does well you are pretty sure to find that La Reine turns consumptive, and vice versa.”

This basic fact of breeding may account (at least in part) for the need to introduce “new blood” from time to time to correct weaknesses that breeders have inadvertently bred into their improved strains. Bourbons, bringing influence from R. centifolia, and Noisettes bred from R. moschata, contributed to the HPs and, later to the HTs. And R. multiflora, through the Dwarf Polyanthas and Hybrid Polyanthas, also strengthened the HTs.

Breeding roses to be grown own-root is much easier when one selects seedlings for their success on a particular soil type. A rose with a root system that thrives everywhere is as unlikely as a variety bearing blooms that will be admired by everyone.

3

[quote=“Karl K”]
Breeding roses to be grown own-root is much easier when one selects seedlings for their success on a particular soil type.[/quote]

Thanks, Karl.

Here in Central NJ we have clay soil and the ground water is rich in iron. When I plant new roses, I dig a hole 2 feet deep and 2 feet wide, and fill it with my own mix of bagged garden soil, peat moss and composted manure. However, my roses get watered with unconditioned, iron-rich water.
I just researched US soil types, luckily clay soils are found in large parts of the USA.

Cathy
Central NJ, zone 7a

4

Cathy,
Luckily? Many people would disagree, but I get your point.

Do you get a lot of puddling? Earlier this year, just a few weeks back, I felt sorry for the folks in California suffering through water rationing, while my own garden and lawn were big puddles.

I have contended with (or against) clay soil in Kansas, California, Kentucky and Tennessee. It varies in color and character, but the problem with it generally is the poor drainage. It absorbs and holds water, and remains cold too long in the Spring (except in southern California). This delays the growth of many plants, making some roses (e.g., some R. foetida derivatives) miss their preferred growing season. Many years ago my mother purchased ‘Golden Showers’. It was next to worthless in Kansas. By the time the clay soil had warmed enough to allow much growth, air temperature was hitting the 90s or more. GS does not grow well in heat. On the other hand (which I did not know way back then) some heat-loving, “tender” varieties are delayed enough to avoid late frosts.

American Rose Annual 1943 p. 103
This Matter of Regional Adaptation
Maurice H. Merrill, Normal,[sic] OK
In my garden the Brownell and the Horvath productions, bred for resistance to winter cold in northern latitudes, so far, with the exception of Mabell Stearns, have displayed a susceptibility to severe, and often fatal, winter injury. In contrast, the hardiest, least winter-harmed bushes I have today are Old Blush, a China which is close to a Tea, and a nameless waif I acquired on our farm, where it had been brought by the tenant’s wife who found it at a roadside filling station. Federation shows much more damage from this last winter than do three young Marechal Niel plants, not yet fully established. All this leads me to the none-too-profound suggestion that the qualities which make for hardiness in the long, severe northern winters, in which a rosebush can hibernate like a bear, may not facilitate survival in the open winters of the Upper South, particularly our western portion, punctuated with occasional periods of severe weather.

In addition, clay soil (in my experience) is especially prone to deep cracks when it finally warms and dries. I once lost a handful of Bletilla hyacinthina (terrestrial orchids) when a crack formed right through the row. (What was I thinking, trying to grow orchids in Kansas clay soil?) There are already some shallow cracks in my garden, now that the rain has stopped for a couple of weeks.

Sodden clay soil can suffocate the roots of most plants. It is also tough going for roots trying to push through it. This 1913 report compares the roots of alfalfa and potato, showing what sort of characteristics allow the former to penetrate clay.
http://bulbnrose.x10.mx/Heredity/Fitch_potato1913.html

Digging a deep hole and filling it with good soil can work, but in some areas the hole can become a water-catching bowl. A permanent solution to clay is under-drainage, but that is not a simple or cheap undertaking.
http://bulbnrose.x10.mx/Heredity/King/ClayDrainingBiblio.html

5

Karl, after a heavy rain there are large areas of puddling in the grassy areas of my property. In the rose garden, however, the soil has been amended often enough and the rose planting holes are deep enough that I have never seen puddles.

8 inches below ground level, my clay soil is as hard as concrete. My garden helpers sometimes have to use a pick-ax to make the planting holes.

Cathy
Central NJ, zone 7a

6

Keep something in mind about that article – the author is writing about the benefits for Hybrid Teas. Sprinkled throughout are bits about neighbors who grew “landscaping roses” that did very well on their own roots, but didn’t provide the “perfect” bloom form he found among Hybrid Teas so he did not grow them. So any comparisons he mentions between own-root and grafted/budded refer to the Hybrid Teas he grows. If these are the types of roses from which you are breeding, then there may be some merit to the distinction. But if you’re breeding from roses which do well on their own roots (i.e. “landscaping” or old garden roses), then it shouldn’t matter much – unless you’re concerned about chlorosis on alkaline soils, or roses which sucker on their own roots.

:slight_smile:

~Christopher

7

Hi, Christopher, I am using modern Hybrid Teas and Floribundas in my breeding program. No old garden roses, rugosas or species roses.
Although I may now add a few old roses to my garden in order to breed for spectacular fragrance.

Cathy
Central NJ, zone 7a

8

Ah, ok, then it makes sense.

:slight_smile:

~Christopher

9

Here’s a link to a nice article comparing own root (cuttings or tissue culture) Explorer roses and the same plants grafted. There was some unpredictable size differences based on cultivar. Also, in the coldest, harshest site own root had better survival than grafted. I know this may not be very applicable for those growing hybrid teas in mild climates.

I like to focus on own root landscape rose trialing and production because that seems to be the direction much of the industry is headed for various logical reasons. I also like the flexibility to propagate by cuttings and not have to plan for having rootstock available. Fortunately, selecting roses that are vigorous own root and then also propagate easily enough from cuttings is not an insurmountable challenge.

10

The only thing about using own root production in, a commercial situation, is that you would probably need 4 time more mother plants, compared with budding. The upside of own roots is the elimination of budding and all of its labour costs.

Warren

11

As well as the eventual suckering root stock issues. Something I’ve discovered about the Basye’s Legacy hybrids is the size of their MASSIVE root systems. Scary!

12

American Rose Annual 56:60-63 (1971)
The Yellow Rose of Texas
Percy H. Wright
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

The late Dr. F.L. Skinner of Dropmore, Manitoba, whom no private horticulturist on this continent has a more renowned name, once sent me pollen of “The Yellow Rose of Texas” for use in rose breeding. He described the flower as identical to that of ‘Persian Yellow’, but the plant as different, more vigorous, growing up to nine feet instead of five feet or so that we are all accustomed to seeing ‘Persian Yellow’ reach.

It turned out that the rose he had under the name which has given me the title of my essay, was indeed ‘Persian Yellow’, and that the increased height and vigor are due to its being on its own roots. How many people, rosarians included, are aware that ‘Persian Yellow’ will indeed grow to nine or ten feet when on its own roots? And yet, the species to which it belongs, > Rosa foetida> , is described as attaining ten feet in the “Rosa” section of that encyclopedia of roses, Modern Roses 7.

http://bulbnrose.x10.mx/Roses/breeding/Wright/Wright_Texas.html

Aside from the fact that “The Yellow Rose of Texas” was really about a woman of mixed race, Wright gives some useful information about the difference between the growth of own-root and budded specimens of ‘Persian Yellow’. Budded on canina roots, this variety grows less, but ripens its wood earlier. This results in a hardier plant, at least in Saskatchewan.

The differences in the growth of various cultivars on specific rootstocks may well be hereditary. That is, if two varieties that are more vigorous on that rootstock than they are on their own roots are crossed, the offspring would probably behave the same way (mostly). This might be the result of inherently deficient root systems. Similarly, if two plants that are dwarfed on the same rootstock are crossed, the offspring would likely also be dwarfed on that stock.

One “advantage” of budded roses is that ‘Dr. Huey’ has become far more widely distributed than its floral qualities would have allowed. There are several specimens currently in bloom in my neighborhood. Some folks refuse to discard it because it’s a ROSE, and therefore nearly sacred.