Anyone know any good nematode resistant roses that are breedable (re: not rosa x fort.). Is Climbing Cecile Brunner nematode resistant?
John Starnes is the man to ask. I know he’s been trying to work with “Barfield White Climber” with limited success.
I think he’s had some luck with ‘Duchesse de Brabant’. Why?
I was curious if there was a way to make a broad spectrum root stock.
–one where pH, nematodes, cold tolerance and smoothness were not issues.
Rosa multiflora: not nematode resistant. not good for some regions’s soil
Dr. Huey: same as Rosa multiflora, but for different spectrums
Rosa x fort.: highly intolerant of clay soils and cold regions.
…Im not even going to mention greenhouse and European root stocks.
btw, I have Rosa rubinginosa coming up from my rosa primula LOL! I have no clue who grafted it, but the irony of the 2 most fragrant-leaved roses grafted to one another is hilarious. I am keeping the sucker for now. It will be blooming this spring, and I can use it for breeding haha. Rosa rubinginosa root stock doesnt surprise me, though. If Rosa californica, which is similar to Rosa rubinginosa (at least my regions clone is), didnt sucker, I would use it for grafting.
Grafted roses (with graft union exposed) tend to be a bad idea in the north anyway, for what it’s worth - there’s a far greater chance of graft failure due to extreme cold (the graft union is a weak point under those conditions, even if both rootstock and top are hardy). When burying the graft below ground, the hardiness of it is less of an issue. I would suggest going for something moderately hardy and non-suckering but tolerant of pH and soil texture/moisture variance. Maybe R. roxburghii would be a good place to start?
Yeah, I am not interested in breeding for the extreme north. I cant test for it 
But I would aim for something hardier and stronger than Rosa x fort.
I have Rosa roxburghii normalis, but it is a total pain to work with. Then again, I was trying to cross it both ways with mini mosses, lol.