Root Suckers on Grafted Roses

In the post Roses 101, I mentioned rootstock suckers that could occur to grafted roses. Here is a perfect example of one I came across while hangout with my toddler at the park. Noticed how there is a red colored rose in the midst of orange roses?

The rootstock here is a rose called Dr. Huey – One of the most common rootstocks for roses as it’s strong, propagates easily, has a long budding season, and very easily accepting of variety of climates. However, its flowers are generally thought rated to be below average, so it’s very rare to see Dr. Huey as its own rose, but almost always, you'll find them as the rootstock of a grafted rose.

Leveraging Dr. Huey’s rootstock, the gardener here can quickly grow a sea of full-size orange rose plants. However, one common problem with the grated rose is that occasionally, the rootstock will start producing its own stem, so here, Dr. Huey is beginning to show. If left alone, it can take over the entire rose plant so that it will no longer produce the bright orange flowers and become 100% Dr. Huey. So, what we want to do here, is to snip off Dr. Huey so that the plant continues to produce the bright / orange blooms.

Grafted roses' primary benefit is giving the plant extra vigor and allowing the plant to grow fuller faster in the beginning. It also tends to be cheaper than own root roses, as it's easier to propagate. So if you have your eyes set on a gorgeous & healthy grafted rose, don't let this discourage you. Now you know what root suckers look like and know what to do about it!