06-07-2003, 09:21 PM
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In Praise of Own-roots--and Austins!
(Shiva) writes:
Here in my zone 7B, Raleigh, NC garden, after this two-month deluge,
where I have generally sprayed for both insects and fungus over the
years, and where the soil is rich and black, where I keep the plants
well mulched, and where the temps range from 40F to 100F April to
October, ALL of my own root roses are doing well. ALL of them, from
the ones I ordered from Michael's in 2000 to the ones from Muncy's and
Roses Unlimited that I just put in last fall. Many of these are
Austins. Of all of them, the Austins look the best. Is this because
they are "English" roses and so bred to do the backstroke for a couple
of months and still survive? Or what? All the ownroots are still
green--even the hybrid teas--but all the Austins still have LEAVES.
Just an observation, no theories or claims etc. But I am thinking I'm
not going to buy anything but ownroots next year. What do you all
think about this? Can anyone offer any theories as to why this is?
I'm not sure this is a theory, but maybe a possibility. I assume the own root
roses were potted, not bare root? If so they probably had a better root
structure than the bare root grated roses even after 12-18 months.
Can you break it down further, do you have any grafted roses that were not bare
root? How have they faired?
On the other side, in moving roses I have seen a big difference in the root
structure of own roots vs grafted roses. The own root roses I have moved have
had a large solid mat of small roots near the soil level. The grafted roses
have a much smaller mass of these small roots and a bigger number of larger,
far reaching roots. I know most of the grafted roses I have moved are on
fortuniana, but even the ones on Dr. Huey and multiflora have had similar root
systems. I have found it much easier to move own root roses because I can get
a good root ball and save many of the small feeder roots.
Just some thoughts.
Julie
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