"Jeffrey L. Kline" wrote in message
. net...
We have a group who proclaims the hardiness of the own-root. There
is a nursery, Great Lake Roses, who sell all "Michigan Hardy" roses.
They are very fine plants, and I would recommend them to anyone
(although they don't ship, so you would need to be local). One of
the owners, Nancy Lindley, co-authored a book called "Roses Of
Michigan". Also very good.

Southcentral Texas conditions are rough enough
at the other end that there are roses recommended
that do well in TX. I've found that, within certain
limits, what works, is what works! I've had
roses thrive that shouldn't do well in my climate,
and other "no fail" roses fail repeatedly. Of
course, a lot of that could be due to my own
steep learning curve re roses...

Anyway, about all they sell are own-root. Good plants, tolerant to
die-back, but pricey. I bet this is due in part to the time it
takes to get them to a marketable size.

I've bought very young own roots that have
done marvelously well. One Shrub called
Moody Dream came as a 1' tall slip (or
whatever the term is) and over the first summer
grew to about 4'. After that it just kept going.
I've occasionally paid a lot for a special rose
that was hard to find, so I can understand doing
that, but mostly I go for average prices.

They are about twice the cost of a grafted bare
root from Canada, the least expensive source of winter hardy roses
in these parts. The Canada plants are good as well, although I have
lost several of them due to die-back or poor tolerance to shipping.

We expect to loss roses here. Particularly hybrid teas. To tell
the truth, this type seems to be bashed the most. I'm sure you've
heard it (bloom on a stick, no winter tolerance, blah blah blah).
I've never quite understood why.

I'm with you. I've had a nursery person tell
me she's never had a failure with a David Austin
English rose and would recommend them to
anyone. When I told her about two DAE
varieties that flat died or lived but poorly, in
the same bed as HTs and Fls that thrived, she
looked incredulous. Note: Most of my
DAEs have done wonderfully well and I'd
not hesitate to buy more - just not the two
varieties that failed for me!

For me, I love them all. I have representatives of all types of
roses that will grow in our area, from species on up.

That's my approach, too. I started out with moderns
(HTs & Fls) but found an old garden rose I really
like ("Village Maid", a Centifolia) and that got me
started on the possibilities. I don't have any
species roses, but just about everything else.

I have learned to accept the
winter kill and just try to have some "little ones" growing under
lights over the winter to replace my loses. These are mostly
own-root cuttings, although I have some multi-flora in the back I
have used as root stock a few times. And if I don't have many
loses, it time for a new rose bed. It's a win/win situation!

I've done some cuttings on old garden roses
with mixed success. I've had better luck
with what I believe is a polyantha, and is
called "Red Cascade". You can use it as
a groundcover or as a pillar rose. Very
drought tolerant, which I appreciate down here.

Best Regards

Jeff Southeast Michigan, Zone 5

Gail
Near San Antonio TX Zone 8