Lee, Fortuniana seems to push some real monster growth. I'm not sure I'd want that, if I had to grow in a container.

I LOVE Fortuniana, btw -- as a rose.
Here in my less-than-great conditions, it's a monster, and blooms through most of the year. I really wish it was more easily available to us here as a rootstock.
There are a couple of roses I'd LOVE to grow on Fort.

Jeri

Thanks Jeri,

That was my concern too. I've been looking at the K&M roses website that offers a number of roses on Fort. Maybe I should just use Fort when I'm planting in the ground and have the space for the roots. That leaves me with just Rina Hugo and Strike It Rich. Both will be in the ground. Elina, Over the Moon, Gemini and Gardens of the World are going in large pots.

What roses were you thinking about for Fort rootstock?

Lee

It has never occurred to me to attempt to grow a Fortuniana-grafted rose in a container, so I'll be very interested to learn what others here have to say.

In my area, Fortuniana produces very shallow, VERY vigorous root systems. The roots are said to extend for 10 to 15 feet. We periodically have very high winds. To compensate for the shallow root systems, rose gardeners here take great pains to stake all of their roses on Fortuniana, but think the extra effort is worth it because of the superior blooms. Perhaps gardeners in other areas grow them with much less hassle. Most of the Fortuniana fans here are also rose show devotees.

I've never tried to grow roses on Fortuniana myself simply because of their reputed instability in the garden. I hope others here will report success in growing them in pots, though I suspect that they're not good candidates for successful container culture.

hey Jeri - why not have a go at chip budding on fort? I did my graft practicing on a bunch of New Dawn - great fun. Yeah, I know, busy, busy, busy but when (if) retirement from the ratrace ever looms......

Several years ago at a Carolina District meeting, there was a talk on Fortuniana rootstock not by a rose seller, but by a rose lover. He had a small side business selling rose blooms, but mostly was a grower for his own pleasure.

He showed slides that blew me away. HTs on fortuniana in very large pots. (Like half of a 40 gallon drum.) One half drum per rose. You would have thought he was following the David Austin "Plant three bushes in one hole for a good looking bush" rule.

What happens with his roses on fort. is that every lateral on every cane breaks into a bloom stem. And the added positive is that the stems tend to be longer on scions on fort. I did see this in my garden, before winters took over.

Fortuniana (the rose, like R. laevigata, its kin) tends to keep growing through winter. I know folks in my part of the country who protect it seriously. I didn't. Nor did I want to. The bush itself can handle my winters, which is ironic.

If I were in zone 8 or 9 or higher, and I wanted to luxuriate in a particular bloom and scent, I'd have three bushes of that rose on fortuniana in large, relatively shallow pots in which I could control their irrigation and fertilizer.. I've never had too many blooms of a beloved rose; it would be neat to see if one can have too many blooms of a special rose.

In my garden with very shallow black clay (1 or 2 inches at most) over huge limestone boulders or chalky caliche I get as many roses as I can on Fortuniana rootstock and feel that the extra expense is well worth it.

Some are in the ground where we've built raised beds, but I've been growing others in pots for 12 or 15 years where it's impossible to dig a hole without a jackhammer. And the containers are not all that large. Some only 10 or 12 gallons and some probably 30.

The roses on Fortuniana do very well in the pots and it seems they produce more blooms of greater substance and healthier foliage than roses not on Fortuniana. Most of the serious exhibitors here in San Antonio do their own grafting onto Fortuniana and grow some of them in pots and that's where I learned about it. They even graft their minis on Fortuniana.

Several very large holes are drilled into the bottom of my pots so the roots go out into the flower beds where the soil has been ammended which makes it deeper, but it's still is not over 4 or 5 in. deep, if that much.

If a pot needs to be moved, or the soil refreshed (which might happen every 5 years or so) it doesn't seem to bother the roses to have those roots pulled out of the ground and cut off. They quickly grow more.

I'd prefer to grow all the roses in the ground, but since I'm not able to do that they seem very happy in the pots. It's easier for me to keep them well hydrated in pots rather in the ground where the water runs quickly into holes between the rocks and/or evaporates very quickly in our hot summers. They still have to be staked even in pots or they blow over easily.

Incidentally, there used to be a link on 'My Page' to pictures of my garden, but that has disappeared. Anyone know why? So I'm putting the link below in case anyone is interested. The rose on the far left in the top photo is Jude the Obscure on Fortuniana roots growing in a fairly small pot.

As we say, I hope this helps. Happy rose growing! :-)

Here is a link that might be useful: In this part of the garden most of the roses you see are in pots on Fortuniana roots ...

Thanks Anntn and Roselee for your comments, they do help very much...

Roselee your garden is awesome! You wrote, "They still have to be staked even in pots or they blow over easily." Do you mean the rose comes out of the pot or the pots blow over?

Lee

I am with Jeri on admiring Fortuniana as a rose in its own right. There are two places where it grows in my old garden. I never planted it originally, so I am assuming the plants were once rootstock. It climbs up trees, and is the first rose (along with its relative banksaie lutea and the hybrid gigantica Belle Portugaise) to bloom in my garden every year - huge very double white flowers - gorgeous. Never gets any diseases, and apparently lives forever without any care in my zone 9 Mediterranean climate. One was also growing up one of our trees from a plant that was actually in the neighbor's garden. It came over the fence and got 20 feet up our tree, before the neighbors' killed it by having their "gardening" service stack firewood all over the base of the old plant! When I noticed that it was dying I rooted a cutting from the still live wood, and it took, and is now planted on MY side of the fence! It was slow to get going, but this past year threw out its first climbing cane - about 12 feet straight up. We have tied it to the same tree, and hope to see it growing up that tree and drooping down in graceful swathes soon.

Jackie

Lee, the main cane of the roses on Fortuniana roots are tied to a stake (thus the stake is pretty much invisible) or else they tend to lay over to the side in a strong wind. I've had no problem with the pots blowing over or the roses blowing out of the pot. Thanks for enjoying my garden with me :-)

When I lived in FL about 2/3 of my garden were in 20, 25 gal. pots. All fortuniana root stock bushs of all different varieties. Big, healthy bush's that pumped out tons of blooms. With big pots you can control the water and food. Some roses need more water then others (think Austins). I use to graft my own bushs on to fortuniana. Now that I'm retired and live in a different growing zone I think I'll get a couple of fortuniana bushs and put them out in the back area of my home. Over 1/2 of my garden up here is on fortuniana, so I KNOW it does well up here (4 yrs). Time to start putting special roses on to fortuniana.

I grow many roses on fortuniana in pots. They do just fine that way. No worries.

I do have to stake the main cane up to the graft point to keep the plants from falling over. Even without wind, they are just too top heavy and will lay over if you do not do this. This is because Fortuniana does not have that "Dr. Huey anchor root" that is strong and deep.
A small sturdy, non-rotting stake that goes to the bottom of the pot is all that is needed, and it it is not obtrusive, looks-wise.

Kathy

What I would choose to grow on Fort would be things that are weak growers here, on their own roots.

For instance, 'Barcelona,' the early HT that is often sold as Francis Dubreuil, was an indifferent grower here, even tho the blooms were lovely. Kitty Belendez tells me that it is a very strong, upright grower, on Fort. Then, there'd be things like the yellow Tea Noisettes, which just don't want to grow well here, own-root.

OR, I could just go along the way I'm doing, and stick to things that WANT to grow here. :-)

Jeri

Want an idea what a good fortuniana rose bush and the root system look like??? Go over to the rose gallery and take a look at Ron & Susan pic of their bush of Vet. Honor. In a pot those roots quark screw down.