Tree roses are NOT RECOMMENDED for colder climates such as yours. With the exception of maybe Polar Joy.
I'll contact another rose grower from Kansas and have them fill you in with there experiences with growing tree roses.

Posting pics on this forum:

Go to photobucket.com and set up a free account.
You can then load your pics from your camera/computer/disks/ etc. to your free account.
It's been a long time since I set mine up. So, once you get that far, let me know and i'll try to guide you the rest of the way.
Click on the link below to get started.

Here is a link that might be useful: Photobucket

Tree roses are usually three varieties grafted into one; a vigorous rootstock variety growing underground, a second variety forming the thick "trunk" and a third, named variety, which is the blooming bush on top.

You mentioned, "suckers growing up around the rose," and those would be sprouting from the rootstock variety, which you probably don't want.

As Jim said, tree roses are not recommended for areas with freezing winters because of the problems you describe with yours.

If you want to go to the trouble, you might consider the "Minnesota Tip" method of winter protection, which involves digging a trench and burying the rose over winter -- I'll put a link below:

Here is a link that might be useful: Minnesota tip

My experience with grafted tree roses in our colder zone is exactly what you are getting. Over a few years, if they survive our winters, they lose vigor and become much like you describe. Except for Polar Joy, Tree roses should not be sold in cold growing zones unless you're willing to treat them as expensive annuals. Even planted in pots and toted into an unheated garage or shed for the winter, they'll most likely lose vigor and eventually die.
Get it out of your head that the pink flowering suckers are the result of cross breeding. It's as petaloid said, sucker growth from the root stock.
Any cross breeding would show up as seed in hips and would have to be planted and grown as seedlings. It would not appear as sucker growth.
My advice is not to replace your tree rose when it finally dies unless you get Polar Joy. It's all one plant, not grafted, and is the only hardy tree rose on the market. The single pink flowers may not be to your liking though and it does sucker freely.

Hi, Jim1961 sent me an email to let you know you needed help with tree roses. I live in Kansas City, and I have several things to say.

Number 1:
It's too late and you have to pitch your Mr. Lincoln tree rose anyway. To have left it exposed in our bitter colds was a big mistake. Plus with your additional canker, that tree rose is going to eventually die within the year. But don't worry, mistakes are just a part of the rose experience. I've made plenty myself! The bottom rootstock will be ugly anyway. Dead roses actually help support nurseries, so I call it "money well-spent" when we need to buy another, lol!

Number 2:
Tree roses in Kansas have to be winterized in a dark garage with no light in it and you have to be prepared to bring them in and out of the garage in the months of November and late February-March--the transitional dormancy times. If your pot is extremely heavy, get CASTORS so you can roll them in and out. When it's nice and sunny and get a stretch of above 32 degrees for several days, you can bring it out, and when you get below freezing that's when you need to bring it back in. I have found from experience that tree roses need to have more sun and do verrrry poorly if you try to keep them in the garage for too long without bringing them into the sunshine-- especially if you have a warm zone hybrid tea tree rose. Certain roses can't stand to be without light, and will send up blind growth or develop canker and deadwood. Blind growth can actually develop into real leaves but because they have a rougher start they tend to develop disease very quickly if you are all-organics/no-spray like I am. Roses that are weakened by cold, frost damage, become much more susceptible to disease.

Number 3:
Prune down all!!! of your canes during the dormancy season. Make sure all the bud unions are expose to plenty of light and air circulation. This also encourages the tree rose to produce brand new basal breaks. Old, tall stems tend to accumulate disease as well so it's better to encourage as much "fresh growth" as possible.

Number 4:
Do not do the Minnesota tipping method, because our fall can get soooo rainy and because we've had such nightmare floods in spring 2010, you are going to have majorly dead completely rotting tree rose if we have a rainy winter!!!! I no longer trust our weather!!!!!

Number 5:
Be prepared! Steel yourself, because non-stop rains will produce ongoing canker in the bud unions and lower stems. That is why I prepare myself to replace a tree rose every 3 years. Basically what happens is that the rain settles into the crooks and crannies of moisture where the rain seeps and puddles at. Bud unions are constantly exposed to that moisture and when you have continual rainstorms, flooding nightmares that Kansas has experienced for 2010, it is a total canker disaster zone.

Number 6:
I love Lincolns! but Lincoln is a giant of a rose! You will constantly have to prune and shape him. Feed him a very rich organic fish emulsion/seaweed to produce heavy bloom production and multiple basal canes. If you don't do this and just feed him with artificial fertilizers he's gonna be the one-cane wonder and stingy bloomer that some people complain about. I absolutely adore my Lincolns! They are the first roses to bloom and the last to bloom! The scent is divine, and they are prolific bloomers if you feed them sea tea.

I still encourage you to keep trying with tree roses. It takes awhile to understand the gist of it. I have a bit of a different attitude in that I love tree roses and don't mind losing them. They're too beautiful to pass up! And it's just part of the growing process of understanding how to grow and prune them. I am still trying to learn how to prune and shape them properly. I am also hoping that 2011 will be as good as the year 2009 used to be. It's the nightmare 2010 which is giving me a major headache with the rains, but I figure that this problem with flooding, ceaseless rains will eventually stop--I hope!

Thanks everyone for your wonderful advice. Jim1961- I set up my Photobucket account and am ready to post my photos if you could help me. Serenasyh- I think you're right- if I want to have my tree rose, I will simply have to replace it every few years. I love the shape of my Mr. Lincoln and he does take a lot work to keep it in shape. I had a picture of him in his prime, but could not find it today to post. So the cold is a challenge even though it is a zone 5 rose. I was very careful about making sure it would grow here when I purchased it from J&P.

jdstone66067,

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Here are the pictures- Thanks Jim!!

Here is a link that might be useful: Mr. Lincoln

At least my hydrangeas planted behind Mr. Lincoln are doing well!!

Here is a link that might be useful: Pic 3

Another pic

Here is a link that might be useful: Pic 2

Here are your pictures
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The problem with grafted tree roses in cold zones is the location of the grafts. The top ones are up in the air and exposed to cold damaging winter winds and freezing temps. Once this graft is frozen, any moisture that may exist between the top and the standard can freeze and expand causing the graft to separate. If it stays bonded in places, some moisture and nutrients may get to the top but not as if the bond was complete. The result would be a slow decline and eventual death.
Cold freezing dry winter winds will dry out the graft.
regarding the second picture above, the cane was not pruned correctly and it died back to the bud that shot out that new cane. Any stubs left above a bud will die back and often will affect the good cane portion below the bud. It's important to prune properly.
By the looks of your top picture, that tree roses is past saving. I suspect the bud union is all but dead.

Thanks Karl for consolidating my photos. We did have an extremely cold and snowy winter and after reading all the posts it is apparent that the tree is beyond saving. Now I just have to decide to replace it with another and try to provide better winter protection or try to grow another type of tree there. Since I love tree roses, I'll probaby stick with them!! Thanks to everyone!!

jdstone66067,
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JD what probably got you confused is that even a zone 5 tree rose still has to be overwintered in the garage. A zone 7 tree rose tends to get very sick even while overwintered in the garage, because it cannot tolerate being stuck in the garage for as long as our winters last (several months of winter) That's why wheeling tree roses in and out of the garage is very important as soon as you get a warm break out of the weather. On the other hand a zone 5 tree rose can withstand the dark garage a little longer than a zone 7 tree rose can. Again, don't get discouraged. The more you practice the better you'll get at it.

Also don't blame yourself either about canker. One thing that people do not realize is that constant rains on one's tree rose, no matter how well you care for it will cause canker. There are certain things which can't be helped. We've been real, real unlucky weather-wise in Kansas City. So even if you keep pruning and keep the leaves clean, canker is inevitable if you keep getting non-stop rains. To me it's impossible to think that next year is gonna be as bad as this year was. It's GOT TO BE BETTER NEXT YEAR! that's what I keep telling myself, lol!

JD, here is an image of a properly pruned tree rose.

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There is still one more essential diagram that I need to find, but can't for the life of me! So frustating! The fantastic diagram shows how to make the cuts along the branches of the tree rose. Maybe someone here knows where the original link is! I tried googling but to no avail. I can't find the diagram except for this, but it's a bit blurry and hard to see. The only thing wrong with the diagram is that you can't plant tree roses in the ground in our zone, JD. That's just a tree rose in a place like California, lol!

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It is crucial to have air-flow with tree roses or disease will set in. For organics growers, tree roses are the most difficult for us because the bud unions are constantly exposed to rains and freezing temperatures and both weaken the rose with this exposure.

Also a tree rose requires constant shaping throughout the growing season. However, you have to be very careful to never ever prune when there is moisture. You can only prune when it's bone dry. That's what's so frustrating about our constant rains. It leaves very little dry time to do our pruning.

I couldn't get a rose tree to survive in zone 7 IN a garage. They are a waste of time and money unless you live in zone 8-9. Just get the real Mr. Lincoln. Its a great plant and will get to 7 feet high if you let it.

No more tree roses for me.

Mr. Lincoln Standard?

Let's see. 48" for the stem, then 5 to 10 feet for the actually cultivar. Anyone see the problem here?

Tree standards were meant for floribundas and small HT's; anything else puts so much stress on the stem that snap offs and starvation are almost assured. My most beautiful standard was a Scentimental, a lollipop of a tree. I am sure there are floribundas for your climate.

Beth

Beth, roses are actually quite smart in that they won't be able to go beyond the size of their bud union. At Peter Beales I was told that bud unions cannot increase in size once the size has been set for a tree rose. A Lincoln cane is never going to be as tall with the tree rose grafting. The smaller graft size will actually limit how tall the rose cane can grow.

Hydrangeas and roses (including Mr Lincoln) in the same garden bed and soil seems like an odd combination to me

Certainly a garden combination compatibility idea I wouldn't do but it's your preference and your garden

I would think you might at least pot up the rose and display it in the area as said by anouther

Yes Beth even I can see the problem your size preference of a rose tree is different from jdstones.