Sara Ann, I am no expert but I can speak from personal experience. For me the advantage to own root roses is they usually grow more leaves at the bottom of the plant so that the rose is less likely to have "bare legs' (canes). The plants tend to be fuller for me when mature. I like grafted roses when I need more vigor to establish a rose quickly. Many modern hybrid tea, grandiflora and floribunda roses are only available grafted because they lack the vigor to easily establish themselves own root. Some are available eventually own root if they are vigorous enough. Some examples are Icebergs, Julia Child, Livin' Easy, Gertrude Jekyll, Golden Celebration, Carefree Beauty, Bonica, etc. These more modern roses are available both own root and grafted. My goals, my past personal results and the shared experiences of those who are kind enough to share their thoughts and are more talented than I (like Kathy and Catsrose), help me to optimize my results. What I have heard many times on this and other forums is what does not work for many others in your climate zone most likely will not work for you. So I try to pick wisely and hopefully end up dealing with fewer problems. Sometimes advice is also not "absolute" as my results vary somewhat from the experiences of others. The answer to your question is "it depends" on your goal(s) for growing your roses. Personally, I have different motives depending on my goal for a particular area of my yard. I don't spray and I try to garden organically so I try to pick roses that are capable of thriving without protection. This limits my choices a lot but I am not exhibiting roses and I like not having to spray regularly. I have an area where I am growing all grafted modern hybrid teas along a fence. I was looking for high vigor, immediate bloom production and plants that would establish themselves quickly. I planted companion plants around them to cover any bare legs. In pots, I like own root roses when I can get them because in my experience they are fuller, better looking bushes when mature. I have to be more patient with them because they take some time to build out as previously mentioned by Kathy and Catsrose. All of my Old Garden or Antique roses, like Reve d'Or, Reine de Violettes, Maman Cochet, Mon. Tillier, etc. are own roots because they grow vigorously that way and they are widely available for purchase. I have areas of my yard that are all own root old garden roses and some that are all grafted more modern roses. Most of the old garden varieties are widely available own root but can be ordered grafted from specialty nurseries willing to graft plants for you, like Burlington in Ca. If I had the goal of huge plants and larger flowers, had a lot more space and did not mind staking them I would choose roses that are available grafted on Fortuniana root stock. I like seeing pictures of mature whole plants to see how they look and with further research about what grows well in my local climate shared by others on this site and Help Me Find I believe I am making better decisions when deciding what to plant where. I believe more gardeners today are 'requesting' own root roses and the growers are now responding by offering those varieties that can be grown either way. That's not to say own root is better than grafted but it's really up to you based on your gardening goals. I also personally believe it's cheaper in the long run for the grower to produce own root roses if the plants mature fast enough. The growers have to be careful that the casual gardener does not judge their roses negatively if a neighbor is growing the same rose grafted and their bush is performing better so the growers pick and choose those varieties where the difference is minimal. Good luck and happy gardening.... Lee This post was edited by leezen4u on Wed, Sep 25, 13 at 14:52

I live in Long Beach. We do get coastal breezes. But because of our proximity to Palos Verdes Peninsula, the large "hill" blocks the northwesterly sea breezes, so many times Long Beach can reach into the 90s in the summer while south in Huntington Beach or north in Redondo Beach, the temps will be in the 70s. But for the most part, temps keep moderate year round. I'm luck to have a large yard and big enough for several large greenhouses. If do prefer the coast. San Diego county is beautiful. Take a drive down to Quail Botanical Gardens in Northern San Diego county. Vista is nice. Capistrano is nice too. The O.C. is nice, but you will find a lot of track homes. Large homes, yes, but not very big yards. Fullerton is nice. The old part of the city. But it does get warm in the summer. Not too bad. If you go north, try Ventura County. Ventura or Carpinteria. Forget Santa Barbara or Goleta unless you have big bucks. The housing market has slumped. But not to a point where you can buy a house along the coast for less than a million. (Though you will find some nice homes in the $800K) Hard hit areas where homes have been foreclosed will be the outlying suburbs (tract homes) in Corona, Riverside and much of Inland Empire where many new homes were defaulted on. I for one hate these types of neighborhoods. Cookie cutter homes (large) but no yard. And basically but up against near desert. I would avoid Porter Ranch and Santa Clarita. Right now the area is ablaze. Planned neighborhoods, fancy tract homes, and small yards. But again, fire hazard areas. Also we have a bad drought, so you will be limited in watering. And if you do choose to live in a dry area, well, you will have to change your plantings to reflect more native plants, grasses, and cacti. San Bernardino County is up in the foothills. The base of the mountain. Fallbrook is nice, but gets hot in the summer and cold in the winter. Good for fruit that need winter chill. Again, if you want to grow more exotics, more tropicals, then you need to move to the coast. Mornings will have marine overcast. Which is nice. And will burn away to sunny, mild days. You will have more micro-climates too. Here in Long Beach, I grow mainly orchids. But also pineapple, plumeria and hawaiian tea bushes.

Don't feel bad about moving those Eric. Eight years ago I planted two small seedling size Eucs. behind my children's Elementary school and they have grown huge. Three years ago the socalled maintenance/gardeners chainsawed them to the ground in the Winter. They both regrew from the base of the stump and now have many large trunks. Each year I have to prune them twice because the head school guy wants to remove them. They are awesome trees. One is Stellulata and the other dalrympleana. I'm choked that he is always on my case trying to get rid of these trees. I said they don't go as long as I'm around. When they cut them to the ground I gave him heck. He seems to think they are not a good choice of tree for that location. Everyone in the school, teachers and students love the gum trees. I will make sure they stay. Good luck with your's. Cheers, Joe

'Puget Blue' was selected at the Seattle arboretum sometime prior to 1945. It is thought to have been grown from seed of Ceanothus papillosus sent by Lester Rowntree (of California). A plant labeled 'Puget Blue' grew for years at the entrance to the old arboretum offices, however the late J.A. Witt (arboretum curator) felt that this specimen was not the true item. So stock originating with people helping themselves to cuttings of this prominently located plant may have been circulated erroneously as 'Puget Blue' in the past. The original 'Puget Blue' may have been selected, grown for a time at the arboretum and then lost (to the arboretum) decades before the one at the offices was present. I bought C. thyrsiflorus 'Oregon Mist' recently, it originates with Xera Plants wholesale nursery in Oregon. From their web site: Very odd that a genus cherished in California and Europe- with many native representatives in Oregon has NO selections made from this state. WeâÂÂve decided to change that by selecting a form of Blueblossom from near its northern native limit. From Coos County we chose this variety for its deep green leaves and striking turquoise blue flowers. Large growing evergreen shrub that should provide superior cold hardiness. Also, it is a great representative of this species in the wild. We took cuttings of this plant where it grew simultaneously with a salmon flowered variety of Rhododendron occidentalis inbetween California Bay (Umbelluaria) and blue flowered Iris douglasiana. Interesting that this shrub grew in heavy clay soil where running water flows during winter. To 8â tall and as wide very quickly. May grow larger in optimum conditions, tip prune to limit size, increase density and blooming wood. Flowers late April to late May. Excellent shrub for low water native gardens. Underplant with Pacific Coast Iris which bloom concurrently and have the same cultural requirements. May also be used as a small garden tree Most of the interesting dry climate shrubs and related items appearing at local garden centers in recent years are being supplied by Xera Plants. See their web site for photos and descriptions. Note that the hardiness zone designations they make are too optimistic, as is often the case with commercial sources. As with other nurseries if you add a zone to the one they give you will often be closer to the true picture. This post was edited by bboy on Thu, Mar 28, 13 at 15:19