Great topic! I think most of us have pondered this question over the years. Generally, I'm with Jeri on this one (maybe influenced by similar coastal climate limits!). But, I also think that Malcolm has it right - it is more effective to actually compare results from using the same rose on its own roots vs grafted. So, I think I would combine the two perspectives here. Not only comparing the same rose, but also including how different local climates can determine which method is more appropriate. So, for me, I have been struggling with trying to encourage some of the hardier teas to thrive better in my PNW coastal garden, where our hot summer days are limited. I remember reading a comment from Paul Barden a while ago about how he would like to try Gloire de Dijon, as a grafted plant, to see if that would add more vigor. I second that particular desire! I think this ties in with what Jeri was also saying. Maybe I should try to get a grafted version of Lady Hillingdon and compare its progress to the plant I have (own roots), which has been slow ( to say the least!). Hmmm. It would certainly save room in our greenhouse if it worked! Happy new year, especially for all those Ox people! Ian

Right now it's mostly done to give commercial growers more crops sooner resulting in more income. If you can get three crops in six years from a plot of land as against two crops, which would you prefer? Another reason for grafting (budding) is you get more bushes from a cane from budding that you'd get from the same cane from cuttings. At the base of each leaf is a small bud. Each bud can be a new rose bush when budded onto a root stock. A healthy cane containing 12 leaves (a leaf is composed of 3 to 7 or more leaflets) can produce 12 rose bushes while the cane, divided into cuttings will produce three if all take. A cutting takes three years to produce a bush the size of a two year old grafted plant. The easily rooted rootstock cuttings are placed in the field as soon as a mature crop of rosebushes is harvested in the fall/early winter. By spring these are rooted and the buds harvested from the canes of mother bushes are budded (grafted) onto them. They are allowed to grow for a year, then harvested and sold. Budded rose bushes, otherwise known as bare root roses, can be easily stored in refrigerated warehouses for 6 months and can be inexpensively shipped to home gardeners or commercial growers for resale as blooming potted roses. They'll produce a full sized blooming rosebush the first season. Cuttings can take from 4 to 12 weeks to root. Once rooted they must be moved to a larger pot which makes them more labor intensive. Sold as newly rooted cuttings,(bands), they can take two or more years in the garden to reach the size of a budded rose. If raised to near full size, shipping costs can be more than the bush as they're usually shipped in the pot. Dirt costs a lot to ship. One cane = 12 bushes vs one cane = 3 bushes. Easy storage and shipping vs costly shipping and no storage. Which would you choose? Growing potted plants must be sold soon or they lose their flowers and must be stored until thy rebloom. Most home gardeners buy the flower, not the variety like rose enthusiasts do. It boils down to economics with grafted roses for the big growers or ease of starting just a few roses from cuttings for the home gardener. For us at home, it's not the money. We can babysit and wait for a plant to grow. This is an over simplified explanation as there is more involved with either method, but I think you get the idea?

I think most discussions of "own root" vs. "grafted" may be nearly irrelevant, UNLESS one is speaking of specific varieties and specific rootstocks. Each rose variety is genetically unique, and so the root system it produces will be different from that of any other rose, and its behavior on a specific grafted rootstock may be different from that of any other rose. So it becomes dangerous to generalize too much. In reality, every rose is on a "rootstock," whether there is a graft present or not; in an own-root rose, that rootstock is simply that particular rose's root system, which is genetically unique. Of course it is true that most of Austin's roses are at least somewhat related to each other, but even there, there is enough variability that I think it becomes unreasonable to generalize too much. As for the rootstocks under grafted plants, there is a tendency for extreme vigor (Fortuniana) or moderate vigor (Dr. Huey or Manettii), or low vigor (odorata or canina), etc., and a tolerance of acid soils (multiflora) vs. alkaline (Dr. Huey). But those are tendencies. Each scion variety will behave somewhat differently on each of these stocks, and each scion variety will behave differently from other scions, on a given stock. On top of all of that, then, are soil and climate of a specific garden, both of which will affect behavior of a rose on the roots it is given. So I think it is legitimate to say "in Lakeland Florida, even on our sandy, nematode-infested soils, I prefer Austin's "Graham Thomas" and "Heritage" on 'Dr. Huey' over 'Fortuniana' (since they won't rebloom well) or own-root (since they won't survive long), but I prefer 'Souv. de la Malmaison' and its sports on 'Fortuniana' (a combination that gives excellent vigor, floriferousness, and longevity), but 'Tausendschoen' and 'Crepuscule' are excellent on their own roots," those statements may not be true of other varieties, nor of these same varieties in other gardens, in different climates, and with different soils. The bottom line, then, is Caveat Emptor. Yes, get others' opinions and experiences, but realize they may not match what happens in your garden with your set of varieties.

It has been my experience that floribundas and hybrid teas do not grow well at all on their own roots, at least in my neck of the woods. My 12-year-old Playgirl is an 18-inch wimp; I saw 5-foot tall Playgirls budded on Fortuniana. Of course, there are a few exceptions. The pink hybrid tea Andrea Stelzer grows very well on its own roots; mine is 7-feet tall. Miniatures are a different story and grow quite well on their own roots. Some of the larger minis such as Bees Knees, Arcanum, and Miss Flippins I have had to move up to 10-gallon pots because they are so big and vigorous. In the shrub and OGR category, that is a mixed bag. Many do grow well on their own roots if you have patience and are willing to wait several years. But others never seem to reach their full potential so budded is better. Not to be overlooked is the instant gratification that many of us require. Although I do sometimes take cuttings of rare and unusual roses that I can't get anywhere else, I would much rather get a fully developed bush already growing in a pot, budded and ready to spring forth as soon as I plop it into the ground. Exhibitors are not a patient lot.