It is very difficult to find budders and very expensive if you can. Also try convincing the US Government you need to a temporary work permit to bring in skilled budders from out of the country! Most budded crops grown in the field are also two year old plus crops. Own root crops in pots are one year old for a gallon plant or larger. For small nurseries the savings of a year old crop over a two year old crop can be the difference between staying in business and bankruptcy. Personally I think the debate over which is better is answered by the simple question, "what is best for you, in your climate and for the types of roses you like to grow?" The answer can be found by talking to other like rose lovers in your area. I like own root for my garden, but it would be presumptuous of me to try to convince someone up north who prefers grafted that own-root is better because I have never grown roses in their climate. And vice versa of course also holds true. ItÂs all personal folks! And isnÂt it great that you have a choice. Paul

Well, though not all that old - I have them going on 30 years since purchase and my grandparents also grew roses- moving bushes from home to home over approx 50 of their 65 yrs being married. I don’t believe there is an age limit. The big issue is grafted roses require a little more attention to details when planting. Own root once they are old enough to plant - not necessarily when you get them, can just be planted with no thought. But all grafted roses, you have to make sure the bud union is well buried or you will get suckers. I have never had an issue because - well, I make sure the bud union is buried 3-4” and to protect from cold also - absolute minimum of 2-3” in my zone 7 east coast garden. In my early years of growing roses, our winters were colder and we got more snow and I hilled teas, shrubs, etc and wrapped in burlap/stuffed with pine-tags . Climbers were laid over and covered in soil or well hilled, wrapped and stuffed. And of course after spring frosts, everything has to be unhilled and set right again. However, our winters have warmed so much it isn’t as necessary if you select the right rose for the right location in the garden and hardiness zone. Dr Huey is a very common used rootstock - bred in 1914 and and is extremely vigorous though not particularly fungal resistant but that isn’t of concern when using the rootstock. It is a hybrid of the Wichurana lines named after the German botanist Max Ernst Wichura and produced sometime in the mid 1800s. It is a beautiful rose on its own and they are seen across the country in old graveyards, estates and plantations blooming without any assistance with lots of showy dark red blooms. It’s main down fall is its propensity to black spot but yet it seems to overcome that and come back each year. The strong marketing push to own root is one of a labor shortage, lack of skilled budders, and greed. If you can selling a tiny cutting that at the very most is 32 weeks old (from a grower who gives a 5 year warranty) and the rest are at best 16-20 weeks (with little to no warranty) compared to full 2 year olds that have had a full year in the field and then another year+ in the field with its graft —- and sell for the same price - which do you think corporations will demand are grown to help their bottom lines? Do not be afraid of well grown, healthy, well budded/grafted roses. Grafting has been the primary method of rose production which began in the late 1800s with a beautiful but week growing hybrid tea called LaFrance. Grafting it allowed for a much stronger growing plant and it has survived to this day and you can still purchase it. Many of the beautiful old roses full of fragrance just weren’t all that strong on their own roots. And today they are own rooting roses with little to no warranty that may not last you a year or two. No one has ever tested many of these roses - because everything was grafted and the couple of under-stocks were strong so no issue would be expected. Unless you want a particular rose that you can only find as own root, and if you are a beginner gardener and have just started with roses — look for grafted roses from an old established company like Jackson Perkins or go with David Austin who offers both in various types but they offer 5 year warranties.

I've never grafted but I want to try It's admirable that the OP wants to learn how to graft. My suggestion is to go to an operation where alot of grafting takes place and work for a couple of months. That way you don't have to reinvent the wheel. (hint: learn some Spanish). Another hint: eliminate wasted motion, don't put your knife down when you wrap up the graft. The first winter that I grafted I worked for a large, mid-Atlantic area nursery. There was about 20 men at the table. My job the first month was to bring in the bareroot understock, clean it, haul the completed grafts back to the cooler and sweep up afterward. I learned how to sharped the knife with a whetstone during lunch. Some of those guys couldn't read or write but they really could graft. Here are some of my observations/recommendations: >use the best knife you can afford. Cheap knives must be sharpened frequently, especially with hard woods like syringa, malus, ulmus etc. >a genuine grafting knife is only sharpened on one side. Use a whetstone and strop, you can make it like a straight razor. >size of understock & scion is usually about pencil thickness for most ornamentals so cambium matches. >for bench grafting with bareroot understock use whip & tongue and waxed string. These are fieldplanted before they break dormancy and string doesn't have to be removed. >pot grafts are used for conifers, magnolias, beech, jap maples etc. The scion is not laid down after making the cut, it is immediately inserted. Use side graft and grafting rubber. Heel them in in grafting tunnel or under double glass, no waxing required. Cut back top of understock in stages. The tunnel REALLY must be looked after in March because it could cook, be sure to vent it carefully. >When winter grafting all doors and windows must be kept closed during the grafting process. Also keep everything clean as possible including hands & knives. >All Asian maples can be grafted in August when they really "knit" remarkabely fast. Remove leaves from scion and make side graft, place under mist or fog. I like this method because no winter heat is required. Also no wax. >When making the cut, the blade is held at an angle, think guillotine, and the whole length of the blade is used. >The only outdoor grafting that I do is Aralia elata 'Variegata' This is because the understock must be cigar sized or larger. I only use a single bud for this graft and wrap in stips cut from plastic bag starting from the bottom up. >I can honestly say I never saw anyone get cut while grafting. Instead, I've seen many get cut while horseing around during the break. >Tending to the new grafts is extremely important, the aftercare is just as important as the grafting process. Here are a few tried & true tools of the trade:

LOL!I thought I'd provide the Wikipedia definition to explain grafting: This article is about grafting plants. For grafting of animal tissue, see medical grafting. Grafted apple treeGrafting is a method of plant propagation widely used in horticulture, where the tissues of one plant are encouraged to fuse with those of another. It is most commonly used for the propagation of trees and shrubs grown commercially. Grafting can only be done between reasonably closely related plants. Most often the limits of success are with other species in the same genus, though in some cases plants in different but closely related genera can graft successfully (e.g. Larch will graft on Douglas-fir), and in other cases, not, even between some species in the same genus (e.g., Norway maple will not graft on Sugar maple). In most cases, one plant is selected for its roots, and this is called the stock or rootstock. The other plant is selected for its stems, leaves or flowers, and is called the scion. For successful grafting to take place, the cambium tissues of the stock and scion plants must be placed in contact with each other. Both tissues must be kept alive till the graft has taken, usually a period of a few weeks. Successful grafting only requires that a vascular connection takes place between the two tissues. A physical weak point often still occurs at the graft, because the structural tissue of the two distinct plants, such as wood may not fuse. In stem grafting, a common grafting method, a shoot of a selected, desired plant cultivar is grafted onto the stock of another type. In another common form called budding, a dormant side bud is grafted on the stem of another stock plant, and when it has fused successfully, it is encouraged to grow by cutting out the stem above the new bud. Inarching of a woody perennial is used instead of a bridge graft when there are watersprouts, suckers or saplings of the same species near the wound in the trunk. These alternatives to scions, must be of the correct length to span the gap of the wound. I'm no expert with Nepenthes. I haven't even attempted to take cuttings yet! But what I read seems to suggest that in the rare occurrence that a given plant flowers, hand-pollination is done. Once in a while I see trades for male and female parts and pollen. So I think that hybrids like N. ventrata (ventricosa & alata) can be created with pollination. Further, since some varieties are available on a consistent basis at like Lowes, there is a lot of tissue culture going on. But that also requires the combining of gametes.