Hi again Nadia,

This is a post that interests me because my mother is growing a rosy-red rose that was originally a cutting from the historic Ryde Cemetery in Sydney. I believe it to have been planted a century or more ago. I will take a pic one day and post in the hope it can be identified. It is truly beautiful and when I move it will be one of the first roses I will plant - from a cutting of course.

I often wonder who planted the original and where it came from. I have an ancestor planted in that cemetery and have no guilt about taking the cutting. It may not survive unless it is more widely propagated in any case.

Fran

What I have read is that roses on rootstock last ten years maximum and own root roses can live fifty to a hundred years (some perhaps more) and that many of the newer roses won't grow on their own roots well. What is true and what isn't? I don't fancy digging up roses and rebedding soil every ten years.

Well I may be wrong but I have always understood that HTs as a class are grafted onto stronger rootstock precisely for the reason that they would not survive long otherwise. There are some that are tougher than others eg Crimson Glory but HTs generally need looking after to survive. By that I mean they need a maintenance regime. Dieback is common on those left to their own devices.

I have a rose bush that is over 125 years old.

My father got it from an elderly lady around 1945 and it was to be over 75 years old at that time. This is unbelievable to me. I for sure know it has been in our family as long as my oldest brother that is 71 and that is some proof.

I can not get a start off of this thing for the life of me. Can anyone help me with this PLEASE?

Thanks,

Greg

Indiana

Greg, try posting in the main Rose Forum and Antique Roses.