In my garden with very shallow black clay (1 or 2 inches at most) over huge limestone boulders or chalky caliche I get as many roses as I can on Fortuniana rootstock and feel that the extra expense is well worth it. Some are in the ground where we've built raised beds, but I've been growing others in pots for 12 or 15 years where it's impossible to dig a hole without a jackhammer. And the containers are not all that large. Some only 10 or 12 gallons and some probably 30. The roses on Fortuniana do very well in the pots and it seems they produce more blooms of greater substance and healthier foliage than roses not on Fortuniana. Most of the serious exhibitors here in San Antonio do their own grafting onto Fortuniana and grow some of them in pots and that's where I learned about it. They even graft their minis on Fortuniana. Several very large holes are drilled into the bottom of my pots so the roots go out into the flower beds where the soil has been ammended which makes it deeper, but it's still is not over 4 or 5 in. deep, if that much. If a pot needs to be moved, or the soil refreshed (which might happen every 5 years or so) it doesn't seem to bother the roses to have those roots pulled out of the ground and cut off. They quickly grow more. I'd prefer to grow all the roses in the ground, but since I'm not able to do that they seem very happy in the pots. It's easier for me to keep them well hydrated in pots rather in the ground where the water runs quickly into holes between the rocks and/or evaporates very quickly in our hot summers. They still have to be staked even in pots or they blow over easily. Incidentally, there used to be a link on 'My Page' to pictures of my garden, but that has disappeared. Anyone know why? So I'm putting the link below in case anyone is interested. The rose on the far left in the top photo is Jude the Obscure on Fortuniana roots growing in a fairly small pot. As we say, I hope this helps. Happy rose growing! :-) Here is a link that might be useful: In this part of the garden most of the roses you see are in pots on Fortuniana roots ...

Susan: Here's a link to a video tour of a private rose garden in Hendersonville, TN (zat anywhere near you?). In the latter part of the video, there's an interesting discussion of rootstocks, along with views of roses growing on Fortuniana. Note that those impressive plants on Fortuniana have visible stakes -- necessary because Fortuniana's shallow root system doesn't always provide stabilization enough to support those towering bushes with super-sized foliage and flowers (especially if you live where forceful winds are common). If you don't mind investing the extra attention and work, though, roses grown on Fortuniana return obvious dividends. Enjoy the show . . . Here is a link that might be useful: A Tennessee Rose Garden

Hi! Yes, that's what I figured. But, I have purchased some from CR (peat pots to be removed) on good 'ol Dr. Huey (ah, the memories from CA). They are already sprouting, amazingly. I use only organic goodies (planted with a mix of blood, bone, a tiny bit of alfalfa meal so as not to burn), plus I put micorrhizae tablets in the soil for all my plants, rose or otherwise. So, we shall see. Digging those holes here was MURRRRDERRR. lol :) I got: Julia Child, Rainbow Sorbet, Cinco De Mayo, Easy Does it, Just Dreamy, Strike It Rich, and Tahitian Sunset. What do you think of these? I had 94 plants in CA, but none of these. I will definitely check out K&M and do my darndest to visit you at the Mesa rose sale. Thank you!! Liebling

Sad to say, unless the nursery has virus free scion material, it doesn't matter if the rootstock used is virus free. It's VERY rare to find un-virused mother plants, unless they have recently been obtained as virus indexed plants from someone like UC Davis or Malcomb at Florida Southern College. Then there are the (few) newer rose introductions that have never been grafted to virused Huey/fortuniana rootstock, ever. Most of those are virus free. But unless a nursery SPECIFICALLY states that they use virus free rootstock AND scion material, you can assume their roses are infected. And according to Jeri, at least one nursery claimed to be virus free, but still sent her a virused plant and then denied that it could possibly be infected when she complained! John Oops...looks like you beat me to it, Chrisopher, lol.