Campanula, "creeping futility"--I love it! That could be a nickname for so many obnoxious garden invaders (bindweed, for example) as well as my state of mind on really bad days at the beds. Jeri, I'm guessing (hoping) Kippy meant one of those weedy Daturas like innoxia or discolor. I believe they're actually indigenous, so maybe I should politely refer to them as "native plants." If he meant deliciously-scented Angel's Trumpet, he can send one my way! I'll keep it out of reach of my samoyed and my toddler. Your Brugmansia is traffic stopping! I think Ann Lovejoy once mentioned something about the intoxicating effects of Brugmasia fragrance--how her parties became just a little merrier with one potted on the patio. Have you noticed any similar side effects while partying next to yours? Jackie, still leaning toward Blaze as an ID? Carol

@Meghan (southern VT, 5b) If a nurseryman uses R. multiflora for grafting onto, they are either using seed grown starts and budding low on the shank to avoid any rootstock shoots coming up later, or they are carefully de-eyeing the cuttings to assure the same result. Properly done, R. multiflora rootstock is unlikely to send up shoots from below, and taking over the scion variety. Note: the same cannot be said of "Dr. Phooey", which almost always sends up shoots from below, ruining the scion plant above.* That said, I do not know if any of the big nurseries still bud onto R. multiflora. Here in the USA, 99% of budded roses are on "Dr. Phooey". Pickering Nurseries used to bud onto seed-grown multiflora, but they ceased operations years ago. I have dozens of European type roses from Pickering that are now 20+ years old, and not one of them has sent up shoots from the rootstock. As I say, if done properly, there's little need to be concerned about multiflora escaping and becoming a pest. *In the nearby city of Corvallis, nearly every third house in the downtown has a specimen of 'Dr. Huey' on their property, the result of the understock sending up shoots and taking over the scion variety.

Vettin, how wonderful that forum members like you have become so aware of R. multiflora's connection to problems like non-native invasion and RRD! Rosa multiflora can spread in 4 ways: (1) a human sticks a plant (not rootstock) in the ground, (2) an existing multiflora plant tip roots when canes bend and touch the soil, (3) an existing multiflora produces seeds that contact soil and sprout, and (4) a chosen cultivar that has been grafted onto multiflora stock sends up multiflora shoots from the stock and these shoots flower and seed or tip root...or the cultivar reverts completely to rootstock. If your purchased cultivars are properly grafted and well cared for (planted below the bud union, watered, fed, etc.), the plants should not revert to rootstock--whether it is multiflora, Dr. Huey or whatever. If a cultivar is poorly grafted, multiflora suckers may pop up around the cultivar and require removal, sliced away as close to the bud union as possible. As long as your multiflora rootstock remains rootstock, you are not spreading R. multiflora. Pickering grafts its roses on multiflora. I just purchased three OGRs from Pickering. Hope this reply helps! Carol This post was edited by PortlandMysteryRose on Tue, May 20, 14 at 22:53

Thank you, Susanne, for the links. I just purchased one off ebay about 20 minutes ago. It is coming from across country though:( I looked at the link for maypops and I see that 12 vendors carry it. I only looked at one vendor so far, and they are sold out. At least I will have one. I am torn between fear that it wont survive and fear that it will become so invasive it will take over the apartment complex and management will yell at me! Thanks again for the links.