Dr Huey is one on which generally grafted ones are.. And it grows gud if planted properly according to the area they r grown in. I didn't get that they r faulty ???and fortuniana should do equally ️Gud in hot and dry climates too!

Sylvia, multiflora can be hit and miss depending upon how compacted and alkaline your soil is. As the drought and heat wear on, the soil is getting saltier and saltier as irrigation water, which is already "salty" is used, evaporates and deposits more and more calcium salts. In all the years I grew roses in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita Valleys (early 80s until March of this year when I moved north), no multiflora rooted rose was as successful as anything on Huey. Many own root roses were fine, quite a few weren't. If the plant is not vigorous to begin with, own root will make it even less so. If it's genetically unsuited for heat, alkalinity and salt (multiflora, Rugosa), it usually isn't going to be as well suited as the same rose budded on Huey. Fortuniana can make quite a bit of difference. It can push varieties rather hard. Dr. Malcolm Manners from Florida Southern College, reports that many Austin roses budded to Fortuniana in their climate are spring flowering only. Fortuniana pushes such tremendous vegetative growth, the roses simply do not reflower. If what you are considering is already a vigorous type, you probably don't need/want the added vigor Fortuniana provides when the weather really heats up.

I have my first roses on multiflora and fortuniana this year. The fort roses have really taken off. I know they will get larger than Dr. Huey roses. This will be their first winter, so that will be a test for them. I did get some roses from Palantine. They are also doing well, though not as good as the forts (which were potted, the multiflora's were bare root). I have read that multiflora puts down deep roots so would be good for drought conditions. However, I am not sure about the acid/alkaline situation. We have clay that tends towards acidic so that may be better for mf. In either case, if you are preparing your soil and amending, either should do well. Palantine's roses are of such good quality, I think it's worth experimenting with. I am going to order more for next year.

I gave away a New Dawn on multiflora and told the recipient not to bother with soil amendment--just stick it in the ground. Sure enough, it took off like a weed! It does very well in acid clay soil. But, it couldn't compete with a nearby silver maple tree, which is why I gave it away.

I live in a hot, dry desert climate with definite winters. I can say that, after a number of years, I can't tell the difference between the growth and performance of my roses grafted on multiflora rootstock and those grafted on Dr Huey. At first I expected to see differences due to our alkaline soil, but they never showed up. A big downside to Dr Huey is if you remove a rose grafted on Huey from its growing spot, inevitably Huey will come back to haunt you. It's very hard to get every little bit of root, I guess. Any left behind is going to grow a little Huey plant that gets big really fast. I've never had this happen with multiflora, nor have I had it sucker. Palatine, Hortico, and Pickering were where I purchased the roses on multiflora, All others I grow from various sources are on Dr Huey. Diane

I am in coastal Southern California. Our water, drawn from a local aquifer, is heavy in minerals, somewhat saline, VERY alkaline. Roses of Multiflora breeding will probably fail here, or at best grow poorly. Roses budded on Dr. Huey grow well -- but of course, they are virused.

When we bought roses from Canada on Multiflora rootstock, we planted them deeply, hoping that they would transition to their own roots. They may have done that, in part, but . . .

I have a row of 4-5 Golden Celebrations. The oldest is on Multiflora. The later ones on Huey, and the youngest on its own roots.

The plant on Multiflora is possibly virus-free. It is huge, but it has some chlorosis problems.

The ones on Huey are definitely virused. They have better foliage, and are slowly catching up (over quite a few years) with Mr. Multiflora.

The own-root plant is a cutting from the Canadian plant. It is smaller, but finally catching up.

If Huey was virus-free, I think it would be great. Since it's not, and since Multiflora isn't great here, I go with own-root. It takes longer, but is better, I think, in the long haul.

I guess I must live in a darn good area to grow roses. Fortuniana grafted roses are very vigorous and produce a lot of blooms on large bush's. Dr. Huey grafted bush's do very well. Big bush's and lots of blooms. Multiflora takes a few years to get settled in but produce bush's that match Fortuniana and Dr. Huey. Own root takes a few years to get their roots big enough to handle a big bush but produce beautiful plants with tons of blooms. The only thing I have to be careful about is how winter tender a variety is.

One thing I like about Fortuniana is that when you have a sucker, it's very easy to tell.

I wonder why Canina 'Laxa' (or other Canina cultivars) are not used in the US. They seem to make good all purpose rootstocks here in Europe.

ARE, Heirloom and RVR sell own root roses. The ones from HD are (most likely) grafted on Dr. Huey rootstock. The online vendors should have a page where they state if the roses are own root or grafted, and if grafted, the rootstock used.