Petalz, 'Fortuniana' normally does not make seeds, and even if it did, they'd likely not grow true-to-type, since it is not a true species. It also resents being bare-rooted and normally dies afterward. I know that we sent virus-free 'Fortuniana' to members of the Honolulu Rose Society, a decade or more ago. Do you know any of those folks? They may be able to supply cuttings within the state. Back to 'Marechal Niel' -- It has been suggested that much of it has a virus (likely NOT rose mosaic) which makes it difficult to grow. As far as I know, no one has ever proven that. But in any case, it does seem that some selections do better than others. We got ours from the plant Greg Grant and others found in Texas -- a very vigorous and carefree form. We then heat-treated it just in case. On 'Fortuniana', it is the most vigorous rose I've ever grown. We've distributed many of those plants, mainly at HRF meetings (Lakeland in 1991, Lakeland 2001, and El Cerrito 2002). ARE also has this form of the plant. So they're out there. Vintage also seems to have quite a good form of MN, but from a different (California) source.

Taoseeker, Thanks for the information on the European history with long term use of their most common rootstocks. I find it interesting and very useful and hope for long term good results - more vigorous root growth translating into more resilient bushes. I do remember seeing a number of times R. laxa use mentioned in the hybridizing experiments by the Canadian pioneer prairie hybridizer. One of the Skinners I have is apparently a cross with it and a pimpinefollia - sorry have not taken the time to check if it is Haidee Suzanne Butterball or all. Makes me wonder if that was the influence of their European ancestry, availability or factual superior hardiness - don't know but in 5 years I should. By the way very pleased to see very good cane survival for the first year on my Portland named Marie Jean I got from Lynnette last year when she gave up on it. Melissa, There is a gentleman in British Columbia I met through Lynnette who has made it a mission to collect and save Geschwinds. I need to let him know what I received and get him some cuttings. The two Canadian nurseries that I would be happy to share cuttings (gratis) that graft I have not approached as it gets too close to commercial for me and I would have to be absolutely sure that the roses are out of patent before even contact (most are over 100 years old so I am probably safe). However I sense both of them have absolutely the strictest of QA controls and would do it on their own so as to be sure of providence and disease free stock - if they survive winter and prosper I may contact them to guage their interest ... they both export to the States. Kaylah Hi, I was fortunate my Charles de Mills that I cover and is in the south gardens has 3 foot canes and lots of them ... problem is blooms are usually in short supply and last year I think I got 3. I leave it as it always grows well and takes to protection well. All my other dark gallicas are history except for the many exmaples of Belle d'Crecy I got as delambre - it also seems to survive well if covered ... but too much damage and the blooms are gone. All my cardinal Richelieu departed voluntarily over the years (3). Me I fool around with teas but only in pots and bring them in in October ... got a couple new ones this year. My FMkruger ... is a monster in zone 3 (hahhaha) and I think I must of got the most vigorous clone of this tea via Quebec. Kids you not take a cutting - stick in earth in the house and it takes like in February when I accidentally snapped a branch off ... now I got two with the younger being already at least foot high in 4 months and has gone through one bloom cycle. But the one I really miss is Mrs Schwartz ... almost as reliable as Mlle Franz Krueger (sp) ... forgot to take a cutting and over wintered her in the garage and she and all the other ones died - fortunately had cuttings for 3 of them in the basement to replace them - there as tall in two 365 day a year growing seasons as the originals.

Thank you, Lynn for reviving this old post! I have had a lot of trial and error since writing this post back in 2014. I have lost many roses to RRV in the last couple of years, and have shovel pruned just as many because I don’t have enough yard to deal with roses that defoliate in summer. My new favorite yellow rose, and possibly my favorite rose ever is the Poets Wife. I’ve had 2 that were so healthy and constantly in bloom until I had to remove them due to RRV. I also had a Sunsprite that was tiny but always healthy and with lovely dark green foliage. I’m pretty sure it just got smothered by another rose in my garden (my fault), I just noticed it didn’t come back one year, so I’m not sure what exactly happened to it, I would definitely try growing it again in a better spot. Another stellar yellow I have found that is one heck of an aggressive climber is Golden Gate. This thing has become a monster in my yard, but it is always covered with gorgeous yellow blooms & healthy green foliage. I would recommend it to anyone with a lot of space to play with. Unfortunately GG is about to be shovel pruned as well since I noticed signs of RRV on it just the other day. I am sure my husband will be happy because this thing has taken over one whole corner of the yard & it makes mowing difficult at times. I am gutted to have had so many losses these past few years, but after a year of sulking I am trying to remain positive & see it as an opportunity to grow new things, some of which are not roses. I’ve got a mixed shrub boarder going in to sort of act as a windbreak to hopefully provide some shelter to my roses from RRV mites that might be blowing around due to the mass plantings of knock outs around all the new apartment buildings in my area. I’ve got a few types of Verbena, a mock orange, a vitex, & some rose of sharon going in. All will be shades of white and blue/purple when in bloom & I am already imagining how yellow roses would look against all the shades of blue/purple. I hope to get some roses in that boarder eventually. After a year or two of “giving up” on growing roses, I am accidentally back in full force and have several yellows that were delivered or purchased in the past few weeks that are new to me this year. I’ve got a South Africa (in part because of the comment above, I always remembered that lovely photo) from ARE & I’m going to let it leaf out a little more before putting it in the bed. I found Roald Dahl at the local nursery & was so excited to find it since it was sold out when I placed my david austin order this year. I also had to buy two more the Poets Wife, since as I mentioned above it is one of my absolute favorite roses. One PW is a bareroot directly from DA, but then when I found it again at my local nursery I had to buy a second one. It will be interesting to see if the bare root catches up the the nursery potted plant, I know some people swear bare roots will surpass a nursery pot in growth its first year, but I’ve never found that to be the case for the DA roses I have grown. I do have a 4-5 year old Teasing Georgia that is doing better than ever, which is sort of shocking to me. After being very slow to establish for several years (I did buy it from the “scratch and dent” area of the nursery & then ignore it for a couple of years so it’s not really her fault), but TG looks happier than ever this year & appears to have no signs of RRV even though the rose directly next to it was one of the worst cases of RRV in the whole yard & was removed a few months back.. We will see if it continues to be healthy in the coming months, I really don’t know what to expect anymore. I can’t tell if I’m crazy or just very hopeful for continuing to try to grow roses after loosing so many to RRV last year, but most of the knock outs nearby are dying and I’ve been in contact with the apartment building office and they seem open to the idea of removing the rest after I explained the situation, so we will see. I realized I loved them too much to just not try again. I am including acouple of photos of both Teasing Georgia and the mammoth Golden Gate that is about to be removed (this will not be easy as it is massive & very thorny- say a prayer for us)

I see this post is getting old but still might be interesting. If you have Laxa it's more hardy than multiflora when that is a concern. Laxa very rarely suckers and it's a good rootstock for many modern roses like hybrid teas, floribundas and many modern shrub roses. Rosa canina the species is hardly if ever used in commercial rose production, at least in Western Europe. The varieties used are canina hybrids close to the species and there are many of them, Pollmeriana is one. Most of these varieties are old and well known; introduced in the late 19. / early 20. century. Pollmeriana has been in culture since 1905. Needs relatively warm temperatures to grow well, and not the best in areas with cooler summer temperatures. Rugosa is rarely used because it gives a much weaker oculation point. For some reason the joint between the rootstock and the rose doesn't grow that well together. In field tests the number of roses that snap and break off in the bud point is the highest of all the used roostock varieties. Rosa rugosa grows better in dry and cold conditions than most rootstocks, so it's not without advantages. One of the most commonly used caninas are canina inermis, a clone that are almost thornless, and easy to work with. It's hardy, and scores just as well as multiflora and laxa in field tests. Nurseries use different rootstocks chosen particularly for the varieties and local conditions. Still many of the caracteristics of different rootstocks are much the same in comparison, even when the same field tests are done in north and south of Europe. Some interesting points to notice in relation to pre hybrid tea roses, are that canina varieties and rosa rubiginosa are often prefered by the experienced propagators because they result in better plants. In UK laxa is often used for all types of roses climber, old and new. In mainland Europe laxa doesn't do that well for all varietes. For standards canina varieties like canina pfänders are often prefered because they give more winter hardy and longlived plants. Sometimes rugosa and multiflora is used, but the results are often considered inferior to the best varieties. I think Canina Smiths Ideal still is considered the most winterhardy of all the roostock varieties.