I'm beginning to agree with you guys thinking C might be the graft... basically, I'm seeing the theory of the Dr. Huey being everything that does not come from C. So let's test this out. I dug the rose out and went and transplanted it to one of my houses where work is being down for a couple of weeks. It will be watered daily by the guys so it will do well despite the hot weather. I pruned it all the way down to C. I left B in tact but will go back and cut it off. We'll see how this roles. A question I forgot to address earlier: no, I didn't quite notice different leaves, all I can say is that the lower leaves looked much smaller than the upper ones, I think that it is possible the HT is gone but it was definitely there last year, no doubts on that. true-blue, I already have the rose bug. I grew up on a mansion with over 200 beautiful roses in a much warmer part of the world. No winter protection needed lol. Got me hooked. Alas, I am here now. Ken, I planted all 15 roses in much higher temps last year. They all actually put on a good show last year and are doing well now. You can plant anytime right? Just need to water when hot. Following Jackie's suggestion earlier in this discussion, I contacted an expert rosarian that's local. He suggested indeed to plant HTs deep and still cover them up with lots of dirt and mulch for winter. Sounds good, well, I planted 15 already without doing that. I'm not in the mood to disturb those plants and I did pretty good with 14 out of 15 of the HTs making it. So I just don't know...

Lovely rose as always, Jeri. If anyone is looking for this rose, Heirloom also sells it and mine really took off after planting this spring. Usually I disbud all my small bands in their first year, but mine not only put on some substantial growth already this year (not common in the "old" Heirloom) it also put out two huge blooms. Mine have reddened up more on the edges in our heat, but it's definitely a keeper. I wish mine would show more of the contrast in your photo, but she's still a baby and there's time! Cynthia

It's a great plant, nice structure & leaves, healthy & vigorous for me that isn't a water hog once established. I don't like the color. It's a dull flat rosy red, almost gray magenta... don't recall the flower shape or fragrance, so it must be passable. I really liked Cesar Chavez, O.L. Weeks & Loving Memory this year. Variable fragrance for those three depending on conditions.

@Moses, Bumping this thread, though it's not that old. I have two own-root Stiletto younglings (quarter-pot starter size) recently planted at the start of June. In just three weeks time, I already had a few blooms and they were exquisite. (I wish I would have taken photos, but I will next time, which will probably be soon - given new bud formation again). Although it is certainly much too early to make any solid statements about the overall performance of this rose in my scorching-hot and humidity-soaked zone 8A central Mississippi summer climate, I can in the meantime decisively confirm at least one particular quality that has surprised me: Stiletto blooms appear to last a few weeks! The petals do not fall off as the rose ages (unlike a number of roses which unremarkably "shatter" within a few day's time of unfirling). I've not noticed a SINGLE petal coming loose with Stiletto, even in full sun and after being inundated with the heavy downpour of a severe thunderstorm. Instead, the petals slowly harden off, gracefully drying out (not unlike some dried rose arrangements), and finally the entire flower head shrivels up, inevitably browns, then falls off at the node-neck break ("self cleans"). Throughout this transition, in full summer heat and scolding Sun, the rose color shifts as it ages; first, opening in a voluptuous plum-red (mostly red with hints of a violet cast, reminiscent of Santa Rosa plum skin color), then turning a more decidedly bold magenta, and ending with a provacative yet aggreeable purple at the onset of its drying out as it approaches browning. Hence, at the very least, it can be said that Stiletto demonstrates EXCEPTIONALLY stable blooms. I've not seen a rose hold on as tenaciously yet gracefully as this one [in recent memory], based upon over three dozen rose varieties currently in my collection to make that comparative assertion. Stay tuned for additional assessments to come, and some planned posted images.