I'll try to comment for you. First in about what area do you garden. I live in northern Illinois which is zone 5a. So any information that I have is from my experience growing roses here. You might lived in Florida. This is an area where growing conditions make a difference.

That is nonsense! Don't be discouraged! It may be "a thing" that can happen but won't necessarily. But it is a good idea to plant your grafted roses deep enough so that they can DEVELOP INTO "own roots"; that way you get the best of both. Correct planting depth depends a lot on your climate,so I second Patty's request for info about where you are gardening.

I do like to buy own root, but the plant deep, so they sometimes grow own roots idea is a good one.

Amazingly, I still have six of the roses I bought in summer of 2001, the same year I bought the house. They are Burning Desire, Carefree Delight, the Fairy, Moon Shadow, Tropical Twist, and Zephirine Drouhin. It wasn't until years later that I figured how to properly protect roses from our freeze/thaw winter.

I think my oldest grafted rose was planted in 1995. Bury the graft and don't worry about it.

About half my roses are over 10 years old, and all but one (a year old plant) are grafted. Diane

My oldest was planted in 1992.

Depending on where you live, in the colder zones (I would say 7 and below), you would want to plant the graft union 3 - 4 inches below the surface of the soil.

Thank you all so much. The planting depth information is terrific. I'm in Toronto, Canada, which I've read to be Zone 5.

Not to worry, Princess... I planted these roses with the graft 4 inches below the soil line 15 years ago, and they are still going strong. Most important... food and water. A rose can't be expected to do it's best without those 2 things.

Rebecca

Many of my grafted roses are over 30 years old, and one (President Herbert Hoover) was first planted more than 80 years ago and has moved to three different gardens with me in the last 45 years. It's still going strong. An own-root President Herbert Hoover I bought as backup in case the original one would die of old age didn't live even three full years.

Rebecca, your roses are gorgeous. That delicate pink is my absolute favorite but I haven't seen any varieties for sale in my area that I like. I could lie down next to that border, it's so heavenly :-) How are they so lush and abundant?

Princess, you are so sweet! The roses are called Johann Strauss. I mail ordered them in the spring time, which is what you will probably have to do to get what you want. I planted them 18 inches apart on center, with the graft at least 4 inches under the dirt line. I added compost to the soil at that time and mixed it in. Then after I watered them well, let that drain in, I watered them again.

Then I got a drip hose that meanererd through the roses and water them once a week for about 8 hours. I put pine bark mulch on top of the dirt, which I can do because I don't get diseases here... it may be different in your area. I feed them with Osmocote for flowers 1/4 cup for each rose every year in March and make sure it goes through the mulch down to the soil. You don't have to have drip irrigation to get roses like this. It just makes it easier if you do. If not, water well once or twice a week depending on the weather. Water more in high heat.

Check with your local rose society for areas that sell roses. I know there is a place in Canada called Palentine that a lot of people on rose forum purchase roses from. And by the way, that row of roses contains both grafted and own-root roses. I love them all!

Sadly, Johann Strauss is not widely available anymore. Northland Rosarium used to carry it and may again if enough people would request it. Johann Strauss winter kills to the ground every year here, but comes back strong to do what you see three times a season. Pretty remarkable for a rose in zone 4.

Here is a link for Palantine roses. https://palatineroses.com/roses Scroll down and you will find some beautiful roses.

I hope you find the roses you are looking for and enjoy them all!!

Rebecca

Thank you for sharing so generously, Rebecca. I'm actually heading to Palatine in a couple of weeks. We were going to go sooner but got despondent after black spot hit us a few weeks ago and I started wondering if I had started off on the wrong foot growing grafted hybrid tea roses from the nurseries in my area. I am really thankful for the advice from everyone because I feel confident now that the time and attention I am giving to these plants will not be in vain. Thanks again!