Honestly, I just don't know anything about rootstocks. I figured that if all of the commercial growers use a certain one, they probably work out pretty well. What I'm pretty unsure about is if you buy rootstock, does it come as a young baby plant? When I graft it, can it be left on my window to be planted in the spring??

I don't graft roses myself but here is a YouTube video that might help.....maybe someone that has done grafting can add some other info or comments GRAFTING VIDEO

Budding a rose can be tricky so if the rose is important to you perhaps potting it up in a large fibre pot might be easier. Fibre pots are easy to move around and you could place it where it could survive the winter best. Also take a cutting and follow the instructions as that too could give you another rose bush. If the budeye is not strong or at the right stage or the cut got infected and caused the bud to die, you could lose your favourite rose.

oldrosarian.......why would taking a cutting of a bush cause the lose of the original bush? You are only taking one cane of several on the bush which to my thinking would be no different than cutting one cane off for a cut flower....or am I missing something?

Sorry, I got you confused. I was talking about the budding idea. You grow the budding under stock or you can buy it, usually from a wholesaler, and then you bud onto it. This takes some time and meanwhile your rose is not doing well. I would think that time is importance so potting it up and protecting it from the cold weather might save you time. Florist roses are bred for the retail trade. Many are not really hardy in a garden as they are treated like queens in a computer controlled greenhouse. If they don't have the stamina then they will slowly fail in the garden. I think it would be better to treat them as frail to make sure they do well. Also the fact that the rose is on own roots and not a hardy rootstock, is also making the rose struggle.

Hi everyone,

Thanks to all of you for your suggestions. I wanted to give a little update on what I've got planned after doing some research. I ordered 50 dr. huey cuttings from UC Davis in California. I really didn't want so many, but they had a minimum, so whatever. I'm hoping to root them when they come in in small plastic cups sealed in baggies and then try the grafting with some late October blooms or possibly start in springtime...

I'm not sure if this will actually work, but I figure that it's worth a shot and I will keep everyone updated.. I have several of the parent plants that I'm interested in grafting, so I'm sure they will make it through the winter.

Wirosarian, that video is very interesting (probably only to rose geeks like us).. I think I will try his method since it seems the most straight forward.

Thanks again:)

Do yourself a favor and call Steve at Wisconsin Roses and ask him if he would do custom budding on multiflora root stock for you. This is probably your best rout to go.

Hi Everyone,

Another update on my little project here. I successfully rooted about 16 Dr. Huey cuttings that I ordered from UC Davis. Right now they are in cups on my windowsill. Last night, I grafted 3 of them with my favorite melon colored rose that I mentioned earlier. I don't know if it's actually going to take, but I've got my fingers crossed that I did everything right.

Does anyone know what indications I should look for to see if it worked or what I should expect to see. Wish me luck:)

Eagerly awaiting more updates and info from others :)

good luck! I wish I had advice to give but I’ve never done grafting before

Good luck. I would try chip budding as well as grafting. I have tried both and never succeeded at grafting, but did succeed at chip budding. The good thing about chip budding is you can do multiple "chips" on one stem so you have more chances of it taking. Here is a great tutorial on how to do it that worked out for me: http://scvrs.homestead.com/BuddingUltimate.html

The best advice I can give you for chip budding is to be sure you make contact with green on green. Meaning, when you cut off the bud be sure to leave as much green and less white and when you attach to the root stock make sure there is contact completely, green tissue to green tissue. This was the one thing no one mentioned in any of the reading I had done that was the most essential. (Well, I finally did end up reading it somewhere, but by then I had lost 100 cuttings LOL).

Streisand Fan I’m excited to read your experience and progress. I bought Fortuniana rootstock from UC Davis last year with the same goal, but then got so busy that I missed the window to learn grafting/chip budding until next year. For now I have a bunch of rooted Fortuniana growing and waiting until then. I’m excited for you!

Here is a little update. I have grafted 5 different roses on to my dr. huey rootstock and here are some pictures. You can see the grafting tape, but I can't really tell if anything is alive underneath..

Well it’s up top you need to worry about.

How long has it been since you grafted them?

Only about a week. The part on top is actually the Dr. Huey growth, which will be cut off if the grafts take. The part under the tape is what it all depends on, so I guess we'll see..

Today I planted 3 of the rose bushes that I grafted myself. They were originally florist roses that I had grown from cuttings and planted in my garden. They never did very well on their own roots, so last fall, I ordered 50 dr. huey cuttings from UC Davis.

Not too many survived me trying to root them, but of the ones that did, I was able to graft bud eyes on to 3 of them. All winter long they have looked alive, but haven't really grown or swollen like I had hoped. It's interesting that roses indoors seem to mimic the growth patterns of roses outside. I think my mistake was starting these cuttings and doing the grafting in the fall as opposed to the spring when they would naturally be in a state of active growth.

So far, I am hopeful that these grafted roses will be a success and I will keep everyone updated..