The graft success on Fortuniana is significantly lower than the graft take on Dr. Huey. Once again, it boils down to profits.

I may be wrong, but it's my understanding that Fortuniana isn't as cold-hardy as Huey.

It probably wouldn't be cost-effective for big commercial growers to use different rootstock for different areas -- and I gather that Huey is on the average good in more places than not. But in my (coastal-SoCal-alkaline-very-mild-and-increasingly-dry) conditions, Fort is a top performer.

My Fortuniana is a cutting from an old one, in an old cemetery, It grows unchecked from the bottom of my hill almost to the top, and is a home for hundreds of birds. This is one portion of it:

That raises the question of Multiflora -- which is a good rootstock in some areas. It's a TERRIBLE rootstock for my alkaline conditions (and yes, I have tried it) -- but might be good in the PNW.

Yes, Fortuniana isn't hardy in cold zones, and I wouldn't try it colder than about zone 7. It's fabulous for warm climates and it's one of the only rootstocks that is resistant to some of the soil problems in places like Florida. Multiflora is what Palatine uses but as Jeri says it's not good for highly alkaline settings. It does OK in our alkaline loamy clay, but we're not as highly alkaline as Jeri. I think the preference for Dr. Huey was an attempt to find a rootstock that works most places, and now becomes an "everyone else does it" kind of rootstock. There are other rootstocks that would probably work multiple places (like maybe Ragged Robin), but there isn't the history or easy availability of access.

Now that you're aware of the rootstocks, see what does well for your region. In the PNW, I think you'd have the options of growing roses on any of the available ones. Assume that anything you buy grafted from a big box store or local garden center is on Dr. Huey unless they tell you otherwise.

Cynthia

K&M Roses grafts exclusively on Fortuniana. Palatine grafts on Multiflora.

As others have mentioned, Fortuniana is harder to graft, and less hardy. It’s reputed to produce larger, more well branched, longer lived bushes, and is resistant to nematodes.

I’ve been very happy with my roses on Fortuniana. That said, I have only one variety, PJPII, that is grafted on both Fortuniana and Dr Huey, and it has been doing wonderful on either rootstock.

Melody Parfumee, on Fortuniana:

I've heard that Barcelona/Francis Dubreuil is a monster, on Fortuniana.

Well, I feel stupid! hahaha I was thinking Palantine used Fortuniana as a rootstock. I knew it wasn't Dr. Huey.

So it seems both Fortuniana and Multiflora are better suited to my garden than Dr. Huey. Does anyone besides Palantine use Multiflora? Tell me more about Multiflora!

BenT...I've never looked at K&M roses before. I will definitely check out their rose list!

Does anyone know what rootstock Regan's Roses uses? I tried to find the info on their website but couldn't.

I'd say about 2/3 of my approximately 200 roses are own root. Most of my grafted roses are Austins (on Dr. Huey I assume) and roses I bought bare root from Regan's and Palantine.

Hmmmm.....I just googled Regan's and it seems they don't actually grow roses. They come from growers on California and Canada using both multiflora and Dr. Huey.

There is so much to learn about the rose world!

Multiflora rootstock hasn’t been a problem at all for me, most of my multiflora roses from Palatine have more vigor, but it might be because a lot of them are Kordes, but I have a few non Kordes, like Gold Medal, Marijke Koopman, Auguste Renoir and Dream Come True that are on Multiflora, that were impressive in their first season. Are Hortico roses on Multiflora?

I think I’ve decided Fortuniana probably isn’t the right rootstock for me, but I think I’ll end up with a few survivors with it. I’m glad for those who it works well for, like Ben, your roses are fantastic!

Cool Roses also grafts on fortuniana root stock. Many people will send roses to Geoff to get customized roses put on the fortuniana. I think many people who show roses do this because they preform so much better. From what I understand is that while fortuniana isn't considered to be cold tolerant if you can get it to make it a couple of years so it gets really established than it will handle the cold. Most people originally thought it had just the shallow feeder roots, which it does for the first few years, but eventually it will put in a deep long tap root. At that time it is much more hardy, but it will take awhile.

Rosylady -- If you bought any of your Austins from Canadian sources, they likely are on Multiflora. I still have a handful of Austins on Multiflora, because they came from Hortico, in Canada. I suspect some of those may also be virus-free (tho that is by no means certain).

What Malcolm says about T budding fits. The late Johnny Becnel who lived on the Mississippi River delta (way south of New Orleans) was primarily a citrus grower. He found success with an inverted (upside down) Tbudding onto Fortuniana. He was very specific. If the bud didn't go in firmly, throw it away and try elsewhere on the scion.

I garden in an area that many years is Zone 7 and can be zone 6 cold years. I have a viable Fortuniana that I've grown for over ten years. It can handle my cold. But roses grafted onto Fortuniana keep pushing new canes anytime in winter that we get a warm spell, and those very soft canes die, and become cankers and rot the grafted part of the rose. That becomes a "some people here grow roses on Fort." but most can't grow them long term in the ground.

I’m very curious if setigera can be used successfully for grafting? Or perhaps setigera descendants like Arcata Pink Globe. The rose seems to root easily, and is successful in cold climates like mine, without have the alkalinity sensitivities that multiflora has. Also- is RRV more of an issue for roses that have multiflora grafted rootstocks? There haven’t been any recorded cases here in MN yet, but Iowa is plagued and I’m sure it will come sooner or later. I’ve been pondering this the more I read all the research being done on the disease. Can a more disease resistant rootstock pass on protection to the plant above?

Malcolm, when you use a strong Dip 'n Grow solution, how long do you put the cutting into the solution? I tried a strong solution of it this spring on some hard to root ones but think I left the cuttings too long in the solution.

I have a number of roses grafted on Fortuniana which I bought from K&M. I don't think I've lost one to cold and we've had temps down to 4 degrees and freezes that don't let up for a week or even two. I'm in zone 7. Some of my Fort. plants have lived up to expectations and some were not at all great.

Thanks for all the interesting and informative details on Fortuniana budding, Dr Manners. It also reminds me that my big gorgeous Firefighter, grafted on Fort, is leaning heavily...I better secure it back to its rebar pole before it goes topsyturvy =)

I am learning so much from this thread. There is such great knowledge and experience here. It's really interesting to hear about people's different experiences.

Jeri...most of my Austin's were bare root plants purchased from local nurseries. Does that mean they are probably California or Texas grown (doesn't Austin grow his US roses in Texas?)

What got me thinking about this topic was watching an Episode of The Victorian Flower Garden (on YouTube). It talks all about how rose grafting was done 100 hundred years ago in England, in this case they were taking about rose standards, which were all the rage at the time. "Briar men" would harvest wild roses to be used at the rootstock for the standards. It was extremely interesting, and it got me thinking about grafting.

England is a small country and I imagine that a single rootstock works well all over the country. America is much larger and more geographically diverse (as well as vastly different climates). It makes sense to have regional rose growers who provide plants with rootstocks suited to those areas.

I didn't realize (or really know the difference) that there were places to buy roses grafted onto certain rootstocks.

I was re-reading that incredible thread by Fragrancnutter called "fragrant roses that produce abundant perfect cut blooms" and she says that she makes sure all her roses are on Fortuniana because it gives her bigger plants with more blooms. Now, she's in Australia, has lots of heat, and is a superlative gardener. I live in the PNW, have not much heat, and am an average gardener (and a rose growing newbie).

Where we are similar is in our warm winters (I am in a solid zone 9 now) and maybe our soils. I garden on glacial till which is incredibly fast draining. Even with liberal organic amendments my garden requires a shocking amount of irrigation for roses to thrive in it. This took me 15 years to figure out :)

I would like to be able to back off on the water (I have my own well thankfully) over time as the roses become more established, and be mindful about buying roses that will thrive in my particular garden and soil. I have many own root antique tea roses that I think will like my mild winters, quick draining soil, and warm microclimate created by a large gravel driveway on one side and the road on the other.

If Fortuniana will help me deal with these particular conditions, that would be great. A rose that naturally enjoys heavier soil will not enjoy my garden :)

"Jeri...most of my Austin's were bare root plants purchased from local nurseries. Does that mean they are probably California or Texas grown (doesn't Austin grow his US roses in Texas?)"

**** Hard to say, because others also have offered budded Austins.

I have One Golden Celebration (from Hortico) on Multiflora. One own-root from that plant, and two J&P plants on Dr. Huey. In the long haul, the OR one is probably the best plant.

But one thing we have learned as our climate has altered is that -- at least HERE -- ALL of our Austin roses need more water than our Teas and Chinas. (I make no claims for how things do in other areas. I've only gardened HERE.)

We supplement the Austins with greywater, and that helps them a lot. Which is a huge reason why we are planting more Teas and Chinas and the like, and no new Austins.

Erasmus, We did an experiment a few years ago, to determine how long to soak a cutting in Dip-N-Grow solution. We varied it from 1 second to 5 minutes (If I remember correctly). What we found was that anywhere from 5 seconds up to nearly 2 minutes gave the same good results. Shorter or longer gave less good results. So we normally guestimate 10 seconds, to be safe, but don't really measure it very accurately. For most roses, we use a 1:8 dilution; it's only for the challenging stuff that we go with the stronger solution.