Maybe 12 years ago, I wrote the article linked below. The 3. at the end is a foornote to the 3 after susceptibility. George Mander "has made arrangements with a wholesale rosegrower, Jan Verschuren, to graft his budwood on R. canina. Jan prefers R. canina currently. R. canina is what was used there before WW2. The original canina was notorious for suckering. There are new canina selections since then. R. canina cv. "Inermis" is the most widely used variety. Much less suckering takes place, but it still suckers. R. canina cv."Heinsohn's Rekord" is regarded as the very best for Hybrid Teas (Jan agrees out of experience). R. corymbifera cv. "Laxa" or R. dumetorum cv. "Laxa" is more and more being grown on Europe's mainland. It was always used as a rootstock for Great Britain only. Because it suckers little and is, therefore, a cheaper way of growing roses, the mainland now also grows more and more on Laxa. However, Laxa is not as winterhardy as R. canina. For treeroses, R. canina cv. "Pfander" is the best one (his family has a well established R. canina cv."Pfander" weeping treerose of The Fairy in their garden at home surviving at some -24 degrees C unprotected, its budunion up in the air). Cheap fast production for big box stores has opened a market for multiflora cutting rootstocks for treeroses in Holland, but they have little winterhardiness. He also points out that R. multiflora is softer and the grafts a little more likely to be weak during the first year (Brad had one of George's Canadian White Star break right at the bud union; it can happen in a strong wind). Multiflora is much faster in production, but has a shorter lifespan than canina. Brad's experience is roses grafted on R. canina suckered freely and didn't produce as many basal shoots as R. multiflora or own-root roses. However, Jan points out that multiflora was shipped to Sweden because they had guaranteed snow cover in their winters. All other parts never wanted multiflora because of its frost susceptibility 3. Obviously, there is great debate going on here concerning the relative merits of various rootstocks." "3. This has always been a hot topic for Jan. Another former local grower here lost his crop on multiflora when temperatures went down to minus 24 degrees C. "I should have put more straw on" was his thinking... Jan hills up his budunions in fall and sleeps easy, even with minus 24. In his opinion, multiflora is never as winterhardy as R. canina selections are. As his father mentioned when he said to him that all growers use multiflora in Canada. " What?! Are they backward there?" The name Verschuren is closely related to rosegrowing in Holland. They are rootstock specialists. They produce seed, stratify and produce rootstock (about 6,000,000/ yr); and are only a medium size rootstock grower! Combined with Germany and the huge rosegrowers, competition is immense. Out of the competition, the best emerges because of the scale in which things are done there. The scales are different in Canada: here, rose production is done on a hobbyfarm basis. Multiflora is easy to grow; that is why it is used here; that is Jan's conclusion. When he met Otto Palleck, the just retired Ontario rosegrower, Palleck said, "What? You grow on canina? That is the best rootstock there is, but we cannot get No.1 quality here...." That was most likely not his only problem, as seed germination with canina requires 2 years of stratifying. Brian Minter told Jan initially when he started out doubtfully here with canina rootstock, "Do the best you can and grow the best product possible, and you will succeed" Now, Jan has customers who are coming back raving to buy more. His treeroses did not blink their eyes at the cold last winter." Here is a link that might be useful: A Visit with B.C. Rosemen

Interesting article. I have all three versions of CB in my garden - the "bush" form and the "spray" form were here when I moved in, and are very old. I planted the climbing form myself. I have read that for decades there was a dispute about the "spray" form - some experts (even Graham Thomas - I have a book of his that says this) insisted that it was not a sport of CB, but some other rose entirely (I forget the name they called it). Then, someone did DNA analysis on all three kinds, and low and behold, determined that they are all the same rose, just different sports. It always reminds me of how for over 100 years scientists insisted that Panda Bears weren't bears at all, and that their closest relatives were some kind of raccoon. Hah! DNA analysis revealed that they were............wait for it.........bears! Sometimes the "walks like a duck......" old test should be paid more attention! Jackie

I hibernate like my roses and watch the garden from a window. From my kitchen window I can see the blanda rose 'Betty Bland' with red canes next to Rosa pendulina, with its red flagonshaped hips. Other roses with hips near the house are R. moyesii, alba Suaveolens, R. stellata mirifica, the Portland rose and several rugosas. Pines, junipers, box and yew topiary add evergreen interest. The highlight of my winter garden is the round boxedged bed that looks wonderful powdered with snow while the sides are green. Close to the front door are two large box balls, mahonia, cherry laurel, Christmas roses and a clipped yew with red berries. I have put most evergreens where I can see them from inside or walking up to the house, redleaved bergenia 'Winterglow', rhododendrons, periwinkle, eight small box balls, euonymus 'Emerald'n Gold', cotoneaster 'Coral Beauty' and dwarf conifers like Picaea glauca 'Conica'.

wish you were closer, we would take it, and we wouldn't eat it (wink, wink)