Last week I dug up a dwarf grafted apple tree that wasn’t doing well. Only after I got it out of the ground did I notice several growths at distal stem nodes, like yours. I, too, saw nothing near soil level. Nor on the root system.

I decided it was this: https://www.apsnet.org/edcenter/disandpath/prokaryote/pdlessons/Pages/CrownGall.aspx

When I searched for differential diagnosis of crown gall, I came up with nothing (helpful in giving me hope).

@rifis (zone 6b-7a NJ) - Thanks, I agree. I’ve never seen or heard of it presenting this way but I’m not sure what else it could be. Now that I’ve pruned it, I don’t see it elsewhere and now just debating whether to keep it.

There was a suggestion to "keep it". No documentation was given. What I have seen for roses planted in the ground is to eliminate the plant and sterilize the soil.

Example of recent article:

https://agrilifeextension.tamu.edu/library/landscaping/crown-gall-of-roses/

The following quote is from a discussion of galls in potted roses:

"In my area, anything too closely related to Ballerina or The Fairy is pretty much guaranteed to gall and fairly quickly die from it."

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/1565032/crown-gall-on-the-roots-of-roses-grown-in-pots

i didn’t know crown gall could be on aerial branches either, but apparently it is common in walnut orchards. I found this article pretty quickly. It talks about pruning tools possibly spreading to stems after cutting suckers at ground level. https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=28927

Also I wonder if A tumefaciens that causes gall isn’t really pretty much everywhere? I have come across information that indicates certain bacteria in the soil can protect against A tumefaciens entering the wound. For this reason I use a beneficial microbe mix of high quality and high diversity of species to sprinkle on the roots when putting in bareroot roses. I also scratch in to soil around all new plants.

@Stephanie, 9b inland SoCal - thanks for the info, Stephanie. I know I need to be more careful about cleaning my pruners in between roses. I definitely did, though, after pruning The Fairy. What microbe mix do you use?

@Henry Kuska - Great articles, thank you. Maybe The Fairy is just more prone to it. I will definitely keep this one potted.

@Sheila z8a Rogue Valley OR - I agree, I will keep it away from my other roses and continue to enjoy it for now.

I bought 3 that seemed to have different species to try to get as many types of beneficial microbes as possible in my new garden started fall of 2018. All my new plants got one or two of these. MycoBliss, MycoBloom and Wildroot. Wildroot was only a small pack so a bit pricier. I store them in my fridge so they will last longer. But should be used within a couple years of purchase