Obviously, I don't garden in LA, but I do garden in the alkaline soil of the desert hills outside Boise, Idaho. I grow roses on both Dr Huey, and multiflora rootstocks, including quite a few from Palatine, a few from Hortico, including Augusta Luise, and a few from the now closed Pickering in Canada. They both do well, but I prefer Dr Huey. I would think you could grow roses on both rootstocks, too. Diane

I lived in the Valley for years, 10a, and am now 20 miles north in 9a.

LA is huge. Are you on the coastal plain, or in the hills? Does your garden get a lot of ”June gloom” in the spring, or does it just get sunny and hot and stay that way from May through October?

LA is a land of many microclimates. I found the Sunset zones very useful in establishing what grows where in our vast city and county. For example, I used to live in moderate 20, now I’m in hotter, colder, drier 18.

That said, every grafted rose I’ve ever had, including those that came with my circa 1949 house in 10a, has had Dr. Huey rootstock. i too have heard (somewhere in the forum) that multiflora is less likely to succeed in SoCal, but soil varies from place to place: mine is alkalibe, but yours could be loam, sandy (especially if you’re near the beach), or sime combination of all three types. We used inexpensive do-it-yourself soil test kits from the big box stores..

I’ve long wanted to try roses grafted on fortuniata, but our extreme lack of summer humidity may make that a bad idea.

YMMV

Sylvia

@Sylvia i just checked online and i might be sunset zone 19. I live in the Valley too and have heavy clay soil. And my garden stays sunny (read scorching sun) may through september (this year). I have no idea how alkaline my soil is. :(

Ben, Exactly. That's been my experience, too. Diane

Rose Beginner,

I think we’ve concluded that you could use either Multiflora or Dr Huey (or Fortuniana or Own Root), just depending on what most available to you. You’re fortunate to live in Sunset zone 19 too, not much disease pressure around that area.

Thank you BenT and everyone! :)

I'm in coastal Santa Barbara, and have grown tons of roses on Multiflora, Dr. Huey, and own-root for > 20 years, and they all do fine. I haven't grown them on Fortuniana, but Kitty Belendez of the Santa Clarita Valley Rose Society has a lot on Fortuniana. You might do a search of her name or the SCVRS, and I'm sure she'd be happy to chat!

Susan,

I’m glad you gave your input on success with various rootstocks as well! There’s just too much misleading information around about how each rootstock and each own root rose can only do well if its own special requirements are met. I grow a substantial amount of roses on Fortuniana in my alkaline clay too, they seem quite happy to me. I agree Kitty Belendez and her late husband have provided such great information over the years.

Forgot to say that our soil and water in Santa Barbara is very alkaline. Also forgot to say that a number of years ago, I did an experiment where I grew 3 new Sunset Celebrations on Dr. Huey, Multiflora, and own-root, and they all did great. I chose SS b/c it was one I already grew, so I knew it well.