Gallicas sucker and spread but I don't think of them as invasive. Just cut out the suckers you dont want. I pot mine up and give them away.

In the sense that they can eat a lot of real estate in a bed in a fairly short period of time, yes some are very invasive.

I need to find another Elba for my most recent Napoleonic rose - Tuscany.

hmmmm, I guess I will have to think about it. I love it, but it only blooms once a year, and I noticed lots of new ones coming up around it. I might pot those up.
Thanks so much.

mad gallica, is that "Tuscany" you've got, or "Tuscany Superb"?

If you like gallicas and don't want them to spread, just buy them grafted instead of own root. Pickering sells them grafted onto multiflora, so they are an excellent source.

Rosefolly

Most Gallicas are very unhappy in my present (very hot, very humid) garden. I grew a number of them, however, in my previous garden where they were happy to the point of being exuberant. I learned quickly, like Rosefolly, to buy them from Pickering grafted on Multiflora. Pickering used to (& perhaps still does) have quite a wide selection, so check them out.

I still pine for the prolific 'Belle sans Flatterie' . . . sigh . . .

That is an excellent tip, getting the grafted type. The purple of Cardinal Richeleiu is really beautiful. But in my situation I can't have something that spreads widely. I was thinking of trying a container.

Apothecary Rose has sent up suckers 15' away in two years. My other gallicas (Camaieux, Rosa Mundi, Sissinghurst Castle, Nuits de Young) have not been so aggressive. They are 4 to 2 years old, so I don't really know whether how they will behave when mature. I knew about their tendency to sucker, but I thought I'd see if I could stand it. So far, so good.

I only have a few and they aren't invasive, except for Jenny Duval which I finally banished but continue to dig up as it pops up repeatedly. You can also dig a barrier and use one of those plastic border things but buried completely. I used that to keep Rugosa Alba contained. Now it is really invasive. It will eat your beds as you watch.

Tuscany. It's apparently one of those short dark things that spreads and spreads, like Comte Boula de Nanteuil.

I learn so much on this forum. I think I better go the safe route and maybe keep one in a pot, but shovel prune before it is too late. Also, its next to my neighbors yard, so I don't want them to have the same problem. Thanks, everyone.

Good point about buying grafted to contain gallicas but for what it's worth: my own-root Cardinal de Richeleiu has not sent out any suckers for 8 years while all of his neighboring gallicas (except for Belle Isis, another non-typical gallica) have.

Some people put it in the hybrid china classification. The foliage is smooth for a gallica.

They can be contained and the suckers loped off..

Buy a mattock, it is a VERY useful tool, much easier to lope off sucker than a shovel imo..

{{gwi:269134}}

This is a smaller one like a 1lb and 1/2 , This actually broke on me.. so I got a much larger head, but the smaller one would be fine for suckers.. this is my #1 tool for multipurpose garden stuff, I have rocks and roots in all of my garden beds and couldnt garden without it.

You can also get a large plastic tub as like a 10 gallon one, cut the button and plant it around the plant, it goes much deeper than the landscape edgeing, but it would be a pain to do it after you planted the rose..

Like Jim was saying the rogosas spread quickly.. I plant them where they can spread.

I dont think the gallicas spread as much as the rogusas, but thats just me..

Silverkelt

Gallicas are not usually happy in pots-I think it is because they like cool roots. The Cardinal is not all Gallica so maybe it wont care. They certainly are not all equal spreaders and your soil can make a big difference-sandy loam is ideal for spreading. I try to dig a big hole when I plant and double line with landscape fabric when I dont want them to spread..that has worked well for me-and cheap.

Perhaps I just haven't had enough own-root Gallicas in the garden long enough to see the suckering phenomenon, but so far it's not a problem. I have super-clay soil; and perhaps the summer drought helps contain them?

Some of mine are very aggressive, though not all. The worst ones are Jenny Duval, Rosa Mundi, and Belle de Crecy in terms of suckering. Most of the others I only have a few babies to dig up each year. Buying grafted and planting so bud union is above soil is an option.

Jenny Duval always tops everyones list of suckering plants. Rosa mundi has the longest suckers in my experience though I have a found Moss that gives it a run for its money. I have a number of Pickering Gallicas that I have had for many years-graft burried and all and most dont sucker or so little as to not be a problem..Jenny on the other hand was suckering the first year

Well, on further investigation, it may actually be the Mutabilis next to the CdR that is doing the suckering. Anyone have any thoughts on this? (I know this sounds dumb).

Silverkelt, so that's what that tool is called! We refer to it as "the ditch digger tool thing." I use it more than the shovel in our rock-filled clay soil.

Silverkelt, you have sold me on getting one of those. Can't believe I never had one before.

This is a v old thread but Im wondering if pll still graft roses onto multiflora? (Apologies if not using correct lingo, new to roses and coming from interest in invasives/restoration.) Curious and alarmed bc multiflora rose is indeed invasive and a huge cost and problem.

”Invasive” doesnt mean “spreads and takes and up too much space in a bed.“ Perhaps not what you want! And that is good info. But not invasive like garlic mustard, Dames rocket, bittersweet or multiflora rose.

Multiflora rose spreads by both suckering and hips, wiping out native species and wreaking havoc for birds. It’s very very hard to kill. Kind of appalled and wondering if grafting helped spresd this plant.

@Meghan (southern VT, 5b) If a nurseryman uses R. multiflora for grafting onto, they are either using seed grown starts and budding low on the shank to avoid any rootstock shoots coming up later, or they are carefully de-eyeing the cuttings to assure the same result. Properly done, R. multiflora rootstock is unlikely to send up shoots from below, and taking over the scion variety. Note: the same cannot be said of "Dr. Phooey", which almost always sends up shoots from below, ruining the scion plant above.*

That said, I do not know if any of the big nurseries still bud onto R. multiflora. Here in the USA, 99% of budded roses are on "Dr. Phooey". Pickering Nurseries used to bud onto seed-grown multiflora, but they ceased operations years ago. I have dozens of European type roses from Pickering that are now 20+ years old, and not one of them has sent up shoots from the rootstock. As I say, if done properly, there's little need to be concerned about multiflora escaping and becoming a pest.

*In the nearby city of Corvallis, nearly every third house in the downtown has a specimen of 'Dr. Huey' on their property, the result of the understock sending up shoots and taking over the scion variety.

I think Canadian Hortico and Palatine companies use multiflora understock. None of my 5 have sent up shoots.

@Sheila z8a Rogue Valley OR Ahh, I had forgotten about the other Canadian nurseries!