Oooh, that's a serious suckering from Dr. Huey, the rootstock. Aloha is a goner, I would remove it.

Blueberry Hill, might be salvaged, you have to get down to the base of those Dr. Huey suckers and scrape it off where it connects to the plant.

Weeks grafts to Dr. Huey. Suckering can happen to any grafted rose, but mostly on those grafted to Dr. Huey, the supplier doesn't matter. You will get suckering if the plant is stressed during the winter. That's why many of us bury the graft union 2"+ below the surface of the soil, it helps keep the desired variety alive and reduces suckering.

As Diane says, tear all those suckers off at their base and scrape off anything left from each sucker. Then you will still have your Blueberry Hill. You will need to watch for this every year and be sure to get any suckers taken off quickly. They are the rootstock trying to grow and take over.

You don't say where you live, but if you are in an area with cold winters you will need to protect your roses by either planting them deep as Diane suggests or hilling them up with dirt or mulch once you have your first hard freeze every winter. Don't just toss a little mulch on them. Be sure to hill it up at least 10 inches, and it wouldn't hurt to put a ring of newspaper or mesh around the hill to keep it from washing down during the winter.

You might need to plant deeper in the future. Or was there roses planted there previously, and rootstock left in the soil from the previous plants?

Do you cultivate (disturb the soil) around the plants? You might be hitting roots and slightly damaging them thus encouraging suckers.

As mentioned before, pull (don't cut) all those suckers right away.

Just to be sure the OP understands the situation: a grafted rose consists of two different rose varieties physically stuck together, for example Blueberry Hill canes above and Dr. Huey roots below, joined at the graft swelling. If shoots come off the rootstock, they will develop into Dr. Huey canes. Cutting these canes back does not help much, but they can be ripped out at the base where they arise, or cut flush and then pared so that no trace of the shoot remains on the rootstock. Rootstock takeover can be arrested so long as there is healthy scion material (BH or Aloha).

Dr. Huey is more winter-hardy and vigorous than roses such as Blueberry Hill, so rootstock takeover can progress rapidly in zone 7a and colder climates where the scion material suffers freeze damage. For that reason, grafted roses should be planted deep enough to protect the graft from freezing.

Sorry - I'm in Northern California, 9b. I'll be on Blueberry Hill like a fly on ... well... you know. Do I have a snowballs chance of recovering cl. Aloha?

If you can find all of the Dr. Huey canes and rip them off of Aloha, you might have a chance. Looks like quite a chore to me.

With as much DH as you have there yo may have to dig them out and then rip off all the DH canes and replant. Good luck and please let us know how it goes.

If these were my roses, I would take cuttings of your roses and root them. That way you have own-root back-up copies in case your sucker-ectomy surgery is unsuccessful and the patient dies.

Connie

Connie - I really like your idea. I think I'm going to tear off the DH suckers (as I look - there are 2) on Blueberry Hill and see if I can keep her pure. But cl. aloha - you know, the darned climbing DH just doesn't look all that bad where it is, and I really don't want to kill it. So - I will try to take cuttings of cl. aloha and see if I can get a new, own root copy, and then just leave cl. Dr. Huey where he/she is! Thanks all. Never a dull moment with the roses.

Ummm, don't forget that Dr. Huey is a once bloomer - still want it?

Crud. Ok - will combine ideas. Will take some cuttings first, then yank away. Should be interesting...

Took the leap and removed all signs of Dr. Huey from cl. aloha. Here's her "after" photo - think she may be ok. Crossing fingers - her fragrance is heavenly.

{{gwi:276650}}

Good job -- I'll keep my fingers crossed for you that it stays that way.