The "weeping" varieties look best to me. I have a 60" 'Renae' that is excellent, and there are some quite nice 'Flower Carpet Pink' standards in the neighborhood. They weep nicely and bloom a lot. Some floribundas, the really twiggy ones like 'Iceberg', are not bad, too.

We have a couple of 24" Fairy tree rose which are spectacular. I also love our Blushing Knock Out (also 24" patio trees) & our 36" Gourmet Popcorn. We've found it's best to go with smaller blooms because you get much more of a show out of it.

Gourmet Popcorn and Sweet Chariot.

But if you are willing to fertilize the bejesus out of it, I've also seen phenomenal examples of tree roses using Fame! and Playboy. Both developed trunks in excess of 4" in diameter over time.

Here is a diagram of tree rose basics just a FYI

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I haven't used metal for a stake but I wish I had. I think coated rebar would be great to use.

Allison

Hi, Peggy! I also consider how many grafts the tree roses come with... The more grafts the tree rose has the more likely it will have a rounded appearance... And will also save you from bad mishaps should one cane or stem get wacked out or suffer from canker. Some tree roses from other vendors only come with 2 bud unions... I know that mine come with 4 grafts, all of which I have desperately needed.

I think it would be great if everyone were to help post a photo of their mature tree roses for you so that you can compare...

So far I have been very happy with both of mine from Jackson & Perkins... They have 4 grafts each...but!!! they are very young tree roses and still have a long ways to go...

I have Fragrant Cloud and Gemini. So far Gemini, at least to me has a naturally rounded appearance...Fragrant Cloud I have to hack to control its shape from getting too tall all at once. Both are prolific bloomers but Fragrant Cloud is the continual bloomer whereas Gemini is almost continual, but not quite... It goes through a more distinct repeat flush, whereas with FC it's always coming up roses upon roses. I think other considerations for tree roses can be taken such as how prolific is it to enhance its beauty...It's a bit boring just to have a rounded cluster of leaves I think.

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Included in these photos are my FC tree rose's very first blooms (the one with the dog), and one of the times when I had a bad mishap due to a huge rainstorm. But once the sun came out and I cut some of the blooms, the tree rose had some time to straighten up and although some of the canes remained bent, it will eventually even out, I can tell...As you can see Fragrant Cloud needs all 4 grafts to force the rounded illusion... Both my tree roses are fed Garden-ville Sea tea so perhaps this could also have an effect... The flowers are huge...

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Playboy Tree Rose

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Renae

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Mary Rose

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Electric Blanket

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Citrus Tease

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Knock Out Tree Rose

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Pink Dbl Knock Out tree rose

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Double Delight

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Unknown

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'weeping' tree roses

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LOL! decobug, remember vendors and landscape gardens don't count! there's only a few in there who are home growers...like the magnificent Electric Blanket! now that's a killer tree rose... That person knows and grows his tree rose...Hope someday mine will look as full and lush! That would be a dream. I always feel that home photos are the ones that need to be listed because they show reality... (not the EHow photos or the J&P and other vendors like "Fast-Growing Trees" and Growquest as the ones depicted....

Thanks everyone. Does anyone have a home photo of a carpet flower tree rose? I'm kind of curious about that one.
I have a Playboy, but it's not blooming much. Guess I'll have to fertilize a bit more as suggested.
Does Gourmet Popcorn have to be dead-headed?

Thanks, Allison, for the diagram.

Peggy, I have two tree roses, both of which were in sad shape last fall when I bought them. (On clearance, so I didn't have much of an investment.) My 'Dream Come True' is still sadly shaped, but my 'Ebb Tide' is rounding out very nicely and blooms almost continuously. Ebb Tide is also fragrant, which is nice as she is planted by the walkway to my front door.

Just a side note: I saw some 'tree roses' for sale the other day and the poor things were only 12" tall! I wondered if they would ever get any taller - maybe someone can tell us. The ones I have now are around 36" and it's a nice size, as they are not in pots but are planted in the ground.

Here's a pic from last year of a newly potted bareroot Julia Child tree rose from Witherspoon Roses. This is a Weeks rose and they are only grafted on two sides as opposed to J&P's 4:

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Here's the same plant a few days ago:

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I also have 2 standards from Jackson and Perkins. I have Welcome Home which is a yellow and Mr. Lincoln. I live in a different zone then you do but these 2 are doing great in our hot summer ( I am in zone 10, in AZ). They get plenty of water which they need when it is 112F. The Welcome Home is in a huge pot by my front door (like the 2 Electric blankets above) the Mr. Lincoln is in the middle of a mixed rose bed. Right now is really not our growing time in our heat the roses go somewhat dorment so they have no flowers on them but as soon as october comes(usually by the middle of Oct) the rose will perk back up and look great. Right now all they get is water,water,water! So, I do not have a pic to show you until the fall.
These 2 have been great growers for me disease resitant and they glide through the heat but as I said above no flowers in the hot summer. (I do get some flowers but they just don't look as good as they should) Our winters are so mild that is our growing time.
Carrie
Rose Forum member since 1997

I think polyanthas would make good tree roses...

Here is a link that might be useful: Weeping China Doll

My Tamora from Austin is spectacular. I am NOT posting any pictures because I don't wany her to get an inferiority complex.

Hoovb just gave me an inferiority complex! Not only is Renae stunning, from what I can see the entire yard is absolutely beautiful! OK, off the computer - I'm going outside to work in the yard!

Wow these are some beautiful tree roses! I am wondering how zone 5 and 6'ers are growing tree roses planted in the ground. Am I missing something?

Also, does anybody know how many grafts on Regan Tree Roses? If you get canker on a cane, does the graft still produce other canes later that will fill in?

Thanks!

I buy most of my tree roses from Reagan. They are vendors for all the big companies (JP, Weeks). The have the largest selection and good customer service but it is hit or miss as far as health and survival. Angel Face, Bella Roma, Bolero, and Marilyn Monroe were fair this year. My Blossom Blanket from JP will not die...and I don't love it. It survives a zone 5 winter. Hoovb, you Renae is spectacular. In zone 5, I use lots of tree roses as annuals.

hoovb, what is that creamy pink up against the wall to the right of Renae?

Do the weeks roses have 4 grafts? Where else would you suggest looking for tree roses that has a large selection?

Hurray for HoovB and JeffAurora with their gorgeous tree roses... I hope my very young tree roses will someday be like theirs...

Peggy, yes, fertilizing is very important with hybrid tea roses... You see with floribunda tree roses and the weeping ones (smaller roses) what you'll get is constant color drama, whereas hybrid teas need alfalfa/sea tea types of mixtures to encourage them to have a full lush thick growth instead of the lanky hybrid tea shape and they need those nice organic nutrients to produce more and more blooms...Usually hybrid teas are only repeat bloomers with distinct flushes unlike many floribundas...so you need the organic fertilizers to bring out faster blooming and a healthier tree rose...

Also you have to consider a tree rose that is suited to your climate...If you have harsh, glaring scorching sun, it can impact your tree rose as well. Our sun in the Midwest is a scorcher, very intense! and we get roasting heat, but Gemini still holds up its hybrid tea form very well. Not many hybrid teas can.

Susan4952, heee-hee! please! post your Tamora. I've never seen a Tamora tree rose! my lopsided crazy tree rose pics should put you at ease... I'm not a bit ashamed of them because this is their first growing season, even though they look ridiculous compared to JeffAurora's and HoovB, LOL! and Susan, it's time for YOU! to make meeeee look ridiculous too...

Redsox, with Zone 5 & 6 you can't plant outside unless you bury the whole thing underground. You have to keep them in pots and inside the garage. Even March is too early to keep completely outdoors (you have to bring them in and out) My Gemini was a miracle survivor of a huge ice storm in March 2009 (when I bought it) but I had to dig the whole thing out of the ground and stick it into a pot/indoors... My Gemini tree rose was my very first grown rose! and I nearly killed it (that was when I found our forum because of that catastrophe)...but as you can what a blessing to have it survive and bloom.

hoovb, what is that creamy pink up against the wall to the right of Renae?

Tall one? 'Somebreuil'. Perhaps the shade makes it look pink. It is white in reality.

Hoovb, your roses are gorgeous. What rose is this?

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Thank you.
Lana

{{gwi:303104}} Don't have a good pic. of Tamora...here is Double Delight from JP

so many beautiful rose.

Here is a link that might be useful: China Jordan Co;ltd

Here is a pic of my red flower carpet tree rose. Just bought it @ Lowes in July, has been blooming non-stop ever since. Plus the foilage stays a nice glossy green and the canopy bushy. I used to have an Iceberg standard and a Intrigue standard, both were spindly and raggedy looking by July...I personally would recommend the Flower Carpet rose tree to anyone

Here is a link that might be useful: red carpet flower tree rose

There are some rather spectacular examples of tree roses here. But, if you have them in cold winter areas, do you do the "Minnesota tip", or some other winter protection method? The "Minnesota tip" is digging up one side of the rose and bending it over onto the ground, anchoring it down, and burying it for the winter. Then when spring comes, uncovering it, setting it back up, and letting it get going. To me, a well-grown tree rose is beautiful, but not a real good choice for here in the midwest unless that extra care is standard operating procedure. Does anyone do this, and if so, does this work reasonably well?

I found this post informative and also enjoyed the photos...I recently received a Playboy Tree for Mothers Day. I am trying to decide on what soil and pot size to use when I repot it from the one it came in.

The pruning guide I will attempt to follow. Though I am new to all this...I see the spring pruning will be the most difficult for me. Because it is done so harsh. But if the end results are best then I will attempt to do so.

Who knows...I have a few areas that some potted roses would work. The weeping rose tree is amazing! I may have to also look into that if I do we'll with winterizing mine and it comes back next spring.

@hoovb I live in Roseville, and I was wondering where you purchased your Renae Rose Standard? After seeing your gorgeous roses, I'd love to have one for my own yard.