I'm not sure there is really much choice in rootstocks, unless you are ordering from canadian sources that graft on mf, or a few sources that offer fortuniana. I know the roses sold locally don't label and don't know what rootstock their roses are on. But if you want them to go ownroot, why not just get ownroot to start? Of course there are some roses that need to be grafted, because they are such weak growers on their own roots.

The major growers were moving to own-root production even BEFORE J&P was sold.
I know Weeks has gone that way.
Both Tom Carruth and Keith Zary flat told me that when evaluating potential
new introductions, the ability to grow own-root has become a major factor.

So as time goes by, there will be fewer and fewer budded roses produced in
the U.S. -- and from the point of view of curtailing the spread of virus,
that's a terrific thing.

Would you prefer to buy a rose bred and selected to grow own-root, which has NOT
been infected? Or would you prefer a rose budded onto virused 'Dr. Huey' rootstock?

Jeri

Thanks. I had read on here to bury the union and it would never revert back to the original plant. Is that right? Again, I am new to this so I am trying to keep from sounding goofy. lol. Judy

Judy
Many grafted roses, plant with the graft 4-6 inches deep will, over a year or two, root on that portion of the canes buried in the soil. Eventually this can result in a rose being on it's own roots. In some cases the root stock will stay viable and sucker but in my experience it usually just becomes a deep anchor root.
On roses planted this way, when transplanting after a few years, you may find that each cane that has rooted can be separated from the root stock and become a separate bush.
A Touch of Class I transplanted when I moved gave me nine separate own root bushes. The one I still have is growing as well as any grafted bush and gives me large exhibition blooms each year on very strong canes.
Rugosas are very difficult to root but sucker readily on their own roots. I have many potted rugosas obtained from rooted suckers.

Thank you Karl for filling me in on the planting of the union. So I might as well do all of them that way you think? When you get seperate bushes like that from Touch Of Class how could you tell it was seperate and not part of the original bush and feel comfortable digging it up? Judy

Touch of Class is a Hybrid Tea, and unlikely to sucker.
If you wanted to propagate it, you would try to root cuttings.
But I don't know how it would do, on its own roots.

(Out here, we call it "Touch Of Mildew.)

Jeri

petals, many of my roses are grafted, and most likely on Dr. Huey. When I first started, I followed the instructions for our zone and left the bud union above ground. But I think it's probably a good idea to bury it. First it looks better, and 2nd you can hope the rose goes own root. The one concern I do have with burying it is that I do get a lot of suckers, and it would be harder to tell if they are root stock suckers if the bud union was buried.

I've also been buying a lot of own root roses. They may take longer to get going, but if something happnes to the top of the rose, you can always hope it comes back from the root.

PrettyPetals,
I found out when I dug them up to move them to my new home. Actually quite a few of my gradted roses had rooted canes as I make it a practice in my zone of planting the bud union deep.
When I first began to grow roses I planted as the generic instruction said, at or above ground level. At the time I was younger and healthy and was able to winter protect the bushes. Yearly winterizing with shredded leaves and leaving the leaves on the beds each spring caused a buildup of soil that covered those ground level grafts and canes over time.
I also dug each planting hole some 30" deep and amended them well. As the soil settled after planting, the grafts naturally settled below the soil surface. After reading about planting the graft below the soil surface to help them be more hardy, I came to realize I was doing something good.
Aside from digging up the bush, you can gently pull back the soil to see if the canes have formed roots.
Don't expect this to happen the first year. It may take a couple of years for them to get enough roots to survive as separate plants. My Touch of Class had been in the ground for a minimum of 8 years before I discovered it had rooted.

Thanks everyone, I think I will definitely bury the union on all my new roses. Some of mine I have and others I didn't but it does look much better than having it showing. Plus it sounds like its much better for the plant. Thanks, Judy