Hi Susan, I'm going to ramble a bit here. I'm thinking as I write. I should start off saying that I don't personally know of anyone grafting very many old garden roses on fortuniana.

Most roses grafted in the US are grafted onto Dr Huey. It does particularly well in the alkaline soil of the southwest where many rose propagators are located.

Pickering is in Ontario Canada where rainfall is plentiful and the soil is not alkaline, and they use multiflora. It is better suited to their climate and works well in cold climates and more acidic soils.

Fortuniana is a very vigorous rootstock that withstands harmful soil nematodes well, so it is popular in areas with sandy soils that support nematodes that attack rose roots. (Of course nematodes exist everywhere, and that many of them are actually beneficial.) It is tender in areas with severe winters so it is not suitable for the upper midwest or New England. I read recently that it also resists phytopthora, which can be a real problem in California. However there are a number of Phyopthora species and I don't know if it resists the two of particular concern here (oak root fungus and sudden oak death). Sorry, I am rambling again here! You live in Tennessee and don't need to worry about California gardening problems.

I don't know the suitable USDA zone range. I would guess that gardeners in zones 5 and colder should avoid it; in zone 7 and warmer would be fine; and in zone 6 it is a toss up. However I am only guessing here and would love to have someone with more experience pipe in and enlighten me. If you haven't done so already, you might want to check with your local rose society to see if fortuniana does well in your area.

If you ever want to get a modern rose on fortuniana, I recommend K & M Rose Nursery. They are excellent but they don't do heirloom roses. There is a nursery called Nelson's in Florida and they do mail order. However they offer only a few antique roses (fewer than they think they do), and Reine des Violettes is not one of them. I don't have any experience with them so cannot recommend, but I do see positive comments on the web. There is also Cool Roses, again in Florida, another nursery I have not tried. They do not list Reine des Violettes and only offer a handful of old roses, but there is a statement on their website that they have some roses not listed. It would be worth sending an email.

I don't know if Burling Leung grafts onto fortuniana. If so, she would be an excellent source, though you would have to wait. Still, she might be your best option.

Rosefolly

I see that I wrote a small book above, but I forgot to mention that roses from DA are on Dr Huey.

Also "bare-root" does generally imply grafted, but it doesn't have to. J&P was producing own-root plants a while back.

Thanks for the info. K & M offers orders to the Nashville Rose Society for 3 gallon plants so that is nice. I thought someone in the RdV thread stated they had it on Fortuniana. Just sounded so heavenly I didnt want to wait for the bloom!
I guess Austin on Huey is my best option?
What are the concerns with grafted OGRs?
Thanks again.
susan

I haven't looked into this, but my guess is that you are going to find almost exclusively warm climate roses grafted on Fortuniana, as it is, as Paula said, somewhat tender, and its good qualities as a rootstock are most useful in warm zones; I hear of it being used mainly in Florida. 'Reine des Violettes' is a temperate climate rose; possibly it can be grown in a warm climate, but it does well in cold areas, so growers are almost guaranteed to graft in on a rootstock that will do well in cold.
A rootstock can be useful in certain situations: for example Fortuniana's resistence to nemotodes, or to give vigor to a variety that is weak on its own roots. Some gardeners prefer to have their Gallicas grafted as they're great suckerers on their own roots and the rootstock keeps them from wandering all over the garden. In some cases the rootstock may be better adapted to soil conditions in a given garden than the scion.
That said, in many, perhaps most cases, the reason for using rootstock is that it's cheaper than growing roses from cuttings. Budding a plant requires less material from the mother plant, and a plant of saleable size is produced in less time. Also some plants are difficult to produce own root. I prefer own root plants. There's no problem of suckering from the rootstock; the scion doesn't die in time, leaving the rootstock the only survivor (neighborhoods all over the U.S. are filled with plants of 'Dr. Huey' that outlived the rose that was grafted on them). If an ownroot rose is killed to ground by cold, drought, or other conditions, if it comes back it will be same rose, not the rootstock. I have several roses in this situation right now, mostly baby roses that got killed back by a hot dry summer, but are now resprouting. I also had two roses, both grafted, that were killed by some disease this summer that apparently attacked the rootstock; if they come back it will be because in both cases the scion had gotten off the graft and begun to root and grow on its own, and those suckers of the top part are the only growth that still look like they may be alive. I buy own root roses when I can--unfortunately most European nurseries graft their roses--and I propagate my own roses from cuttings or suckers (from the top growth, not rootstock suckers). Almost all of them do very well for me, at least if I bother to dig them a decent hole.
I hope this was helpful.
Melissa

The main problem with grafted roses is that the rootstock tends to be more vigorous than the scion (the variety you selected), so if the gardener is not vigilant, the rootstock can take over and the scion will die. Then you are left with Dr Huey, Fortuniana, or R multiflora, not Reine des Violettes or what ever you planted.

Another problem is that in severe climates, the scion can die to the ground over the winter and in the spring only rootstock will emerge. If the plant is growing on its own roots and dies to the ground from cold, it has a chance of coming back true to the variety you wanted. This is probably not a common problem in your climate.

Rose mosaic virus (RMV) is a problem that leads many gardeners to avoid grafted plants. That is because this disease is spread primarily (and maybe exclusively) by grafting. If either the scion or the rootstock is infected, the entire plant will be infected. In times past there was a lot of infected rootstock, and now many scions are infected, too. Avoiding grafted plants may decrease your odds of getting a virus infected rose, but so many scions are available only in virused form that it may not do much good.

Some people say that roses will live much longer on their own roots because grafted roses can build up callous between the scion and the rootstock, eventually leading to failure. I have not grown roses long enough to know this from personal experience but I like the idea of roses I plant living long enough that someday my great (great?) grandchildren will be able to enjoy them.

Having said all this, there are also good reasons to grow grafted roses. Grafting lends vigor to weak growers, gives roses a quick jump start, and can help adapt roses to particular soil or climate conditions. Like so many things in this world, there is no One Right True answer. Would that there were.

Rosefolly

Susan,
Dr. Manners at Florida Southern in Lakeland is the poster on that thread you mentioned that talked about their vigorous RdV on fortuniana. I believe they graft their own roses at that school; perhaps he might give you some info about obtaining RdV grafted onto fort. I think that his school occasionally sells plants.

What is the pH of your soil, do you know? I ask because if your soil is acidic, multiflora might work for you; RdV grafted onto multiflora is available from Pickering and maybe other places also.

Another thing to check into is the hardiness of fortuniana. Nashville is horticultural zone 6b? 7a? I think that 7a is about the northernmost limit of fort's hardiness. It's used mostly in the warm weather areas, I think.

Thanks everyone for the knowledge and the tips. I feel so "experienced"!.
I know fortuniana is tender here for the first 3 years. I've read a couple of articles about it in the local rose society newsletter. It requires protection until well established.
I have got to test my soil. Right now everything is in pots for the most part. Is it even worth the $10 to get a kit or should I send it to the ag extension agent?
As far as my zone, I think my microclimate is at least 7a. Likely warmer.
Susan

If you have clayish soil I would go for the Huey although every DA on Huey I have gotten from TX in the last few years has shown the Mosaic Virus. I didn't have problems with an own root RdV, but the old old one from ROY&T on Huey was a much better plant in my fixed up clay.

Susan, if your state is one of the states that offers low-cost soil testing through the Ag Extension, (most states do), by all means, get a soil test done there! It will be far more complete and far more accurate than anything you can do with a home test kit. It is one of the great true bargains state governments offer to residents.

Rosefolly

You can test pH at home with either the Rapi-test meter or litmus paper test strips, but home test kits for nutrients are not very useful. Look in the county listings under ag extension or cooperative extension and get an accurate, complete soil test at low cost. It's good to test your native soil before amending it.

That is a rather distressing statement to read, Kitty. Remembering the response DA Nursery gave to the RMV testing question to a previous thread, how they see RMV widespread through rose fields they visit and don't believe treatment is viable, then to position themselves as a premium brand, product and producer and provide infected product, it makes me wonder about them. You are sure to see dirty plates and facilities if you only frequent greasy spoon diners. Perhaps their observations of wide spread infection are because they are only sourcing their product with cheaper, second-rate suppliers? I understand the need to keep costs down, but to produce an inferior product by using producers who don't attempt to reduce infection, then provide you inferior products at premium prices, while promoting how "premium" they are is disgraceful. Kim

Kitty, my soil is clay, and water is alkaline. I have a fort that's absolutely HUGE! It's about 15 years old and seems to thrive on the hard water and clay soil.

I think if you want one on fort, you should pursue it. I was just saying that I grew one own root and it never was a robust as my old Huey rooted one was. I was thinking about trying roses on fort to see how they liked my soil. Shipping just costs more to CA so I try to buy local when I can and that means own root or Huey roots.

Unfortunate as it is, it is a fact that all of the DA roses we have ever received, from any source, have been infected with rose mosaic. Granted we've had fewer than a dozen varieties, and from only a handful of nurseries, but still, it's an unfortunate record.

Have you had any from Heirloom Roses in Oregon? They claim no virus. I do think they try.

I have not, rosefolly, and generally things received from them have been clean.