Very good question. I'm interested in seeing the responses.

I can share one story. In this triple digit heat, everything is suffering. I've got an arbor on which Don Juan, climber is planted. 3 on each side. Half are under the shade of a pecan tree. The others are in full sun. Those in full sun are truly stressed. One started dying. It sent out a horizontal root and a new plant come up. It was obviously on different leaves. Grafted on "Fortuniana" root stock. But, I venture to say it's the triple digit heat that got to it. After digging up those roots, I wish that I hadn't been so eager to get it up. That rose sounds worthwhile, too.

Good luck with your question.
Xtal

I moved down here this July. Needless to say, not a good time to move plants (or people, or animals, or anything, really.) My Coral Drift rose (own root) is planted in a container, and we didn't have room in the cab of the pickup, or the Jeep, or the moving van to put it. So into the bed of the pickup it went (I wasn't going to leave it behind). For over 1,000 miles it rode, uncovered, in the back of the pickup, stripping it almost entirely of leaves, and drying out its soil.

Six weeks later it's sitting in full sun, it has almost all its leaves back, and is blooming constantly. It looks better than my MIL's roses in this drought. All I have to do is water it every two or three days because it's in a container.

If all ownroot roses can put up with this much abuse, I think I'll stay away from grafted roses...

~AOK

Just plant the graft a couple inches below the ground if you can't find own-root roses.

I usually only buy own root. No reason why, just do. Anyway, I have a couple of own root DA roses (Tamora, Pat Austin, etc.), and they do o.k, but slow to get well established.

Then, I ended up purchasing a DA rose on Dr. Huey (Heritage). I can tell a *big* difference! It's growth has been amazing, especially when compared to the other DA roses in my garden. If I purchase any more DA roses, I would definitely prefer to have them grafted.

Of course, then you have to worry about them getting huge! :) Hope this helps.

Thank You all!

Holleygarden, I have several DA ownroot and most of them are doing okay in this heat.

There's several roses that I want to order from DA directly. I have a couple of roses on Fortuniana- they are huge and not bothered by the heat at all.

I know this is an old thread, but I have the same question and wanted to see if anyone has any updated thoughts on grafted vs. own root roses in Texas.

Some background for me: I want to plant roses (and irises, lavender, yarrow, statice, sweet alyssum...) in a narrow, ~ 5 ft wide bed next to my driveway in clay soil. I've bought compost, chopped corn feed, and alfalfa hay to try to amend the soil before I plant. The area gets pretty much full sun and any watering other than rain is manual. Because I don't want them to grow into the driveway or my neighbor's yard I want narrow, upright roses - I was looking specifically at Queen of Sweden, Tournament of Roses, Bewitched, and maybe Paris de Yves St. Laurent just because the pictures of that rose are so pretty.

Grafted pros seem to be that the roses might be able to better handle the heat and clay soil, the roses themselves will be of better quality, and the plants will establish faster (for myself, I don't care too much about instant gratification, but this would be a courtesy to my neighbors). Grafted cons seem to be that the rose bushes may grow much bigger than I want, I will have to take care of the bud union (cold protection, watch out for suckers), and some complain about the form of the bush itself.

What would you choose in this situation? Also, if you have any experience, advice, or other suggestions on my rose/plant choices, I'm all ears.

This was a long post - big thanks to anyone who read it through!

I'm not sure about the hybrid teas you've selected, but many HTs do better when grafted. Also they might be easier to locate.

Cold protection is not a problem in Texas Z 8 and I've never had a problem with suckers. Perhaps some others on here who have grown these particular varieties own root will respond.

As mentioned in one of the posts above if you want own root all you have to do is plant the graft deeply and the rose will grow it's own roots from the main cane.

Incidentally, I grew many kinds of roses for years so can understand the desire to have them, but I finally phased them out because they do take a lot of spraying for insects and fungal leaf problems, also a lot of water and fertilizer to keep them looking good. Just mentioning it to be sure you're aware of those things.

Wishing you the best in whatever you decide on.