The only way to know for sure is to very carefully dig down and see if it is coming from the area above the graft, or below the graft. It looks like it could be Chrysler imperial producing new canes, but i t could also be rootstock. No way to tell without digging. If it is rootstock you'd have to dig down to remove it anyway.

In general, rootstocks have few, if any, thorns, since a major part of their existence is to be handled by the budders.

New basal canes snap off easily - I definitely would not dig around it. Wait a couple of weeks then compare the foliage & thorn pattern.

Sorry for the bad pictures. I really appreciate the comments. It has a lot of thorns. The bottom leaves look like the leaves on the bush. I'll post some more pictures in a couple of weeks, just to let you guys know how what happens. It just kinda broke my heart to see that some of the canes died since we didn't have a bad winter. The second Crysler Imperial doesn't look too bad, but the double delight is struggling. So I don't know how they will do when we actually get hit with a harsh weather. Geesh.

In my climate, it is very common for hybrid teas to lose canes over a tough winter and get replacement basal breaks in the spring to replace them.

Thanks zack_lau. That makes me feel much better. Maybe they'll get a little stronger this season. You never know what the winter will be like here.

And, if a hybrid tea cane survives several winters, it will often become non-productive. One of my early spring chores is to saw off old non-productive canes when there is no chance of damaging basal breaks.

I will do that zack_lau. Thanks for the advice!

I also have Chrysler Imperial and your photo looks exactly like the new growth coming up on mine. The new growth on my CI is always super red like that. Coincidentally, I also planted mine last year, and it struggled a bit over this winter which was fairly mild. It seems to be recovering/growing slower than most of my other roses...wonder if it just takes it a while to establish itself?

Thanks hsm. I planted two CI's and a double delight. It seems like all three are growing slow this year. I think you probably nailed it. Maybe it's just taking them a while to recover. Maybe they'll do better after another season or two. I'm wondering if they're just sensitive to cold weather.

A winter might seem mild to you, because there was just one or two days of really cold winter, but that is enough to kill HT canes.

Yes - Zack, I think you hit it on the head. I looked up Chrysler Imperial and the Weeks site says, "Vigorous and at its happiest in hot temperatures. Best in warm temperatures." I think that explains it!