No direct experience, but I am sure the though is similar to what they are thinking when they say to plant 3 david austin roses together, it gives you a bigger bush faster. This is just my hypothesis. I don't think it harms the roses any, but it does apparently lead to a lot of basal canes.

I have read Austin recommends planting three roses together, but I thought it was a marketing ploy to make more sales. It seems to me crowding roses is counterproductive, in the end resulting in stunted bushes.

I have essentially been growing own root roses for 7 years, and don't have long term experience with them.

In a multiple cutting bush, does the most vigorous cutting dominate and kill off its competitors? Do the cuttings fuse into one bush? Do they all just struggle along, the result being a struggling bush that never reaches its full potential? Does the bush do just fine and perform just like a one cutting bush?

It is too soon to tell by the performance of my Evelyn, being in the garden only 2 years now, time will tell. But so far the bush appears stunted and fighting against itself. It is not my only bush of multiple cuttings, and they all are stunted looking.

I don't separate the cuttings - sure, it would be neat to have extra roses but I don't want to damage the roots by pulling on them. My own root roses perform well and I sure wouldn't call them stunted: I do call them lots of other things because they're growing into pathways and they grab me when I walk by. Sorry your experience has been unsatisfactory. Perhaps its a matter of climate or soil type.

I lived in TX for around 6 years, and it was common to purchase own rooted plants in pots that have more than one plant in it. We have purchased many roses from Chamblee's Roses over the years that have more than one plant in it-they usually had 2-3 rooted cuttings in them, but I once received a pot with 5. The ones with the most rooted cuttings were usually those that were growing with less vigor. We have always separated them into individual plants and re-potted them and they have always done well.

I assumed that they planted multiple cuttings in pots, as it made the plants look "fuller" and the potted specimens appeared to be of a size that would be ready for sale, sooner. We have seen this practice of multiple rooted cuttings per pot in other species as well, including hibiscus and citrus trees in 5 gallon pots. But in the case of these larger plants, it appeared to be impossible to separate the plants as they were planted too close together in the pot and the root systems were so large and impossibly intertwined.