There is another way to make an own-root standard, but you need to have another large specimen of the rose. Basically, you find a long, straight stem and cut it at the base when the rose is dormant. Then find and remove all the bud eyes along the length of the stem you wish to remain bare, leaving just those at the end which you want to keep growing. Next, get that cane rooted. Once it's growing, you can focus attention on the portion which you've allowed to keep buds, at the top. If they're not all where you want them to be, you can remove them and re-attach where desired -- essentially budding onto itself.

If you want an own-root weeping standard, I think you could make one by braiding the canes around a central support stake, removing all the growth buds along the section you want to remain bare, and then letting it grow from the top. I'm picturing those braided indoor Ficus trees I've seen at various garden centers and nurseries, and I think that's what you'd do with a lax rose to make a weeping own-root standard. If you're just training it that way, you'll be getting new canes that need to be worked in each year. Otherwise, you could do as I described above with one long cane, disbudding all but the tip, and rooting that to form one stem to spiral up the support. Again, once rooted, you can retrieve buds from your mother-plant and bud them where you want on your rooted-and-trained standard stem.

:-)

~Christopher

I've been working on my Mutabilis this way. It has a long way to go to look good. I also have a chestnut rose I am planning to train, but I think I am going to keep three main trunks.

What a neat idea! I’m have my hands way too full with what I have to attempt this, but maybe someday. I have a Koko Loco, and it’s sure a beautiful rose. I saw a specimen of Mutabilis at “ Cliff’s Low Desert Garden”, and I’ll never forget it. I’ll never have the space for it, but I wanted to grow it desperately. I had seen pictures and read people singing it’s praises, but I wasn’t attracted to it. When I saw Mutabilis “in the cane”, so to speak, I was blown away by the sheer beauty of it. I’d love to see a picture someday, Needmore. I’m sure it will be lovely. Lisa

Christopher, thanks for the ideas. I like the braided idea especially. I have never rooted a long thick cane of a rose but I could try. I have not done any grafting but it would be something good to learn. I think this Koko Loco plant I have is a natural standard and if I can maintain it that way that's certainly the simplest way to do it. I like pictures of weeping standards especially if they are pretty big..like about 6' or more. I don't know if a rambler would get too big to be kept as a weeping standard. I have a couple of Excelsa plants that look like good cascaders and a Red Cascade I need to do something with. I think I'll just tie it to a stake , keep it going up, and let it branch when tall enough.

Here's an old pic of my old Mutabilis plant , Lisa. I liked it a lot. It did get big. I don't remember whether RRD or cold got it.

How is the rose Polar Joy made into a standard? Can anyone do it with that variety?

The Polar Joy's we have at work have been pruned clean off the main cane, and allowed to grow at the top of the standard- you can see the scars on the canes where the side branches have been trimmed off. Not a great rose for MN, by August they looked atrocious. I can think of some cleaner (Black spot/mildew wise) varieties they could have used instead. I'd much rather try my hand at training something cleaner and healthier, then pay that sort of money.

Well over a decade ago (back in Spike days) someone from OZ linked to photos of real tree roses. The trunks looked the size of Bradford pear trunks, and the tops were massed blooms. And as dense as Bradford Pears. The roses were many decades old. I lost the link two or more computers ago, I wonder if any photos can be found through google images?

Thank you for posting your experience, Karen. One of our local nurseries recommends it highly. We have intense BS pressure, so who knows. Perhaps it's pushed because it IS so hardy. Expensive, too!

Someone post something similar of a rose in CA a while back, perhaps at the Huntington? Ooh, I think I remember.... it was at the Nixon library? Dang.... I can't believe I remembered that!!! Here's the post: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/roses-at-the-nixon-library-dsvw-vd~3830507?n=22

I have feeling it comes recommended, because it is the only mass produced standard on the market right now, without a bud union, which is cane hardy in zone 4 (maybe 3). So the average gardener in the north can put it in the ground and still have a living standard the next year. That doesn't guarantee it's going to look good, but it will live. I was excited when I heard about it too, but very disappointed when I saw it in person. Not to say that it couldn't be gorgeous somewhere else.

I saw a weeping standard of R. xanthina on a UK site:

https://www.thefragrantrosecompany.co.uk/roses-by-type/fragrant-standard-roses/canary-bird-shrub-rose.html

Love that one, and with growth like that, it would be pretty even out of bloom.

I’m pretty sure Summer grows Polar Joy, maybe if she sees this she’ll post pics if she has them. There’s an old one at a nearby nursery, it almost looks like a crabapple in the winter.

Erasmus, thank you for posting your picture of ‘Mutabilis’! It was sure pretty. I really appreciate it, as I will never have the space to grow it myself. I’ll have to make do with pictures. Thanks again. Lisa

The only down-side to such a standard, in my opinion, is that if it is a variety vigorous enough to make a good long stem, it will also very likely be overly vigorous as a top. Whereas in a grafted standard, you can use a huge cane for a trunk, and bud something compact on top, to keep the proportions right. But otherwise, it should work just fine.