Bella I’ve ordered from Hortico the past couple of years and been very pleased. I can’t answer your question about Quadra though!

Usually an own root will be a bit slower because it hasn't got an under stock pushing it. If you get a nasty, cold winter, own root may be the best way to go and then you won't worry about a lot of dieback. Quadra is a really nice rose with old fashion looking blooms. Roses from Hortico will be smaller than many of the other nurseries. But if you get a small Quadra, just pot it up and then put it in the garden the next spring. By then it will be a larger plant and be able to cope better with the winter.

For me, your question is kind of like asking if a Great Dane will get bigger if fed with organic vs. processed food. Either way, it's going to be huge, and the same applies to Quadra. I don't think anything would slow it down for long and it's a reliably huge climber when well established. As always, climbers take about 4 years to come into their own so patience is needed either way.

My Quadra is grafted from Pickering which would be the same multiflora rootstock I think as Hortico, and I agree with Dingo that Hortico has been a lovely company to deal with in recent years. The bands are smaller than the ones from Palatine, but they don't have the huge shanks to be buried you can find with Dr. Huey grafts domestically, so they're not hard to plant. I think High Country Roses sells it own root, and I wouldn't hesitate to grow it from either source. I don't think the Canadian roses need the boost a rootstock gives them in zone 5, so choose where you'd rather order from.

Cynthia

Bella Rose,

Cynthia is one of the top go to Roses Forum persons to get advice on growing roses in cold climates like yours (and hers). What she says is as reliable as reliable can be. She also has tremendous writing/communiting skills. You will understand very clearly what she is writing.

I'm a bench warmer by comparison, but going by my experience, the more tender a rose is, as are roses which have the hardiness level of your average hybrid tea, the better they will: grow bigger, produce bigger/more flowers, and come through winter better, grown on a vigorous rootstock like multiflora. Just remember to plant the bud union 4" below soil level at planting time.

I winterize these tender kinds of roses in my garden. I find that it gives more live wood higher up the canes come spring pruning.

The more winter hardy a rose is, the more it can be depended upon to grow well on its own roots, not necessarily needing to be a grafted rose.

Moses

P.S. I just looked up Quadra on HMFR, didn't know anything about it until now. That is one beautiful rose! If only it was fragrant! I know yours will do very well.

I only grew own root in Alaska and they were great for cold climates. Northland Rosarium and High Country Roses both had great plants that are own root. Quadra is a winner.

IME, the large Explorers are painfully slow own-root to reach mature size. Six or seven years isn't unrealistic, and 10 before they reliably rebloom should be planned for. Unlike tender roses, they will get there, that isn't the issue, just you may get bored waiting for it. My Quadra came from the late, lamented Pickering, and was a fairly good example of its beastly self in 3 years. At this point, it may have gone own-root, so any rootstock issues are history.