Manetti is still around. It's a Noisette and often available from specialty nurseries as well as from UC Davis Foundation Plant Services as a virus indexed stock. Manetti may not be sufficiently cold hardy for some climates, though there are some producers which still bud on it. Manetti is infamous for generating one, large tap root with few side roots. It's called "carrot root" and results in a very unstable plant. John Elsley was the horticulturist for Wayside Gardens for some years. Back in the nineties, at a Huntington Old Rose Symposium, he was speaking of the Austin roses Wayside was introducing. He related how they were received budded to Manetti. They grew quickly and made very full, vigorous plants, which all blew over in the wind due to "carrot root". They had to be staked securely to prevent them from laying on the ground. As far as I know, it's more often used now for florist roses in green house production where the "carrot root" isn't an issue.

Manetti was the rootstock of choice of Mel Hulse (aka 'Da Kernel'), the late curator of the San Jose Heritage Rose Garden. I used to root around 200 Manetti cuttings in the mist chamber in my greenhouse each year for Mel in the late 1990's, for use in propagating roses that did not grow well on their own roots.

Thanks for posting these photos, Jeri. Those are beautiful photos of Manetti and it was a true pleasure to see a picture of 'Da Kernel'. I always enjoyed the time that I spent with him.

Carrot rooted or root-bound, from careless container culture?

Not too seem rude, but considering the example given of outdoor plants being grown and blown over, plus references to the tap root of Manetti in several reference materials I have, I can't help but completely miss what you're attempting to get at, Embothrium.

Steven

I have to say -- the "carrot root" thing surprises me . . . THAT is why Manetti isn't now used?
Because, given the numbers of big, hefty, un-tended, century-old Manetti plants we've found in old cemeteries has given me a distinct impression that this is a real survivor.
In all those years, those Manetti plants here and there have surely been hit by windstorms, but survived and flourished, while the scions budded to them died. In their numbers, they demonstrate real survival capability.