How to save a rose that is being threatened by its' root-stock

last year

The rose in question is the glorious "Sir Paul Smith". This plant has been in place for years, big and wonderful. This fall,I worked on the ground around it a bit,hoping to help out 2 of its' neighbours who weren't doing much-Aristide Briand and Climbing Jacques Cartier. This latter rose has never done much of anything as far as flowering goes; nor has AB, for that matter. Sir PS, instead, has always been great, though it had this odd way of sending out suckers of itself (!) ; I have 3 other Sir SPs which don't do this.

Yesterday I noticed that SirPS looked awful,and went to investigate. AB had grown a lot, and is covered in buds. The wretched Clbg. J Cartier was covered in buds, too-all of which looked bull-nosed. The few flowers that were opened were ugly, proliferated, etc. SirSP, instead, was sending up tons of suckers-but this time from rootstock! I pulled these out,weeded,watered and fertilized SPS with liquid fert.- and CHOPPED DOWN Clbg JC-enough of its' nonsense!!!

So now,I'm wondering how to approach this situation further,in order to (hopefully) save SPS. I think I will probably prune back some of its' laterals (some of which seem to be dying),and obviously must keep an eye on pulling out rootstock shoots. But perhaps I also need to remove some other neighbours? Is this plant probably doomed,or can I save it with a bit of coddling? I can't do a whole lot of that,what with the size of my garden and the lack of running water.

Any thoughts or comments would be much appreciated.

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Comments (3)

seasiderooftop
last year
Darn, JC is such a disappointment... I have his white sport and I get exactly what you described with the buds getting ugly. Now he's finally putting on normal flowers, but the scent is only ok, not great... And he's getting blackspot! The only one in my garden this early in the year! You were right to take him down, I'm waiting to see if by some miracle he can take the summer heat which would at least give him one redeeming quality, otherwise he'll have to go. What an overrated rose.

My two cents on your original question:

I think your rootstock suckers on SPS are a consequence of root disruption when you amended the soil. It happened to me after I went a little too deep when forking in various "boosters" around Iceberg. Pruning back dead laterals sounds like a good idea in any case, but the suckering should subside on its own now that the soil is being left alone.
bart bart thanked seasiderooftop
Melissa Northern Italy zone 8
last year
My own root 'Jacques Cartier' is fine, on the other hand, and the flowers are always shapely. It gets some Damask crud in time, but I don't worry about it. Are the white sport and the climbing form fussier than their sport parent? By the way, JC, along with 'Enfant de France', 'Reine des Violettes' (one grafted, one, puny, own root), and 'Ispahan', all Damasks or Hybrid Damasks, is growing in heavy rocky dank soil and thriving on it.
bart bart thanked Melissa Northern Italy zone 8
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bart bart
Original Author
last year
Melissa, my suspicion is that this climbing sport of JC might just be a stupid plant! the sort of rose which puts all its' vigour into growing long canes and many of them, and then just doesn't have enough energy left to flower well.Maybe with a lot of attention and spoiling it could be nice, but I don't have the time, resources, energy or inclination for that. It would be different if the colour was special,or if at any point in its' residence in my garden it had given me a moment of joy, but no, nothing. I'm glad to be rid of it, though someday I can imagine myself trying a normal JC...

Seaside, I hope you're right .However, SPS might just be getting too much competition. There's a huge General Stefanik next to it,plus a wild white hawthorn that I am trying to keep pruned so it grows as a tree. Last year I added a Cercis siliquastrum to the area and this fall, a weeping cherry. So it might also be too many Rosacaes in too small of a space. So I may move something in the fall,or remove the hawthorn, though it'd be a shame. Also, I want to see what Ariside B looks like; in the past I can't remember seeing it in bloom. So if it doesn't impress me, I may sp that. SPS HAS been great in the past, and therefore has earned my respect.