This is Dr. Huey, isn't it?

last year

I think I have Dr Huey growing in my garden. Kind of a bizarre thing. Thirty years ago when I moved into this house, my grandmother bought me some roses. Being a new and inexperienced gardener, and not having much sun, the roses were never really well-sited. They survived, but didn't thrive. After a few years they all died but one.

This one surviving rose was a coral-colored rose. Honestly, I didn't really care for the color but the rose was important to me because of my grandmother. After a few years of being scared to death of moving it (and killing it) I finally bit the bullet and moved it to a sunnier location. I was thrilled when it started to put on growth and bloomed.

The next year, there it was, growing and thriving and then it bloomed.....white. WHITE??? What the heck?? I thought that was so weird! It bloomed white the following season, and then the season after, it disappeared. It didn't survive the winter.

And now in it's spot I have this. I'm guessing it is Dr Huey rootstock. The original rose was just a bagged J&P grafted rose from the local garden center, so nothing special.

Thanks!

Dee

Featured Answer

mad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY)

last year

There were many, many years, when the Dr. Huey rootstock was BY FAR the best red climbing rose available at the garden center in cold climates. If you like it, there is no reason to snobbishly get rid of it.

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Comments (10)

Ingrid_vc zone 9b, San Diego Co. inland
last year
Yes, I believe this is Dr. Huey.
diggerdee zone 6 CT thanked Ingrid_vc zone 9b, San Diego Co. inland
suzy jackson
last year
last modified: last year
Grief, I wish European roses used Dr.Huey(or fort. or even multiflora) as a rootstock. Ours are grown on a vigorous dogrose, canina laxa...which, when suckering (and many of mine are, after years of hoeing, poking, yanking and general tussle) produce monstrous 3/4/5metres of brutal thorny canes, with a few sparse pallid flowers.
diggerdee zone 6 CT thanked suzy jackson
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apple_pie_order
last year
Yes, it looks like Dr. Huey. In my area near Los Angeles, it survives and thrives after the grafted rose has died back. It often appears on old wood rail fences and in neglected rose beds where it survived the last drought. If you want to keep it for a year or two to see if you like it, give it fertilizer, water as needed, and enjoy the blooms.
diggerdee zone 6 CT thanked apple_pie_order
diggerdee zone 6 CT
Original Author
last year
Thanks everyone! Yes, apple_pie_order I think I might keep it for a bit to see how it does. I know many people don't bother with it, but I might live with it for a bit. I'm not a big fan of red flowers, but I've been thinking for the last few years that perhaps I should have a red rose - what's more classic than a red rose, right? This has a not-bad-looking little bloom with a decent red color (I prefer the darker reds) and well, it's already here lol. I'll probably move it but yeah, I'll give it some time before deciding.

rosa thank goodness it doesn't have those huge thorny canes like you reference. I already have a few of those (there's an Autumn Sunset just behind this rose that is pretty lethal lol) so if the good doctor had canes like that too it would probably be moved on out!

:)

Dee
petalique
last year
I have one that’s growing in a long untended garden. Years now.
WendyB 5A/MA
last year
I discovered one at my former house. Before I was into gardening, I saw it blooming in a south-facing but next to the woods spot. I thought it was neat and liked the burgundy color. I eventually developed a whole perennial garden around it. Years later after gardening addiction was well underway, I decided to remove the rose, as it wasn't blooming very well any longer. The south-facing garden next to the woods got shadier over time. When I dug it out, I found the original tag in the hole. It was a pink hybrid. OMG. That's when I learned about rootstock and Dr. Huey. :-)
Pv Picotte
last year
Wow - this is all SO interesting. I believe I am faced with a Dr. Huey (if I understand completely the issue). I will post more tomorrow when I have picts. So interesting and maddening!! Thanks for your post Diggerdee!
diggerdee zone 6 CT
Original Author
last year
Pv, cool, looking forward to seeing your pictures! I agree MG - if you like it, keep it! I am revamping most of my beds so I think I am going to move it and see how it does for the next few years. Nothing to lose, right?

:)

Dee
Pv Picotte
last year
last modified: last year
I purchased Easy Elegance in 2017. It has lovely orangey-pink blooms and goes forever, from early summer to fall. It is a bush rose. I just looked at the tag - it says: own root. If it is own root, it should not develop Dr. Huey, right? I am concerned as a cane full of buds has opened to pale pink. I think pale pink is nice but I do not want that color - I want my orangey-pink blooms. Some may say that it is just a variation of color but it has never done it before so I am concerned. I've included a few picts. The top one is the pale pink and the next one is the favored color (you can see a bloom off to the side of the blooms - it is pale pink) -- Also, the bottom photo is one stem - 2 different colors as you can see -- Thanks for thoughts.

Edit -- I have done some more research regarding the color change. Apparently, hot weather can effect such a change. We have had some really hot days in Little Rhody - so maybe that's it. Shouldn't be Dr. Huey as it is its own root stock.