Own Root Roses

All of the roses we grow at the Antique Rose Emporium are “own root roses.” But what is an own root rose?

An own root rose is a rose grown from cuttings or from seed. It is a rose where the whole plant is the same variety, from root to blooms.

Our own root roses are started in our greenhouses from cuttings. These cuttings are from mature plants. Once the cuttings root, they are grown outside in our 2-gallon pots for the next year.

A grafted rose is propagated by inserting a cutting into a rootstock from another variety. The cutting and rootstock fuse together forming a single plant. While grafted roses may be larger initially, they are not as hardy as own root roses. They also tend to have a shorter life span, are not as disease resistant, and can produce sucker growth from the variety of the rootstock.

While grafted varieties generally live anywhere from around 6-15 years, own-root roses can live upwards of 50 or more years. One of the world’s oldest known roses in Germany has been around since 815 A.D., surviving the bombings of World War II - that’s one tough flower! Own-root varieties tend to have a higher tolerance to environmental challenges, such as heat, drought, humidity, and cold, as well as higher disease resistance.