I've read them also called rose standards on a few sites.

Anyone here have any? Are they as easy to maintain as a rose bush?

Can you train a climbing rose to be a tree?

I'm redoing the landscaping infront of my house next spring and the wife wants one of those Hibiscus trees and I don't particularly like them, so I'm thinking of trying to steer her towards a rose.

Something like this.

http://www.davidaustinroses.co...

Any advice or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated.

I have a lot of them. They're great because they take up less "floor space," so you can put them between other, shorter roses and not worry about overcrowding. They're easy to maintain.

You could train a climbing rose to be a tree, I suppose, by cutting all of the canes except the one in the center, but that's not how it's typically done. It's actually a three-part rose. A straight and sturdy cane is taken from a rose. De la Grifferaie is one of the preferred sources of these canes, so we'll use it as an example. It's grafted onto a vigorous rootstock, such as Dr. Huey. Then another rose, such as Charisma, for example, is grafted onto the top of the De la Grifferaie cane. The blooms will be Charisma's blooms, but the tree rose will consist of Dr. Huey, De la Grifferaie, and Charisma.

I've always wondered what was used in creating rose standards, so thanks for that explanation, Zuzu!
Maybe I'm doing something wrong with them, but I've never been able to winter one over. The last several years, I've left them potted and brought them into the garage for the winter. Are there any zone 5/6 people here who leave them outside, either in planters or in the ground?
The ones I see around town are always in planters.

Ok, I did a little research on my own question. Most websites I looked at said rose standards need winter protection in zone 6 and colder. The upper graft may need protection in zone 7. 'Polar Joy' is one that is reliably hardy in colder zones, though. The protection involves burlap, straw, lots of time and care, and I think, not something you want to look at front and center all winter. My suggestion would be to leave them in pots that are either buried or are decorative, and bring the pots inside for the winter. Water minimally and try to keep them dormant until spring.

Cindi - that's is exactly how I protect mine!

I sometimes decorate them with coloured burlap tape. A nice big bow? We get all colours but I like red best.

Lollipops!

i live in zone 5 albany,ny. i just put my potted rose tree in the unheated garage for winter. it works fine and i sparingly water once a month. one year i wrapped in burlap and lost one. oh and there is no window. it just goes dormant.

If you do not mind doing a bit of work yourself, you can make your own standard roses from ordinary roses and avoid the problem with the frost sensitive top graft.

I've done this with 'H.C. Andersen', 'Twice in a Blue Moon', 'Pascali' (aka 'Lenip') and 'Novalis', so they take up less room in my beds. All you need is a rose, which grows strong canes and the rest is pruning. With a bit of luck it can be done in one or two growing seasons - and I am no rose expert!

IrisLilli said:If you do not mind doing a bit of work yourself, you can make your own standard roses from ordinary roses and avoid the problem with the frost sensitive top graft.

I've done this with 'H.C. Andersen', 'Twice in a Blue Moon', 'Pascali' (aka 'Lenip') and 'Novalis', so they take up less room in my beds. All you need is a rose, which grows strong canes and the rest is pruning. With a bit of luck it can be done in one or two growing seasons - and I am no rose expert!

I have a rose I'd really like to be a tree but it's very old and I'm not sure I can train it.

I live in Mn which is regularly colder than where you live but here is my experience with tree roses and David Austin roses.
Tree roses, if it gets sub-zero there, tip/bury them or they will eventuall go belly-up.
I dealt with them as a land-scaper and if they were not buried and covered well and it got to twenty plus below , while I did not lose any, they took a long time to come back.
You must tip and bury and cover heavily and then your fortune will be better.

David Austin, my brother planted four next to the garage, sunny side.
The garage due to warm cars inside, and good fortune, the area never suffered from snow drifts due to wind, kept the area warmer than open air.
As they were supposed to be hardy I put leaves around them and nothing else.
First year fine, second year one looked sickly, third year two went belly-up, fourth year I covered heavily.
Within six years they were all dead.

Just my experience.