zuzu said:I'm never going to figure out all of the gopher questions, Lyn. I'll try putting Parfait in a container this year and see whether that perks it up. It's very possible that gophers are nibbling on any roots that escape the cage, but some of my largest roses that are never bothered by the gophers must have huge roots, and some aren't even in cages because they were already too big 10 years ago when I dug most of the roses up to transfer them to cages. I've figured out that the gophers only like own-root roses and roses grafted onto Dr. Huey, but I haven't figured out why some of those are never harmed by gophers, while others stand no chance at all in my garden. Mister Lincoln, for instance, is absolutely irresistible to them. I've tried to grow it in cages and containers, and the gophers chew right through the cages and the bottoms of containers to get at that rose.
Zuzu ... I am not going to go all scientific on you, but Dr. H was not used as a root stock until the 1930s, so a lot of other root stocks were in play in gopher territory as well as a lot of own root roses.
There were long discussions about root stocks and how found roses had adapted and survived in gopher country at those gatherings at Ralph Moore's nursery. I learned a lot.
(We also talked about the large stands of species roses found all over the gold country)
I asked Kim why roses grafted to multiflora vs Dr H vs own root did better in your garden because I knew he was familiar with both your climate and your soil. He confirmed that multiflora has more fiberous roots than Dr. H, so, given a choice any smart-thinking gopher would go for anything grafted to Dr. H. Makes sense.
The same will be true for whatever own root rose you plant. Some have nice tender juicy roots. Others do not ...
If a plant is injured in any way, it releases a hormone to help heal the injury. If it is repeatedly injured, sometimes, it cannot survive. When the roots are chomped outside of the cage, some of your roses will adapt and others won't.
Actually, your roses are being root pruned ...
The same is true for roses being pruned above ground. Some roses can handle hard pruning above ground, while others just wither away.
Another deer has found its way into the house pad garden. I am certain it is a doe because all of the bucks have huge racks this time of year.
It's raining, so I am not out mending fences. The doe is doing an excellent job of clean pruning the roses. She is not going after the blooms. It seems like she is going after all of the older wood first.
The roses that survive her attention are going to be the ones that don't mind that kind of pruning.
When it stops raining, I might take a few photos. It is not a pretty sight. However, Nature has been pruning roses with the teeth of animals for a long time and is pretty good at getting the job done.
Roses have also survived being pruned by the teeth of animals for a long time. Many have adapted quite well and that's why we mimic Nature and prune our roses ...
Only three years to go! 
