I'm wondering how far removed are these 4 sports of Signora from the original pernetiana parentage. The other parent of Signora is a very old HT Sensation (Hill 1922). If you look at its lineage it contains quite a few of very old HTs. I've yet to search which of those are easily available. Apart from Anvil Sparks, I could lay hands on Sutter's Gold ( here in the climbing form). I'm trying to figure out crosses that will enhance these pernetiana traits that so many are partial to. How has Signora ( or any of the other sports) grown for you ,@Zuzu? hopefully not own root in this case... Arturo

Signora is own-root and it's very, very weak. It's a one-cane wonder that's about 6-8 inches tall, and it produces only one or two blooms a year.

Anvil Sparks, the sport of Signora, is equally unimpressive in terms of size and vigor.

The three other "children" are a little better. Hawaiian Sunset is also own-root, but it produces four or five blooms a year. My own-root Sutter's Gold is still only one-third as large as my grafted Sutter's Gold. Both are about 10 or 15 years old. Lemon Spice is one of the few own-root roses in my garden that can compete with grafted roses in terms of many criteria. It is floriferous and vigorous.

Thank you so much Zuzu. Your information strengthens my suspicion that the own-root vs grafted controversy should be sorted out case by case and not lumped all together into one side; inadvertently it can lead to poor performances if one jumps to fast conclusions!