Dirt ... thanks for explaining. I have a hard time visualizing things at times.
The only way I know of to get rid of Dr. H suckers from a budded rose is to dig down to where the sucker starts and rip it out rather than to prune it out. Think of the sucker as kind of a branch on a tree. The growth of the branch starts inside the limb of the tree. Ripping out the sucker takes out all of the bud eyes of the sucker. When you just cut it off, those bud eyes are still there and can activate and create a new sucker.
Others may have a different way of handling the Dr. H suckers.
I am in a milder climate where I don't have any die back in the garden and I don't have to bury the bud union of my roses to protect them and I prefer budded roses for a few reasons. Some of the HTs I grow simply cannot make it without the additional vigor supplied by a root stock. For the moment, I am thinking of 'Henry Fonda' and 'Mint Julep'. Another reason is my age. I don't want to wait for an own root plant to catch up with a budded rose. Budded roses are already at least two years old when I plant them and they take off better in my lousy soil. Dr. H was the chosen root stock for a very good reason ... it is very good at growing roots ....
If your rose is 'Tropicana', you have a very solid rose. My rose is probably 50 years old and is still going strong.
Smiles,
Lyn
