I've noticed something puzzling in my garden, and I'm looking for a logical explanation.
Before my roses were planted in gopher-proof cages, I noticed that the ones attracting the gophers were the own-root roses and the roses grafted onto Dr. Huey rootstock. Fortuniana and multiflora never appealed to the gophers.
The ones grafted onto Dr. Huey were gobbled up right away. The gophers would eat the entire Dr. Huey portion -- roots and graft. There would be nothing left of the Huey when they were done.
At the same time, I do have several Dr. Hueys growing in my garden. I keep them because I actually think they're beautiful, especially when they bloom at the same time as other roses and provide a vivid dark contrast to those others.
Those Dr. Hueys are never bothered by gophers. Why not?
