This rose was struggling to grow in the yard when I moved here. It has been over 10 years since anyone gardened in this yard in the rose-unfriendly Pocono mountains. Some tough plants have survived the neglect, including a little non-multiflora rose. I suspected it may be the doctor, but have waited for a bloom.

I am labeling it and letting it grow on a bamboo tripod for now. If it thrives, I may build a bigger structure and find a clematis to keep it company.

I wouldn't plant it on purpose - would anyone?

I admire a survivor, so it can stay if it behaves itself!

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I think everyone who's grown roses has grown Dr. Huey. Most store-bought roses (especially "body bag" roses) are grafted onto Dr. Huey rootstock. It's a single bloomer and sends out incredibly long canes like a rambler. The canes are easy to distinguish from the "desired" rose, as usually they're darker (almost reddish) and have smaller thorns. Dr. Huey is an incredibly hardy rose that is not easily killed. It will send out suckers everywhere! Too many of my desirable roses reverted back to Dr. Huey the 2nd or 3rd year.

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I had bought what I thought was a white iceberg rose from Tractor Supply. The first two years, the rose was a long-stemmed yellow rose. Obviously, the graft wasn't even an iceberg rose! Then, this year, the graft must have died and the rootstock just exploded! My research indicates that Dr. Huey roses are often used for rootstock because the roots are so tenacious. Unfortunately, it only blooms once a year for the most part and then the spent canes apparently develop black spot, which has been happening to mine. The recommendation is to prune back the spent canes as it only flowers on the 1-year-old growth. So, if you want more flowers next year then you'll need to stop wasting energy on spent canes and prune immediately after blooms are spent. I was hoping to get a rose that I could use to collect rose petals so I had wanted an iceberg as they are prolific. However, this dark red (rather than white) bloom is also stunning in how deep red and velvety it is and also seems to resist sun bleaching. So, I think I'm going to keep this rose anyway as it's much better than the long-stemmed yellow rose. I will collect so many petals for my crafts!

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I have grown Dr. Huey, but never on purpose! Every so often a grafted rose dies and this is what shows up as the rootsock grows. At that stage I dig it out and toss it.

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