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My first rose - Buff Beauty sucker confusion

BlueBirderBlueBirder Posts: 212
in Problem solving
Hi all, I have rose Buff Beauty in a large container. Recently it has thrown up these two new canes. I had a look at the graft union and they don't appear to be growing any lower than the other canes. I also counted the leaflets - 7, the same as the rest of the plant.

But - they seem faster growing than the rest of the plant, and I'm confused by how red they are!  

Can anyone advise as to whether these are suckers or normal growth? Have I done the right things to check? And if they are normal growth, is it normal that they are faster growing and much redder than the rest of the plant?

Also going to shamelessly tag @Marlorena in this...  ;)

Thanks in advance.

Here are the bases of the shoots exposed -


Posts

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited June 2022
    Those are not suckers ... they're fine.  

    They're growing fast because Buff Beauty is a large shrub rose.  I've grown several in different gardens ... all were at least the five feet tall described in the catalogues within three or four years, and probably four to five feet across in the same time frame.  It's not a rose I would choose for growing in a container for very long.  

    It is, however, absolutely gorgeous  :)

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • BlueBirderBlueBirder Posts: 212
    @Dovefromabove thank you! That's good to hear.

    I'm going to see how it does in the container for now,  but if it suffers there is a spot in the ground in my mum's garden for it. 

    I was thinking of growing it as a climber as it is against a large fence. However I have not started training it yet (I slipped a disc last month so gardening has been off the cards for a while  :( ). Do you think it is too late to start this? 
  • NollieNollie Posts: 7,529
    Those new red shoots, called ‘basal canes’ are exactly what you want to see and they will turn the usual colour as they mature. They can pop up from seemingly below ground too, but more commonly when you bury the knobbly graft a bit, which is a good thing to do to stabilise the rose and encourage said basals.

    Counting leaflets is always not a reliable way to tell a sucker as they can vary, but you will know if a sucker emerges as it will have totally alien foliage and growth habit. I had my first sucker on a rose recently and it stuck out like a sore thumb!

    I have a new Buff Beauty too this year, here is a new basal cane on mine, you can see it beginning to turn green at the base:

    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
  • BlueBirderBlueBirder Posts: 212
    @Nollie thank you so much - that's really useful info. The knobbly bit is usually below ground on mine, I just dug down a bit to see where the shoots were coming from. 

    Nice to see your buff beauty too :) are you growing yours as a shrub?
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    I hope to put Buff Beauty in this autumn.
  • NollieNollie Posts: 7,529
    I’m aiming to grow it as a large, arching shrub with some hoop supports where necessary, It’s early days and at present it seems keen to hug the ground. Apart from deadheading or cutting out any dead bits, the advice for Hybrid Musks seems to be leave them to their own devices and allow to develop for a couple of years without pruning and only then, with a very light touch. Training and tying in is different though and I guess if you want it to climb, the soonest started the better..

    @Dovefromabove be interested to hear how you grew yours, climber or shrub? Any tips for us BB newbies?
    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    I'd love to hear BB detail and to see any pics from a distance....
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    In two gardens where I grew BB it was in corner where two beds met … so it had a wall/fence at right angles behind it … the beds were about 4’ in depth so there was a lot of space … which it filled quite happily. 

    In the other garden it was again in the corner where the cottage porch met the front wall. Again it had lots of room and soon filled it. 

    Lots of well rotted farm manure kept it happy. The foliage was always dark green and glossy and the perfume in a warm evening was lovely.  It never needed fussing … and I found that it struck very well from hardwood cuttings. 
    😊 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • NollieNollie Posts: 7,529
    Interesting, many thanks @Dovefromabove. Mine has been allotted a space 4x4’ at the end of a north-east facing raised bed backed by a fence. It can spill over the edges and spread a bit wider if it wants, so hopefully it will have enough space. My foliage looks a bit dull after a smattering of sandy saharan rain, I’m tempted to dust it! 
    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
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