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Since there appears to be a gap of knowledge about the way roses are produced commercially in the US, I thought I would start a new thread that could be easily referenced. I would also love to hear about ways the issue is handled in other countries (especially in Europe: specifically UK and France and Germany, where much of the significant hybridizing work is done).
Plants that are imported into the US from overseas must go through strict quarantine measures. Generally you can find all the details through US Customs or USDA. In order for a hybridizing company to be able to release his newest (and previous) named roses in US, he must first go through all the quarantine regulations with the importing nursery. This generally takes 2-3 years. Then the importer must increase the stock to have enough to make it worthwhile commercially. Almost always the wholesale nursery over here finds it is faster and more inexpensive to bud the graftwood onto rootstock, then grow them on for 1-2 years.
It is possible for private US citizens to import plants directly from international nurseries, but it is a very involved process, and almost everyone finds it much more trouble than it is worth.
So US roses are grown on easily-available rootstocks after the budwood has been imported and satisfied everyone that no pests or diseases have been imported along with the plants.
Most modern repeat-blooming exhibition-style roses do not grow well on their own roots. After all, the aim of the hybridizers has been to make bigger and better flowers, not bigger and better roots! So something usually has to give. Modern Shrub roses usually are on their own roots; many OGRs also are on their own roots. Some mail-order nurseries are committed to own-root roses, some choose to not make it an issue. In the long run, most of the buying public don't care, as long as the plant itself does well.
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