There are several places online that sell roses on fortuniana and I don't think any of them are 50 or 60 dollars a rose. Check out K & M roses and Cool roses.

"Other than anchor roots which aren't the main nutrient suppliers, most roses grow only about 12 inches deep".

Source: American rose society

Here is a link that might be useful: American Rose Society article

"Growing good roses" by Clayton Reddell, a book I've loved reading lately says the hole only needs to be max. 18" because the roots run more outward and than down so I would think a max 2 feet would be fine.

I order roses on fortuniana from Cool Roses, Nelson 's Roses and K&M roses and I've never paid more than $30.

I'd love to know what roses you are having great luck with in full sun here. Most of mine (David Austin) have been Grown in pots in late day shade until this past week when I planted several of them in the ground in full sun. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

There's the issue of the roots and then there's the issue of the nematodes.

It's been so long since I did my nematode research that I don't remember now how DEEP nematodes go.

I specifically remember the statement that the nematodes can travel 3 feet in any lateral direction over the course of a year which meant that in order to have a nematode free bed, there must be an exclusion zone of 3 feet (no plants) in all directions around the bed or the potential exists for the nematodes to reinfect the bed.

But I don't remember how deep they travel. I'm sorry. Hopefully you can find that information.

As for the roots themselves, own root rose roots vary while grafted rose roots depend on the root stock used. Some root stocks have tap roots and others have significant branching. If the grafted root stock is known, then the sort of roots to expect can be determined. For example, Fortuniana is a relatively shallow rooted root stock.

Good luck.

This post was edited by sandandsun on Tue, Feb 3, 15 at 22:32