I've found that some of the modern shrub roses thrive on their own roots, but they are the exceptions. Due to many frustrating experiences over the years with own-root HTs and Floribundas, I now steadfastly ignore those unless they can be purchased as grafted plants. Undoubtedly, others have better luck. I suspect those who do (1) have more patience, and (2) garden in a more rose-friendly environment that I do.

I don't doubt for a moment that own-root roses can regenerate from their roots after top growth has died. Unfortunately, not once in my many years of tending roses have I experienced that phenomenon. I've certainly had my share of roses to kick the bucket (own-root and grafted ones), but they always seem to do so from the roots up -- gone for good.

So if you are looking for that perfect exhibition style HT with the high pointed center spiraling outward I'd go grafted. They make for stronger growing plants. If you're looking for easy care or more landscape bloom and color then own root flories and shrubs might do better for you.

What ever you decide on you'll find as you get more in to it that your choices will continue to change and evolve too. Some things will do better than others and some that you thought you'd like will turn out to be not what you expected or wanted. Good gardens are never "finished" but more of an ever changing progression of experimentation.

Canadian-grown roses on multiflora are much less likely to be infected with mosaic virus than western-grown roses on Dr. Huey. Some own-root producers are careful to avoid propagating from virused stock, others not. Virus is a bigger concern for growers in zone 7a and colder than those in warmer climates.

As pointed out above, Dr. Huey fairly often produces rootstock suckers, which are a nuisance. Multiflora does so much less often. Some old roses produce lots of suckers from the named variety and develop into thickets. With these, grafting to multiflora reduces the nuisance of suckers, compared to own-root plants.

In Florida, most roses are grafted to Fortuniana rootstock because it is highly resistant to southern root-knot nematode, which kills most roses in warm sandy soils.

Own-root roses can live essentially forever. Grafted roses can have the named variety killed by zone 4-6 winters, or, after decades, the graft can wear out and become incapable of producing new basal shoots.
These dangers can be avoided by planting the graft below grade, allowing the named variety to form its own roots. However, then you can lose the advantage of vigorous rootstock. I have dug up roses where the rootstock has atrophied because it was planted much deeper than it wanted to be.

Finally, grafted roses are large, two-year-old plants, while most own-roots from boutique nurseries are way behind them in development.

On the other hand, with own-root you sometimes get a do-over (whether you want it or not!) because the rose re-sprouts after you have ripped it out. My current, third-try Lady Hillingdon, doing beautifully in a good spot, came from a re-sprout of the second Lady Hillingdon (more than a year later!), who failed in a lousy spot. Reine des Violettes, who is an absolute horror here, has come back three or four times, at least -- yesterday, I looked over where he once was and, yes, he's baaaack (#%$!). Same story for several others. Sometimes it's nice to get a second chance, other times it's not.

You asked if Regan is a good supplier of bare root grafted roses. Yes it is. Another source that I've always been very pleased with is S&W Greenhouses located in your home state. S&W has a great selection, but a very brief shipping window. However, they sell all of their varieties as potted roses well into the spring and early summer at their nursery/greenhouse operation in White House, TN. All of their grafted roses are on Dr. Huey root stock.

Until I read this thread and posts on the thread linked above, I had no idea that suckering from Dr. Huey and Multiflora root stocks are a problem for some gardeners. Since the early 1980s, I've grown lots of roses in three different zones and have never had a root stock to sucker.

These days, avoiding certain root stocks in the hope of avoiding rose mosaic virus is a futile approach. The only roses I've acquired in recent years that I know to be virused, are two plants of the HT 'Louise Estes' purchased on Multiflora from Palatine. I received no response from Palatine when I notified them of the problem, but at least they were quick to pull 'Louise Estes' from their inventory.

Since you seem to be fairly new to roses, I encourage you to focus initially on grafted moderns (HTs, Grandifloras, Floribundas) purchased from a reputable vendor, and heirloom varieties purchased from a source that supplies ownroots in sizes larger than bands. I'm hoping you have great success with, and derive much pleasure from your garden!

I am afraid they remain an 'it' for me, much as I love them.

I happen to favor grafted roses, on fortuniana if I can get it, but that's definitely a warm climate rootstock only. Pink Clouds is almost as good and works for cold climates (or so I hear). If I can't get a plant grafted on fortuniana (and sources for these are rare), I grow a large plant of fortuniana myself and use it to graft them up myself quite often. I have done many comparisons over the years. That's what works best where I am -- SoCal.

Kathy

For that reason, and because it would be pointless to graft the majority of the roses I prefer to grow here (no modern HTs or floribundas), only 2 of my 81 roses are grafted: Just Joey (a grade 1 1/2 body bag that is now ten years old, 7' x 7', and very floriferous -- I have never understood why Ray Reddell in the "Rose Bible" found him "puny") and one of my 2 Buff Beauty (no difference whatsoever between the grafted and own-root versions). However, when I lived in western Massachusetts (Z5), what I had was mostly grafted, except for the rugosas. I never noticed rootstock problems there (or with my two grafted roses here, yet).