My neighbor had there Shrub rose since before 1975 and its still doing fine...
I moved in our home in 1995 and we had a rose bush here which I later transplanted to my moms and its still doing fine... My neighbor said it was here since the mid 1970's or before also...

My Pinocchio was planted by my Mother in 1954. It's been moved at least a half dozen times, winters every year and blooms beautifully still. If the rose is healthy and happy it can live for many decades. I think there are some roses out west that are more than a hundred years old now.

Oldest is Lagerfeld, grafted on Dr. Huey, planted in May, 1992. It is badly mistreated. There is a grafted Tiffany that was also planted in 1992.

There is a Lili Marlene with an enormous 'escaped' Manetti from its root stock which was here when the house was bought in 1975. There are two large Queen Elizabeth bushes planted after that. My youngest sister has three, enormous Queen Elizabeth which eat her elderly apricot tree which were planted in 1966, when the house was built. As long as the rose is planted in a suitably appropriate climate and in the right conditions, and nothing KILLS it, they can go seemingly forever. The plant we "rediscovered" Climbing Yellow Sweetheart of, was quite large and well established when the homeowner bought the house in 1960. The rose was introduced in 1952 and it was brought to our attention in 2004. Ironically, all but one of these examples, and probably many of the previous ones have all bee budded, and very likely to Dr. Huey. Makes you wonder, doesn't it? Kim

The oldest rose I've seen in my area was probably some Autumn Damask, growing wild on the site of a Spanish-era ranch, taken before that from the local mission. The plant thus dates from the 1800s, though it's a clone of one that might be at least a century older, and ultimately traces back to a sucker from the very first plant of R. damascena, maybe >2000 years ago.

It all gets blurry when plants sucker. There are places in Europe where various garden roses have grown for centuries. Gallica gone wild on the site of an old battlefield or whatever. A biologist would say that the mother plant is long dead, but her clone has continuously grown on the same spot, making her "death" kind of an academic point.

I've seen grafted plants make it to several decades in age, but only rarely. Most scion/rootstock combinations are only good for a limited while, and if they last over 20 years, they're doing well. In the end, you get one puny, sickly looking little scion atop something that looks like old driftwood. You can keep damp soil around the scion and hope it suckers, or try to graft it onlo a fresh rootstock, but otherwise that plant is done.

I know my Pinocchio was grafted. Whether it has since gone own root or not I have no Idea but it is not a one cane puny wonder. It usually has 3 to 5 canes each season. Mom bought Angel Face the year it came out, 1968, and I still have that one too. It's grafted and has 3 nice fat canes that get at least 3 feet tall each year. Neither one looks like drift wood.

Seil:

I'm glad your Pinnochio has done so well! Some combinations of roses and rootstocks are a lot better (and more durable) than others.

At SJHRG, I remember one rose which was badly wanted by a breeder, and it was the only example of it left in the Americas. It got 1'-2' tall every June, but was so feeble that we dared not try to take more than one little cutting a year. After two such attempts failed to strike roots, I think the curator eventually sent budwood to Burling Leong to graft, so that the rose would not go extinct. There are a number of old grafted roses like that there. One Moss, called Adeline, is a unique plant, i.e., the only known example, and can barely manage a couple of flowers a year anymore. I'm growing out its seedlings so that it will have a legacy.

I appreciate your responses. It is amazing that some roses have been around so long. Hopefully by now I've learned enough so that my roses will be around for a long time. It took me awhile to figure that out, but I do have several now that I've had for about 12 years.

I inherited several hybrid tea roses when I purchased my house in 2004. I've identified three of them, Tropicana, Queen Elizabeth and Tiffany. They were probably planted when the house was built in 1960 or shortly thereafter. All of Mrs. J's roses were grafted and are going strong.

This photo was taken at the end of the season after our third year of drought.

Smiles,
Lyn

I believe my Queen Elizabeth and Piccadily is close to 30 years now. They are the only 2 of the original roses I have planted that is still thriving.

A few of the old tea roses in our garden were planted by my DH's great grandfather & grandfather. I know of 3 huge ones that lived approx 100 years.

Jackie

My brother now lives in the house where we grew up. Our mother planted her roses in the late 1950s early 60's. Of the roses she planted (all of which would have been grafted), Oklahoma and Super Star plus one whose name I don't remember, are still growing well and flowering prolifically every year - so that's at least 55+ years - and these roses are basically left to their own devices.

Tricia