Just in case anyone is interested, Wisconsin Roses has their new web site up and running and Steve is taking orders. I order a few (at least 3) roses every year. I enjoy watching everything go from "a bump on a stick", to a full bush in just one season. Not only that, Steve carries varieties no one else has.

Thanks Ken! Isn't Cajun Sunrise a beauty?

I've had nothing but great service from Steve, whether ordering roses he has, or sending him stems for custom budding

Thanks for the reminder, Ken. I've never had a bad experience with Wisconsin Roses, and Steve has hybridized some wonderful roses. This is my favorite.


Less than two months ago, Porkpal expressed her regret that there was no rose named for Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Steve has created one and it's a beauty. Scroll down this page to RBG.
https://wiroses.com/catalog

And a beautiful rose she is too! Hurray!

That woman certainly deserves a beautiful rose. Too bad she couldn't see it.

RBG is a beautiful rose. The bush grows very well. It needs afternoon shade to really get the color blends in the bloom.
Mike---Cajun Sunrise is a beauty when the bush is happy. Mostly happy during the spring and late fall. It isn't a big fan of summer heat.
I also grow a couple of roses on Steve's list that were very nice surprises. Folkmagic was a great surprise. Big, vigorous bush producing plenty of BIG soft cream blooms. Zach Noble is a fantastic orange sport of Let Freedom Ring. If you want more bush's of it, it roots very quickly and is an exceptional own root plant. Camphill Glory is a surprisingly nice bloom. Looks like Cajun Sunrise with quilled petals.
If you have never ordered from Wisconsin Roses, you are missing a great, new experience.

Zuzu, I got Oksana from Steve on a lark a couple of years ago. He was confirming my order, and asked if he was holding Oksana for me too. I looked it up on HMF, was impressed, and told him it wasn't me, but if he had one to spare, to add it on. Lovely rose!

I buy a lot of roses because of their names. My best friend for years in gymnastics was named Oksana. The beauty of the rose was a bonus.

KenNEGA said: RBG is a beautiful rose. The bush grows very well. It needs afternoon shade to really get the color blends in the bloom.
Mike---Cajun Sunrise is a beauty when the bush is happy. Mostly happy during the spring and late fall. It isn't a big fan of summer heat.
I also grow a couple of roses on Steve's list that were very nice surprises. Folkmagic was a great surprise. Big, vigorous bush producing plenty of BIG soft cream blooms. Zach Noble is a fantastic orange sport of Let Freedom Ring. If you want more bush's of it, it roots very quickly and is an exceptional own root plant. Camphill Glory is a surprisingly nice bloom. Looks like Cajun Sunrise with quilled petals.
If you have never ordered from Wisconsin Roses, you are missing a great, new experience.

Ken, I looked on their website and thought they only do bare root, grafted.

Steve sends maiden roses. Here's a link to his description: https://wiroses.com/what-is-a-...
Here is a series of pics of my Stephen Rulo from last fall.
This is the maiden. At about 2 o'clock, you can see the bud of Stephen Rulo peeking out of a slash on the multiflora stem

This is after I cut off the top of the multiflora bush, which is the root stock.


This is the bloom

As always, click on pics to enlarge

He also does custom budding of things you find the bud wood for and have sent to him. I will receive a virus indexed Gloire de Dijon from an old Pickering rose (Pickering indexed (virus tested then cleaned) every rose they sold, so as long as it hasn't been budded on to, it should remain "virus free") in a few weeks. Dijon grows significantly better budded than own root and I am excited to receive it. Keep that in mind for next year. If there is something you've been longing for but there is no commercial source, find it in a garden and arrange for wood to be sent to Wisconsin Roses at the appropriate time, then sit back and enjoy the excitement!

Good to know. Thanks!

Roseseek's post reiterates what I posted above on Oct 1, that Steve at Wisconsin Roses will custom bud roses for you. You send him stems (he gives specific instructions). I have a large number of out-of-commerce roses, and am trying to propagate as many as possible to share with people doing the same. Sometimes, they are notoriously hard to root, but Steve can bud them for you.

Yes, and budding can make ALL the difference in a rose. Too many are just nasty own root or simply will NOT grow, but budding can turn then into garden worthy plants. The original J&P announced years ago they were going to add Henry Fonda to their "New Generation Roses" (own root), until they discovered it didn't grow on its own roots. Week's announced they would add Midnight Blue to their "Shrublets" (own roots), except IT won't grow on its own roots. Many of the older "Coffee Roses" are terrible or impossible own root, but budded, they can be grown. If you aren't aware of what "maidens" are, this is what I received. The green bud inserted into the shank is the Dijon piece. Next year, once the multiflora leafs out, all of that will be removed above that bud to force it to push. Then, that shoot (the maiden), will be pruned to encourage branching to produce the two, three or more cane bare root you are used to purchasing. If you have out of patent, rarer roses you want to preserve and aren't able to reproduce them yourself, having them custom budded is an ideal method. It is more expensive than rooting ($32 total cost, including postage), but where else is it possible to obtain a virus indexed budded 173 year old Tea-Noisette?

That sounds like a true bargain to me.

When I sent budwood (canes) to Steve, it cost me the shipping. When he made my budded plants, he charged $20 per plant, plus cost of shipping back to me. The price has probably gone up in the past couple of years, but it's one of the best deals ever for a rare rose that's hard to root. I really need to learn how to do this... I hear it's pretty easy.

Kim, I'm a little surprised that you said Midnight Blue didn't perform well on its ownroot. Mine does very well in my sandy soil and high shade garden.

Aerith, Week's Roses announced Midnight Blue would be added to their "Shrublets", the own root offerings, the following year. That year, it remained budded as they determined it did not perform sufficiently well own root for their standards and continued offering it budded until they bankrupted and were sold to the group who now owns the name. I've only ever grown it as a budded plant, so I have no personal experience with it own root, but when the creator/introducer announces it isn't suitable for own root production, AFTER stating it would be offered own root, who am I to argue with them?

Susan, the plant was $20 and shipping was either $12 or $12.50 (I'm too lazy to go look). Budding IS easy! Particularly if you're using chip budding instead of "T" budding. The type of stock makes a tremendous difference. Multiflora types have thicker cambium layers and remain in condition suitable for budding for a tremendously longer period than type such as Dr. Huey. Multiflora types also root faster (thicker cambium again); require much less heat to root and for buds to knit and push and often push sap over longer lengths which is beneficial for taller standards. I gave up on trying to bud on Fortuniana and Dr. Huey here in north Santa Barbara County due to the lack of heat. Even when I obtained rooted Fortuniana stocks, the scions knit to them but I couldn't get them hot enough, long enough, for the sap to push growth from them. I have no such issues here using Pink Clouds, IXL or De la Grifferaie. I'd collected virus indexed plants of all of them (and Gloire des Rosomanes and Cardinal Hume, which makes a marvelous stock for standards and bushes) and found the multiflora types much better suited to my conditions. Add heat and you have a much wider selection. Chip budding is necessary for Fortuniana and Banksiae due how fragile their barks are. Banksiae is often used for standard trunks in China.

Folks, take a look at just about every online rose nursery (I said "just about") and you will notice the PRICE of bareroot roses is starting to get a little pricey. The bareroot roses you receive from Wisconsin Roses require a little bit of work to start them off but by the end of the 1st growing season you have a full size bush and it continues to build on itself year after year. And the best part is I can get 2 bush's from Steve for the same price of 1 bush elsewhere. Yes, there are special roses I would love to have but I have gotten to the point in my rose growing ( 40+years) that what I really enjoy seeing in my garden is a full, healthy, happy bush that gives me the roses that I truly want. Remember this. A good, strong bud eye budded onto a good strong rootstock will produce a good strong rose bush.
All of these rose were nothing but a "bump on a stick" from Wisconsin Roses last spring. This photo was taken early October. All 3 to 4 ft. tall. Not to bad for 1st year bush's.