This kind of information might have been posted in the past but I think it would be useful for beginners. years ago I was wondering how people create tree roses (standards) and why there are so many bad ones. Now I have all the answers after creating many myself.

They create a standard rose by using a long rootstock cane, root it and bud a rose bud near the top. Eventually this rose bud grows big and engulf the top of the rootstock cane. This is the old fashioned way and the best. It produces a single big crown that is well balanced. But modern rose nurseries tend to cheat. They wantto do the job in 1/2 the time required. So they bud 2-3 buds near the top to create a bushy look 1 year earlier. This means eventually the standard rose will be ruined during the next 3 years.

- One of the rose buds will out perform the others and skew the standard to one side.

- The wind may break one of the grafts and ruin the balance of the standard forever

- The standard is now too old for the left over graft to "engulf" the trunk. So it's time to shovel-prune it.

To make standard rose there is no choice but to learn how to root long rootstock canes. I am talking about from 3 - 8 ft tall ones. It's not an easy job at all. Then the next job is to bud a rose bud on the growing rootstock.

But the immediately bit of information I'd like to share with people is the skill to choose a standard rose.

- Look for an oldish look on the main trunk. This rootstock cane should look old, tough, thick with dead bark (not the yellow/greenish young look). It shows the age. The older the better.

- Look at the grafts. There should be only one graft right at the top devloped into a round crown with about 3 big shoots coming out from one single ball crown the size of a small plumb fruit.

Be prepare to pay premium for these excellent standards. Growers know their products. They won't sell these for cheap because it takes them 3 years to create one lot of them.

I hate to look at what on offer these days. They only want to make low quality for a quick sale. The good old fashioned honesty seems to be hard to find.