Oregon State University Extension Service


Different colored roses on same bush?

This yellow rose caught my eye when I was smelling the red roses. I saw it out of the corner of my eye. I thought at first that it was another bush, but there were no other yellow ones so I followed the stem. It ended on the same trunk as the red ones!
I'm wondering how common this is?

I don't know how common it is, but the most likely cause is that this is a grafted rose, and one of the colors is the rootstock below the graft. Since pink is a much more common color for roses, I am guessing that at one point most of the grafted (yellow) rose was killed back, and the root stock took over – except for this one stem of the yellow variety. You should be able to tell if this is the case by examining the base of the bush – most likely the yellow stem comes from a higher position, perhaps above a graft swelling.


Source URL: https://extension.oregonstate.edu/ask-extension/featured/different-colored-roses-same-bush