How to get rid of "Dr. Huey" without killing beautiful roses?

[GardenGeisha]

I have a couple of roses that have reverted to their rootstock and now put out a lot of the old-fashioned red roses called "Dr. Huey," on puny stems, detracting from the roses that were grafted on it, "Scent from Above," and "Mr. Lincoln," and "Enchanted Evening." The first two are red varieties of roses, and the latter is lavender. The first two have been showing some powdery mildew on the rosebushes they are on due to our high temperatures. I think it's because it's so dry and hot and their roots are dry. The sprinkler system is broken. I carried water out the other night to them, but I doubt it was enough.

At any rate, in order to try to get rid of Dr. Huey and promote blooming of the "real roses," should I cut off all the blossoms of Dr. Huey and trim their puny branches way back, or would that actually encourage new vigor in Dr. Huey? Would it be better to leave the blossoms on indefinitely, which would take more energy from Dr. Huey, forming seeds?

All suggestions appreciated. I like the looks of Dr. Huey, but not as much as the appearance and fragrance of the roses they are zapping, and I'm afraid Dr. Huey will kill off the other roses, if I don't do something to stop Dr. Huey?

All suggestions appreciated.

 

[Nyboy]

You have to remove all of Dr Huey, down to base of plant

 

[Smart Red]

I don't know about roses, but I'd cut back -- as far as possible -- every unwanted branch and keep the wanted ones. If I could tell which side of the root system had the unwanted stems, I would cut that part off the plant and hope the rest regained its strength.

Of course, I don't know roses.

I wrote this last night before the storms. Got rained off line so I'm rather repeating Nyboy . . . but before he said it.

 

[thistlebloom]

What they said.
If the shoots are coming below the graft you have to uncover the graft (if it's below the soil) and pull them off.You can clip them, but that tends to not discourage them from regrowing.
If you grab it close to the base and pull with a downward tug you can separate the unwanted cane from the plant. If you can't get a good grip on it, a pair of pliers will help.
At any rate, you will need to uncover the cane from as far down as it is attached to the root stock.

 

[so lucky]

I would think that keeping the rootstock graft above ground, where you can see it, would be a good idea. That way you can identify any suckers that come from below it. And wouldn't having it under moist ground encourage unwanted growth?
I have an old David Austin "Othello" that has a huge sucker that blooms not very pretty red scarcely petaled flowers. I need to get in there and cut that thing out. At the base.

 

[Nyboy]

I had a magic rose bush years ago. A friend gave me a yellow rose bush, for 3 years it flowered yellow. After a bad winter the rose changed from yellow to red, and stayed red every year after. It wasn't till years later I learned what had happened.

 

[GardenGeisha]

Can I do this right now, removing the suckers? It's to be 95 degrees F this afternoon here.

 

[GardenGeisha]

I mean, would it stress the rose terribly to have its suckers removed in this heat?

 

[Smart Red]

As long as the remaining plant has plenty of moisture, the sooner the unwanted parts are removed the sooner the remaining parts can recoup. I would probably wait until shade or evening, however.

 

[GardenGeisha]

Thanks, Smart Red. I have a feeling I should have done this long ago. I doubt I'll be successful in a fight against Dr. Huey.