Standards

Modern rosebushes, as you know, are two separate varieties grafted together at the bud union.  The rootstock is the portion underground, and the hybrid is the portion growing above the bud union.  In standards, a third variety is introduced between the two--just a cane of rosewood along whose length nothing is intended to grow; it simply provides height for the hybrid growing on top.

Standards are often called tree roses; they can be anywhere from eighteen inches to three feet tall--even taller if custom budded.  Standards are fine for landscaping and as a means of squeezing in additional roses when your garden has room for roots below; but not for bushes above.  Since the major growth will be above them, tree roses can be planted right between two large bushes.

I know a rosarian who buds his own rose trees and grafts two hybrids of different colors on top of the support trunk.  He has a dozen trees, each buddded with both National Trust and Pascali, planted in a chamomile lawn with a croquet court snaking in and around them (very Alice in Wonderland).  He has some secret that he has not yet divulged (I think he plans to will it to me) for getting both varieties to bloom at the same time.  It is quite a sight.

I don't like standards of varieties known to grow large; they get top-heavy.  I think staking looks crude, but if you don't do something, you open yourself up to heartache when the wind breaks off whole canes.  For this reason, many floribundas make good standards, as do the more average size hybrid teas, and they can be kept nicely shaped.

Catalogues list the rose varieties available as standards, and many offer a wide selection.  If you fall in love with a rose that isn't available as a tree, many nurseries, particularly those specializing in roses, will bud it for you.