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I've always wondered how rose cuttings work. Most roses are grafted onto a rootstock which affects their overall growth, so if you take a cutting from above the root stock would it not revert to the growth pattern of the top bit of the rose?

yes

I think where you have the graft below soil level, over time you will also get roots forming of the grafted (nice) rose, so maybe it ends up the same as a proper cutting

Roses come fairly easily from cuttings taken this time of year. Thanks for reminding me!

Yes but why???

I have taken rose cuttings with some success.  Usually do it when I am pruning late summer or early autumn.  Healthy looking shoots with no flower buds (or nip them off), I strike them in a tall plant pot 9 to 12 " with some sand in the base.  Stand the pot in a quiet corner  and forget about it for a few months and hope to see new growth in the spring. Put about 4 in and if I am lucky 2 may strike. Costs nothing but a wonderful feeling of achievement when you see your fist bloom. Good luck
ellie2cats

Grafting on to root stock is common with lots all varieties of shrubs and trees.

They use a quick growing root, graft a slow growing variety to it. The grafted variety then grows at the speed of the host.

That is the simplest answer I can give you.

Yes, thank you. I fully understand that. That is not the problem. As long as the grafted part of the rose is attached to the rootstock I am quite clear about why and what is going on. That is also why suckers are so vigorous compared to the grafted rose.

No I'll try to rephrase my question.

When I take a cutting from a grafted rose I detach the highly bred slow-growing bit from the vigorous rootstock and so I would expect the cutting which can no longer draw on the reserves of the rootstock to produce a much less vigorous shrub. But that doesn't seem to happen. And I wondered if anyone knew why?

grafting of roses onto rootstock isn't (just) about vigour. It's to produce a great many, all the same, quickly. Also disease resistance etc

Remember with apples for instance, grafting is sometimes done to produce something that is less vigorous

Mmm ... very plausible and I'll accept that as a partial explanation.  Still not convinced it's the whole story though but thanks- I'll just go and do the cuttings.

Maybe I could graft Rambling Rector on to a less vigorous rootstock......  :-\ :-\

something I found with one of our roses - the climbing Cecille Brunner, which is an absolute beast, is that with moving houses and taking cuttings, after about a cutting from a cutting from a cutting, it stopped climbing, and formed a 4ft bush. Had to buy a new one