Three questions that are all part of the same basic problem. First, the single rose is not a 'sport' but the bloom of the rootstock, which is ignoring the bud of the choice variety and putting up its own growth, also characterized by the seven leaves instead of five. Why suckers occur, and what to do about them, is best explained by in turn explaining why we bud and graft.
It may be that the horses have been fed a lot of hay, and in that case it is quite likely that some seed of the plants comprising the hay will have passed unharmed through the digestive tract of the animals and be ready to germinate as soon as conditions become suitable. Correct composting involves sustained heating to 'cook' and destroy any viable seed. Therefore, unless the manure has been 'hot composted' in order to become well rotted, you must expect to see grass and other weed germinating. The second reason for 'well rotted' is basically to have reduced the nitrogenous urine content which would assuredly encourage leaf and shoot growth, but this, because of the induced inbalance in relation to the hardening potash, will become soft, flabby and more susceptible to mildew and other fungus attack.
Be it bloom or fruit production, quantity or quality, bearing when the plant is young or much later, a small tree or large, the stock has a profound influence on the kind of plant that develops, and quite different to what would grow if the choice variety were left to grow on its own roots.
Almost all bush roses are propagated by budding just above soil level, and standards by implanting the bud high up on a briar stem. As soon as the nurseryman can see that the bud has 'taken' he removes the original 'wild' stock foliage and growth above the bud so that sap and energy is diverted and concentrated into the choice bud.
Quite often, especially in the first year or two of growth, and when a root stock is getting away strongly, it has more energy and vigour to push up than the bud or grafted scion can take, and it simply resorts to making an outlet for the excess energy by putting out shoots and growth of its own, called suckers and briars. These can arise from a dormant bud on the stock portion or from the callus tissue that arises from a wound, which explains why you should always be careful when hoeing or digging deeply enough to reach and snag the roots.
The invariable risk that follows is that, having found an escape hatch, the stock then pours in its energy - the sucker growth is its own natural tissue after all - and at once begins to ignore the bud or graft implanted in its side. This bud therefore begins to suffer from neglect and, if you don't interfere to keep the growth growing the way you want, will suffer and may even wither and die.
It may be that the horses have been fed a lot of hay, and in that case it is quite likely that some seed of the plants comprising the hay will have passed unharmed through the digestive tract of the animals and be ready to germinate as soon as conditions become suitable. Correct composting involves sustained heating to 'cook' and destroy any viable seed. Therefore, unless the manure has been 'hot composted' in order to become well rotted, you must expect to see grass and other weed germinating. The second reason for 'well rotted' is basically to have reduced the nitrogenous urine content which would assuredly encourage leaf and shoot growth, but this, because of the induced inbalance in relation to the hardening potash, will become soft, flabby and more susceptible to mildew and other fungus attack.
Be it bloom or fruit production, quantity or quality, bearing when the plant is young or much later, a small tree or large, the stock has a profound influence on the kind of plant that develops, and quite different to what would grow if the choice variety were left to grow on its own roots.
Almost all bush roses are propagated by budding just above soil level, and standards by implanting the bud high up on a briar stem. As soon as the nurseryman can see that the bud has 'taken' he removes the original 'wild' stock foliage and growth above the bud so that sap and energy is diverted and concentrated into the choice bud.
Quite often, especially in the first year or two of growth, and when a root stock is getting away strongly, it has more energy and vigour to push up than the bud or grafted scion can take, and it simply resorts to making an outlet for the excess energy by putting out shoots and growth of its own, called suckers and briars. These can arise from a dormant bud on the stock portion or from the callus tissue that arises from a wound, which explains why you should always be careful when hoeing or digging deeply enough to reach and snag the roots.
The invariable risk that follows is that, having found an escape hatch, the stock then pours in its energy - the sucker growth is its own natural tissue after all - and at once begins to ignore the bud or graft implanted in its side. This bud therefore begins to suffer from neglect and, if you don't interfere to keep the growth growing the way you want, will suffer and may even wither and die.
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