Rose cuttings - suckers??

Hello everyone - last autumn I dug out some rose bushes from my back garden and potted them into a container outside the front door. They seem to have survived up till now (January) but the new growth I see is coming from under the soil level at the base, not from the actual wood stems that I had planted. Are these growths actually suckers to be removed or are they the start of a lovely new transplanted rose bush?? I don't know whether to cut them off or leave them develop? Any advice please??

 

Suckers can be recognised by the fact that they shoot from the briar rootstock below the graft point - and not from the rose stem itself.
They are also invariably a much paler green and have 7 leaves rather than the rose's 5. If they are not removed, they will eventually completely take over. The usual method is to pull - rather than cut - them away from the rootstock.
It is not quite clear from your post whether you are talking about cuttings or grafted stock. Cuttings are growing on their own roots so there can be no suckers. If you are not sure - go by the colour and number of leaves.

Kevin

 

suckers ??

Thanks for advice above. Well, I have checked again and these sprouting shoots, while still coming from the very base of the plant just under the soil, seems to have 5 leaves and NOT 7. Therefore I presume they are not suckers. The shoots are not what I normally think of as suckers in that they are thicker and stronger looking - I always think suckers are thin and are covered with thin small thorns - am I right?? These roses of mine were transplanted from garden and are not cuttings. I'll just leave them all in the container and see what happens in the spring.

 

I have a Lidl "special offer" climber that always throws out thin thorny shoots but when left to grow they are the normal shoots with normal thorns.

 

That is a very specific way to look at it... the root stock could be any kind of rose although most likley something like rosa rugosa, suckers coming from a root stock are likley to be strong growths as that's why it was chosen as the root stock:WINK1: