WHY ARE PLANTS GRAFTED?
Plants are grafted for many reasons. In fruit trees, different varieties are grafted onto each other so that multiple varieties can be grown on a single tree. Fruit trees are also grafted for the creation of a dwarf variety. Ornamental plants such as roses and tree peonies are often grafted for quality and hardiness. Nearly all woody plants of “named” varieties (‘Newton’ Apple, ‘Sexy Rexy’ Rose) are propagated in this way, not by seeds. Of course it is also possible to propagate a named variety by taking cuttings and inducing them to root, but with fruit trees this is a lengthy process, and even then the percentage of successes is not high. They lose the advantage that the rootstock gave them, such as disease resistance, ability to tolerate certain adverse soil conditions, or ability to cause the resulting grafted tree to be smaller when mature (“dwarfing rootstock”). I had heard stories of people grafting herbaceous plants, even annuals, and decided to try this a few years ago. The re
