Now you're gonna really think i'm dumb.

I'm so new with roses. I don't know a lot of terms. When someone talks about the "suckers", I don't know what they are. I need to know what they look like so I can remove them, Right ? If somebody could just fill me in, I'd appreciate it.
Lynda

Suckers are sprouts that come up from the base of a plant. Roses are often grafted onto a different rootstock, so when you get suckers coming up they are of the rootstock rose not the one that you want that's growing on the top part of the plant. And often the rootstock plant is more vigorous, so if you don't get rid of the suckers, before you know it, it'll take over the desirable rose on the top.

Lynda, you don't have to stay in the "beginner gardening" forum with your rose questions. You can bring them straight to the rose forum. We're nice people there and we don't get snippy about answering simple questions.

When roses are grafted onto a different root stock, anything growing from below the graft is called a sucker. These suckers have to be removed -- pulled off the rose rather than cut -- as soon as possible. The root stock usually comes from a rose that's much more vigorous than the rose above the graft, and it will take the whole rose bush over if it's given half a chance.

Just as I was previewing this post, I saw that ecrane beat me to the finish line. Oh, well. It can't hurt to hear the answer twice, I suppose.

You will recognise the sucker IF you get any growing, the foliage is normally a much lighter green than the true rose you want to grow, they normally have 7 leaves where as the real rose will normally have 5 leaves, sometimes if you have a standard rose, these suckers will sprout from the tall stem instead of under ground, but for bush roses, they all come from under the soil. the suckers normally have much more thorns and are placed closer together that you see on the stems of bush roses.
The best way to get rid of these suckers is to scrape away the soil where you see the sucker coming from, then use gloves, tug the sucker downwards so it comes clean away from the underground roots/stem, IF you cut them off, it is like pruning the rose so it will grow fast and furious again, as stated before, these are much stronger and will weaken your rose bush as they take up all the nutrients and moisture from the roots making your lovely rose plant weaker and flower less,
To help prevent these suckers IF you have grafted roses, is to try not damage the plant at the soil top or just under the soil where the grafted part is, any tiny nicks or cuts into this part makes a wound so the rootstock rose thinks it is time to make new growth.
The suckers are easy to identify growing beside the other rose foliage as your rose will have a more glossy type leave where as the suckers are dull but brighter in the green colour, so if you see this, just trace into the soil where it is coming from. When you feed your roses either early spring or end of flowering season, this is a good time to check the plant over as you lightly hand fork the food into the soil. Hope this helps you out a bit. Good luck. WeeNel.

You are all so helpful. Thanks again.
Lynda