The only roses you can root are those that are grown on their own root stock - which is not very many. Other roses are "grafted" and I don't believe they'll grow the same on their own root stock. Dawn or somebody with a lot of rose experience can tell you more about it, but I didn't want you to get your hopes up unless you're trying to propagate something like a rugosa that grows on it's own roots.

Susan

First, let me say I'm not a rose expert. I don't have any. But I'm under the impression some growers are going back to cutting grown plants for a couple reasons. Cuttings will always be true unlike plants that sucker below the graft and they are less labor intensive to reproduce. It's a lot easier for me to root a cutting of many different plants than it is to graft them.

I do graft Adeniums because I want a fat rootstock to grow my clone on. Cutting grown Adeniums don't grow a fat caudex.

It might be a little hot right now to root roses. If it were mine, I might try to root a few in a week or two. I would definitely try a bunch in late spring / early summer though. The many different species of plants I root cuttings of have good percentages and tend to root quicker then.

randy

I am not a rose expert, but I think it is still way too hot right now. I think I wouldn't start any until late September or early October, if it were me. If you are going to start them inside, you probably could start them now and keep them inside for a few weeks to beat the heat. Keep in mind, too, that rooted cuttings will have very small roots intially and will be prone to freeze, so be prepared to protect them from freezing temps.

You can root any roses you want, but only own-root roses will give you a plant that is identical to the mother plant. Hybrids are grafted on to hardier root stock, so while hybrids may root from cuttings, those cutting-grown roses probably will not be as hardy or grow as vigorously as the original hybrid plant from which the cuttings were taken.

I have the best luck rooting cuttings of any kind when I use either a commercial rooting hormone or willow water I make myself by soaking willow stems in water.

When I was a kid in the 1960s, my aunts and some of the 'old southern lady gardeners' that lived around us rooted roses a couple of different ways. One method they used was to take a cutting and place it in good, rich garden soil in a semi-shady location, like under a hydrangea or lilac or similar plant. They watered it in and then placed a Ball Mason canning jar over the cutting to protect it, twisting the jar back and forth in the soil to work it into the ground enough that it would not easily tip over. In a few weeks they had a rooted cutting that they could then transplant to wherever they wanted.

A second method they told me about which was used by THEIR mothers and aunts was to take a large white potato and cut a deep slit about halfway into it. They then took the rose cutting, stuck it into a jar with willow water for a day or so to help stimulate rooting, and then placed the cutting into the slit cut in the potato. They then buried the potato in the ground, with the cutting sticking up out of the ground. Supposedly the potato helped keep the rooting moist as it rooted. I have not ever tried this method myself.

Good luck. Keep us posted.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Rooting Roses Info From Dr. William Welch

They're all on their own roots. I bought them from http://www.heirloomroses.com and they only sell own-root roses. By the way, I don't recommend this particular nursery because they send you tiny newly rooted cuttings at larger size prices. I was disappointed. But after much TLC mine have grown respectfully. Blue Skies is now almost as tall as I am, and I'm 6'4".

Here's a list of what I have. I'll be trying to root all of them.

Blue Skies
Just Joey (this is my favorite)
Sheer Bliss
Bewitched
Red Masterpiece

I'm glad that they are own-root roses. I hope you have success rooting them.

Did you know that there is a garden website called Garden Watchdog that you can use to check the reputation of gardening-related companies? It allows people to post messages about individual companies--the comments can be both good and bad. I always check out the comments about a company before I order from it (if I haven't used that company before OR if it has been a long time since I used that company).

Garden Watchdog is wonderful and has kept me from ordering from some nurseries that (based on the comments there) might have let me down. Sometimes I go ahead and order from a company that has some negative reviews in Garden Watchdog--but at least I know what to expect, having read the reviews of other persons.

Garden Watchdog is a part of the Dave's Garden subscription website, but you can access Garden Watchdog without subscribing to Dave's Garden.

I read some of the Garden Watchdog reviews of Heirloom Roses to see if 'small plants' was a common complaint, and found that it was. However, most reviews were positive and many reviewers mentioned the high quality/healthiness of the plants that they purchased from Heirloom Roses. FYI, another great source for old roses is the Antique Rose Emporium which has several locations in Texas and also sells online and via a catalog.

Good luck with your cuttings.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Garden Watchdog

Cityboy....the small size of my Heirloom roses upon arrival didn't slow them down any....they are HUGE now! Most of mine are climbers and have exceeded my expectations. The smallest on arrival was Graham Thomas and this spring he was gigantic.
Overall I have been pleased with Heirloom and the quality of roses they sell.

I rooted some roses from them this spring and out of perhaps 14 to 15 about 1/3 were successful. Then I let part of those dry out too much while we were gone to the lake so I have one left....haha. I put them in small pots and used rooting hormone powder and placed them in the large zipper plastic bags in which blankets and sheets are sold in. It worked great. Like little greenhouses.

But I question that it would be best to try rooting them next spring. They will not have time to establish a decent root system to sustain them through winter if you don't have a greenhouse or something to keep them in. It took mine a good two months to start showing new growth.

Anyway that is just my two cents and that is all it's worth as I had never tried rooting roses before and it was totally experimental.
There is lots of info on the net on rooting roses...just Google "rooting roses"......
Good luck!
G.M.

It's not true that you can only take cuttings from own root roses. I've planted out rooted cuttings from a budded Fair Bianca, and the daughter plants are really big and bushy, even larger than the mother plant.

I don't think anyone said that you "can't" root only own-root roses, but only that rooting own-root roses tends to give better results in general. When you root a grafted rose, you may or may not get a plant that is as strong and as vigorous as the parent plant.

By the way, Fair Biana is one of the many David Austin English roses that is available commercialy as both a grafted rose AND an own-root rose, something we are seeing more and more of nowadays. Some people in some climates---most notably those in warmer climates--believe (quite strongly!) that their own-root Austin roses perform better than grafted Austin roses. I am glad that the one you rooted is doing well for you. I love my Austin roses.

And, in this whole discussion, we haven't even mentioned the ethics and legality of rooting patented plants, and I don't even want to discuss it because such discussions tend to get heated! However, we all need to keep in mind that patents exist and there are laws regarding those patents. (smile)

Dawn