Hi Gabey, I'm sorry for your loss of your dog. Volunteer rose seedlings aren't that common, though they're not really rare, either. Some beautiful roses have resulted from volunteers. More often, larger rose gardens produce them because of the enormous quantity of hips not cut off before shedding the seed, but they CAN happen with only one bush, as long as some hips remain until they fall off to leave seeds where they may, or may not germinate.

I'd imagine because it probably fell from the rose closest to where it's growing, it's likely hardy enough for your climate. You might want to put a stake beside it so you'll remember where it is and not "weed" it out accidentally and so no one steps on it. I'd do whatever normal rose protection you might do when winter approaches. Otherwise, just keep other plants cut back so the seedling will get water and sun, and if you fertilize, make sure you feed it as you would an infant. If the adults get steak, the infant gets the infant version, so don't use as strong nor as much fertilizer on it as you would the full size bushes. Its root system is appropriately smaller as is its top growth. Too much and too strong "salt", which is what fertilizers are (even organics break down into salts), and it can dry out and burn the plant, so treat it as you would a baby anything...diluted versions of what the mature plants, animals and people would get. Think of it that way and you should be good to go. Congratulations and have fun with it! Kim

I was going to post a new message, but it deals with this.I was wondering, while pruning my bushes, does anyone ever just put the prunings in a pot and see what happens? Just got out of the hospital, so not moving around too well. Dont have the rootone available either, but has anyone just done this? Thanks for any comments - Barb

Barb, depending upon the rose, your current weather conditions, time of year and luck, yes, it can work. I broke a flower cluster off my Pookah out front and just stuck it into the ground. All variables were just right as the danged thing rooted! Many others haven't. I hit upon everything just right. You may, also. It's a common theme of mothers and grandmothers just sticking them right in the ground under the bush they were cut from, and having them root. It makes it easier to keep them cooler and better watered than you can in pots, and the foliage canopy of the mother plants help maintain humidity around the cuttings, preventing them from drying out quickly. IF you can grab the hormone, it will probably improve your chances. Welcome back to the land of the living, BTW. Feel much better soon! Kim

gabey4-It could be a seedling, it happens, but have you considered the possibility that one of the cuttings you placed on the grave has taken root?

It will be surely be fun to watch it grow and flower and a really special rose in memory of your dog.

Barb-Sure, I do things all the time just to see what happens. I have stuck the prunings in a pot. They don't all root for me, but I'd say more often than not. When using prunings you still want to discard any parts that aren't healthy to begin with. You can cut them down to look like cuttings or try them different sizes. Well draining soil in the pot will improve your chances. The roots need to have a reason to grow to look for water, but don't let it get completely dry either. I never had any luck with rooting hormone. It's trial and error what works for you. Go ahead and try different things, what have you got to lose :)

Kim gives excellent advice for the care of the babies that applies to both situations.
Good luck with them.
Donna

Thank you Donna. It's surprising how conditions control what will and won't work. I know people who put spent flowering stems in vases of water and they root. I know those who just stick them in the ground and they root. I've done that once, but never again. Conditions were never right again.

Relatives used to tease my mother about being a "Green Witch" because she could seemingly root anything. We had a leaky hose bib which dripped constantly. The weather was humid and soil and water acidic and she rooted a flowering stem from a Ginger Lily! Anything she wanted to reproduce, she just stuck under that leaky faucet and it took.

I can't root roses in water here north of Los Angeles. Our water is too salty and that salt inhibits root formation. Provide them with more acidic water and it can work. I couldn't root roses without covering them with plastic bags in the Santa Clarita Valley because it was too arid, windy and hot. Here in Encino, if I cover them, they WILL rot. If I put them where they get early morning sun with shade after that, they work. I can root hibiscus cuttings in pots of soil if I can put them where they won't get any direct sun. That's quite difficult here due to the positioning of the house, so it's best done in winter. Creating shade for them later in the year works, too.

Based upon what I've experienced and gleaned from those who have successfully done what you wrote of, higher humidity, acidic soil and water and cooler (less than the nineties and above) temperatures are most conducive to just potting cuttings and having them root. With my conditions, wrapping them in the damp newspaper and keeping them somewhere they can be held in the sixties temperatures until they callus or root, then planting them deeply in pots to maintain that cool, damp, dark condition until enough roots form is the most successful method of propagating them from cuttings for me. Believe me, I would LOVE to just be able to jam them in a pot or a glass of water and have the blooming things take root! That would be so much easier! Kim