I moved some months ago and we are fixing up the old house for sale. I have a beautiful old garden rose, a tea rose, in the backyard that is thriving and I hate to leave it behind. It would probably not survive transplanting to the new place. I have read some on rooting cuttings but have never done it. Has anyone had any success? It seems to work best in the fall, but we may not own the house by then so I am thinking about trying it now.

I have never rooted roses but I remember my mom just taking clippings, sticking them in the ground and inverting a canning jar over them untill they sprouted. She always said she did not have a green thumb but anyone could start a rose. I wish you well.

Zephyr,

Your right, rooting is always best done in the fall.

However, you may want to try this: Get a plastic one gallon flower pot, fill with GOOD potting soil. Take two cuttings from the main bush (two cuttings, in case one dies) 6 to 8 inches long and the size of your index finger, with no side branches. Remove all but the two top leaf brackets, dip in rooting hormone (Root tone from somewhere like K Mart) and then stick them into the good potting soil at least half their length. Bury the pot in the ground next to the main bush. Then take a half or one gallon opaque milk jug and cut away the bottom, place this jug over the cuttings leaving off the milk jug cap. Roots should appear in about six to eight weeks depending on the temperature. Mr. volupte and I have done this a number of times and have been sucessful.

Here's another method: .........known as air layering.

Select a cane that can be bent to the ground with at least 4 or 5 eyes at the end of the cane. Carefully remove the outer bark on the underside about an inch long, again apply rooting hormone. Loosen the soil in the ground so that the clean de-barked cane can be pegged and buried. Again, this will take 6 to 8 weeks for roots to develope, at which time the cane can be cut from the mother plant. You can then carefully dig up the new plant and pot it in GOOD soil, cutting it back leaving two to three eyes. This method is the oldest in the world.

We wish you luck with this. Feel free to ask any questions.

BTW, if your not moving too far away would the new owners possibly allow you to take a cutting or two at a later date?

I like Volupte's method number 1. And Root Tone is a must.

Hey thanks. Doesn't look too mysterious. I fear it may be like cooking - you read the directions and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Oh well, I found that the supplier where I purchased the original plant still has it, so I have a backup plan.

Off to the garden store this weekend to purchase the supplies.