"Sara" wrote in message
...
I recently tried to start a rose from cutting and ended up with withered
brown leaves protruding from a pot. A little history...

My dad until recently still owned the 1850's farm house in Southern
Illinois that was homesteaded by his family..this was also the house that
he grew up in. We returned there recently to dig up many of the plants
that my grandmother had grown there many years ago and that still grow
there today...peonies, lilies, irises, bleeding hearts, lilacs and we also
took cuttings from a rose bush that my father remembers being there when
he was a child in the 30's-40's (he thinks it was there long before that).
It grows about 5-6 feet tall small leaves, small-medium yellow double
flowering blooms, and a million large thorns on every branch (ouch). I
tried to root cuttings in soil in a shady area (NW TN area)...keeping them
moist, but they promptly withered up and died.

We would like to go back for more plants closer to the fall and we would
dearly love to have some starts of this rose bush. Any advice and/or
helpful hints would be greatly appreciated!

Sara
[snip]

Henry provided great links so I'll just add a bit of
my personal experience. I don't use the 'tent'
method some experts recommend. I use (if
I remember correctly) Schultz Professional Grow
Mix. It doesn't have any fertilizer in it, just good
potting soil. I also don't use rooting hormone
but I do use a bit of seaweed in solution. Keep
the cuttings in a dappled shady area (not deep
shade) where they get some sun but not too much.
Make sure the pots are open on the bottom.
Water frequently, or even mist with water. Best
piece of advice: Make up as many cuttings as
you can. That way a few are likely to survive.
If you end up with more than you want/need, you
can always give them to friends.

Good luck!

Gail
near San Antonio TX Zone 8