Hi Cass. I'm in Chula Vista CA, just south of San Diego, Zone 10.
I've never propagated before but I will succeed, it's very important
for me to make sure my brother and sisters get the rose from
my Mother's garden so we will really have something of hers when
she is gone. I'll teach my siblings the art of propagating so they too
can give a rose to there children when it's time. I will also be doing
a rose for my daughters. I found what may be the perfect green house
for propagating new roses. I found it at the Container Store in Fashion
Valley. It was made for keeping cat & dog food fresh. It looks like a
small narrow thrash can about 2.5 feet high and about 6 inches wide
and about 10-12 inches long with a top that seals and flips open.
Clear with a white top. I plan to cut a half circle in the top about 2
inches in dia. Then getting a fender washer and cut a wedge out
and screwing it over the half circle so I can slowly add fresh air
to the green house. It should work. I just checked on the new roses
and found them covered with aphids !!!! What can I use that will
be gentle on the new growth? Besides water.
Rick
Zone 10 Chula Vista, CA
"Cass" wrote in message
...
Rick wrote:
Still to propagate: A fifty year old Red rose from my Mother's garden
that was given to them as a house warming gift.
Have you already tried softwood cuttings, or have I confused you with
someone else who is trying to propagate a red rose without success? Did
you try a hardwood cutting last winter? I took some rose prunings in
February and "stuck" them. It is very easy: use wood the size of a
pencil (which I wouldn't ordinarily prune, but some roses are
prolific). Cut a sufficient length to get 2 buds above ground, 2 buds
below ground. Using a sterile and very sharp knife, make 1/4 inch
scores on the opposite side of the two lower buds. Then "stick" your
cuttings in your fallow vegetable garden with 2 buds below the soil and
2 buds above. Some recommend using a broomstick to make the hole and
then fill the hole with sand. Some also use rooting hormone. Cover the
cutting with a clear plastic bottle that has the bottom cut out and the
screw-on top discarded to make a little greenhouse over the cutting.
If you're in a really cold part of the country, I don't know exactly
how you manage this in the winter or when you take the cuttings, but I
know someone to ask if you're interested. Where are you located and
what zone are you in?
--
-=-
Cass
Zone 9 San Francisco Bay Area
http://home.attbi.com/~cassbernstein/index.html