A bit of guidance about roses

[Occamstazer]

I have roses all over in the woods around my house. There are regular roses, little mini roses, and a huge primrose. I'm only going to be living here through the summer, and I'd like to take some cuttings with me. These roses haven't been tended in 20+ years, they're totally wild. So how do I go about starting some cuttings from these plants? Do I need something with roots on it, or can I just dip a piece in rooting hormone and get it going? Can they grow in containers for a year or so?

Note: my landlady is totally cool with me snipping bits off of the feral roses, I'm not stealing plants

ETA: after looking at some pictures, maybe the huge bush isn't a primrose. It's a rose-looking plant, and the blossoms are flat and purplish. Anyway it is cool looking.

 

[Hattie the Hen]

Hi Occamstazer,
Here is a copy of a post I made last year when I was giving direction for rose cuttings -- I hope it helps!


Quote

"Find some pieces (about 9-10 inches long) of the stem without flower buds. Pull these off the main stem so you get a" heel"on them -- this is very important; a"heel" is a small bit of the main stem & is sort of shield shaped. This is where the main roots will come from. Then strip of the leaves from the bottom half of each cutting. Then scrape a little of the outside skin of the rose stem on the bottom third of the cutting, also remove any thorns from there. All this irritates the plant into making roots.

Fill a large,deep pot with gritty cuttings compost (I use an old,deep ceramic sink as I think something very large is a more stable environment). Insert the cuttings to 50% of total height. Water & keep damp. They need to be kept in dappled shade. You may find you might have to pinch out the top leaves if they begin to go floppy. That rarely happens to me though! If any flower buds appear in the 1st year YOU MUST cut them off -- they weaken the plant.

My advice is to do twice as many cuttings as you need (you can always give them away as gifts). Most people only seem to have 50% success with rose cuttings ; I'm lucky as I seem to get 99% but then I have been doing it for years now.

I do not use hormone powder or liquid; my only failures were when I did. You could try doing one half with & the others without)!

You will know that they have taken when they send out new shoots. Don't plant them out in' the real world' until they are 2 years old."
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In your case I would put the cuttings in large, deep pots & sink these into the soil until you move. Remember to keep them well watered through this summer. You can put several cuttings in the same large pot & divide them up next year.

Good luck, it's not hard to do & and it's a thrill to get plants for free!


:rose Hattie :rose