I would think that most questions about summer rose care would focus on disease. Not so. I am actually asked most about how to start roses from cuttings.

There are several different methods for starting roses. I, like many of my fellow rose society members, have had the most success when starting roses in the winter. However, since I get more questions on this subject in the summer, I decided this year to try to start roses in late June. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was just as easy as starting them at any other time of the year.

Several Rose Society members grow roses no longer commercially available or sold in the United States. These roses often take the trophies at the annual rose show. Since all of the roses are dumped into the trash following the show, this is the perfect time to take these roses home and try to start them. I took home 10 roses and only had one cutting die. Seven weeks after starting them, three are almost fully leafed out and the other six are showing signs of new life.

Although most gardeners may be more familiar with modern roses grafted onto a different root stock, roses have been growing on their own roots for centuries. Not all modern roses grow as well on their own roots as they do as grafted plants. It definitely takes longer for an own-root rose to reach maturity and that is the reason commercial rose growers started growing grafted plants. Now that it is getting very difficult to find skilled labor knowledgeable about grafting, commercial growers are starting to grow own-root roses again.

To start: Cut a cane that has just finished blooming. You need to have at least four sets of leaves on the cane below the bloom. Immediately immerse it in water. You can take as many cuttings as you want to start, and as long as you leave the bloom on you can still identify the rose.

Gather supplies: I like to use a quality potting soil, preferably one with some form of compost or worm castings added, and endo- and ecto- mycorrhizal beneficial bacterial. I add some coir fiber, a peat moss substitute that keeps the potting soil evenly moist. I also add some perlite, which also helps the potting soil remain evenly moist. If the potting soil is allowed to dry out, it means immediate death for the cuttings. Conversely, too much water also spells instant death.

Planting them: I use 1-gallon pots and thoroughly clean them with a weak bleach solution. Up to three canes of the same variety can be placed in one 1-gallon pot. I fill the pot with potting soil and thoroughly wet it. I insert a label stake in the pot indicating the rose name, classification (hybrid tea, floribunda, miniature, etc.) and the date. Then I take a bamboo skewer and make holes in the soil wide enough to place the cane into the pot. I cut off the bloom at this point and remove all of the leaves from the lower portion of the cane.

I have had the most success with cuttings since I began cutting off the lower bud eyes. When you remove the leaves, bud eyes are those little bumps immediately above where the leaflet emerges from the cane. I take a very sharp razor blade and just thinly slice off the bud eye. Place two bud eyes below the soil level and at least two above the soil line. This is what led to the old rosarian saying of “Two bud eyes up, two down.” It is from these bud eyes below the soil line that the new roots will emerge.

Watering: I thoroughly water the pot to make sure that the cuttings are firmly settled in the pots and that no air pockets remain. Air pockets can cause cuttings to begin to wither and turn black. I put the pots in a place where they get a lot of light but not a lot of direct sun. About once a week or so, I very carefully mist the soil, making sure it is just evenly moist.

Care: After about six weeks or so, you should begin to see the bud eyes swell and tiny leaves emerge. Within just a few short weeks, white roots should begin to fill the pot. Once the leaves are out and the plant is actively growing, begin to give it more and more sunlight. At this point, you may wish to keep the new rose in the pot until spring. If you do, make sure to keep a close eye on the weather. At any hint of frost, put the potted rose in an unheated garage or greenhouse. Container roses are very susceptible to freezing. Plant the new rose the following spring.

(Corinne Clifton lives near Bandon and grows more than 200 kinds of roses.)