Growing Magnificent Roses From Cutting

If your home gardening efforts have been modest thus far, and you’d rather not just plunge straight into rose growing without easing in gently, you might get some experience in how to grow roses by starting with cuttings. If you have a friend with some roses, perhaps they’d be willing to give you a few stems so you can try to start some in this way. This could be an enjoyable experiment, both in growing roses a bit differently than most people do, but also in gauging whether you have a knack for rose growing.

It’s best not even to try this with hybrid tea roses or those you get from florists. Floribunda roses grow well from cuttings, as do miniatures, but others don’t have as much success. People with a lot of experience, such as experts in how to grow roses, might manage growing even hybrid teas using cuttings, but someone who’s just starting out and doesn’t know all the ins and outs of rose growing is unlikely to have the same success. Better at least to begin with a type of rose that everyone agrees can be started with a cutting.

You should do the rose pruning in early spring, taking three or four six-inch stems (or for miniatures, three-inch stems). Cut them on a slight diagonal, in the morning before the stresses of the day. In the past, people knew how to grow roses with cuttings protected by Mason jars, and the practice still works well. So once you have your cuttings, take off the bottom leaves, with just a few at the top, and dip the stems into a rooting powder. Then set them either into your garden soil or into containers of potting soil. At this point, place a Mason jar over each stem and water now and then over the next few weeks.

How to grow roses from cuttings might vary slightly in different regions, depending on the climate. For example, in a warmer location you might just skip the Mason jar altogether and root your stems in the soil of your garden outside. In a cooler climate, you might want all the help you can get, with an indoor container and Mason jar, or with a heating pad under the container. You can probably find gardening tips from a local rose society or the internet to help you decide on your exact procedure. And if you succeed at starting a new rose plant from a cutting, then this may encourage you to go farther, and get into rose growing in a serious way.

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