Propagation Month, Day 25: Rooting Rose Cuttings

This beautiful rose is in my neighbor's yard and it is sending gorgeous blooms over the top of my fence. I'm not sure what rose it is--it looks like Double Delight, but that's a guess. It is incredibly fragrant and the scent pulls me over to it every time I'm out in the yard. I couldn't resist the temptation any longer, so today I clipped two long stems for cuttings to root. (The bush is over 6 feet tall and covered with flowers, so the cuttings from my side of the fence won't be missed.)

I haven't tried rooting roses before so I did a few Google searches to see what techniques work. I found suggestions for everything from sticking the cuttings directly in the ground and covering with a Mason jar, to rooting them in loose, moist potting soil in a ziploc bag. I chose a middle path--rooting them in a pot of 50/50 potting soil-perlite mix sealed into a ziploc bag. I used cuttings about 5 inches in length with the ends cut on the diagonal and the end of the stem wounded slightly to expose more tissue. I also dipped the ends in Dip 'N Grow gel. I left on very few leaves, mostly because I wanted to make sure that I wasn't bringing any black spot or rust into the rooting environment. With any luck, roots should start to form in about four weeks.