Saturday, June 22, 2013

........Momma's Rose

The gal at the greenhouse wouldn't come down on the price of the Dolly Parton rose bush that I wanted to buy for my momma...sooo I googled how to start one myself.  It seemed pretty easy.  I did buy my rooting powder from the greenhouse.  I am trying to start two from Margaret's rose bush she bought last year for $9.99 from the same lady.  This year she is not budging at $14.99.  I am stubborn too.  Here is my pictorial on what I did.  I can't get the captions to work on these pictures so I will tell it all right here.   
I cut them @ 12 inches just below a bump.  Slice the bottom of the stem in quarters, cut off all leaves, flowers, etc, except for 3-5 near the top.  Wet the bottom ( I used spring water and a green Fiesta cup - I might help..it might not ), dip the bottom in the rooting powder, give it a tap over the trash to knock off any excess, gently stick it in a pre-dug hole in a little container of potting soil.  Cover it loosely, Then cover with a plastic bag-loosely.  The information I read said to keep the bag as 'off of the leaves' as possible, so I used some knitting needles-hopefully it will work.  Keep the plants moist.  Leave it be for about two weeks and then give a gentle tug on the plant to see if it has grown roots yet.  Tada.   I don't really know what to do after it grows roots-haven't read past that.  Just taking it one step at a time.  {the Mechanics Wear gloves are great!  I wear them all of the time I help Chris or cut thorny roses-I got them at Lowe's}   7/7/13 Update.  The project was going well til a day or so ago...the leaves turned yellowish and there was only a smidgen of a new root.   I will give it a try another time.  :(

















2 comments:

  1. I tried rooting powder once...can't remember the results. Anxious to see how yours turns out!

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  2. I wish I could now remember where I saw it .... using a potato to start rose cuttings. Showed a cutting ... looked more like bare root time of year there were no leaves on the cutting, just place into a potato, by making a hole the size of the cutting and then placing in a mix of potting soil and peat moss, no mention of a plastc bag.

    I had a Lady Banks Rose break off, my worker just put it in the ground about 3 ft from the bush he planted and it grew, no special attention at all.

    Good luck.

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