Saturday, January 15, 2011

Putting Down Roots ... In the Greenhouse

The best way I know for a gardener to survive the cold and wind of winter is to spend as much time as possible working in the greenhouse.  On a sunny day, the temperature inside the greenhouse is reliably at least 40 degrees above the outside air temperature.  (Welcome to the Tropics!!) 

The roses on my propagation table are developing roots (finally!), and it's time to pot many of them into larger pots.

Darlow's Enigma


All of these cuttings were planted during the latter part of October.  Almost all of my summer cuttings, planted at the usual time in June and early July, turned brown and died.  Without rooted cuttings, there are no roses for sale next year.

Etoile de Mai


Summer last year was hot and catastrophically dry.  This made for miserable conditions for the roses in my garden (where the cuttings come from) and the cuttings taken at this time didn't stand a chance of producing roots.

Zephirine Drouhin


Even roses that root readily and reliably for me at other times (Mutabilis and Alberic Barbier come to mind) failed to root.  I estimate that I lost at least 2000 cuttings last summer.  What an inventory this would have been!

Quietness


In October, as the weather cooled and we received some blessed rain, and the fall flush of bloom waned, I took cuttings from every rose I could ... hoping to salvage some sort of success for next year.

Saint Cecelia


As you can see from the healthy roots on the cuttings in all of these photos, things aren't as dire as I feared they might be.  I am seeing roots on a much higher percentage of my cuttings, and I am cautiously optimistic about next year.  I may not have as many roses available as I wanted to, but the ones I will have should be really nice ones.

Young Lycidas


If you're in the neighborhood, and you want to escape from the cold and hang out with me in the greenhouse, wear grubby clothes because I'll put you to work.

16 comments:

  1. I love trying to propagate my roses. I've had some success, which made me extremely pleased with myself.

    I'm so glad you managed to salvage the remains of the year.

    Sarahx

    ReplyDelete
  2. Not going to be "in the neighborhood," but I am pruning my own rosey crop next week. Anything you need cuttings of now that you think would take?

    ReplyDelete
  3. I know seeing those roots made your day a little warmer too.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I would buy a print of that first photo... It makes me smile :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Nothing is as peaceful as spending a day working in the greenhouse! Wish I did live closer...I've got years of greenhouse experience. Your roots are looking good!

    ReplyDelete
  6. My summer cuttings died too, and I'm too embarrassed to tell the lady who mailed them to me, since they were "found cuttings" from a cemetery in the mountains of Tennessee.

    ReplyDelete
  7. You know, I'd welcome that kind of work right now. Wish we lived closer together to do so!

    ReplyDelete
  8. My labor for your brain. Such a deal! Wish I could come. Question: knowing what you know now, do you think it would have helped if you had watered the roses well for a few days or a week before you planned to take cuttings?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Believe it or not, I DID water the roses very well in preparation to take cuttings. There appears to have been nothing I could do to counteract the effects of the heat. Everyone I know lost most of their cuttings this summer … that’s why we are all still nursing cuttings, when we should be tending plants.

    ReplyDelete
  10. You know I would come help, goodness knows I could use a little taste of the tropics right about now, but given my notorious brown thumbs I think it's best if I stay away!

    Kat :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. I love how I'm always learning something from you about roses. Thanks for sharing your wealth of knowledge.
    Cindy

    ReplyDelete
  12. I am SO glad you came by my blog today. I love rose rustling and have been scouring cemeteries and old homes for heirloom roses for 3 yrs now. I have propagated them for 3 summers in a simple mist/sand operation my hubby set up for me. It didn't seem AS successful last year than in prior years either but I am a novice so I blamed myself! Look on some of my posts from 2010 to see some of my rose finds. You may be able to ID some of them. I just propagate them because I love them all! Keep in touch...I think we are kindred spirits.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I put a link on my blog to photobucket if you want to see some of the roses I have found in cemeteries, etc.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I saw you commented on blogs I visited today. Glad to see you out and about.

    Can you do a post on cuttings? I would like to see your process and if you do anything differently.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Connie ~ ~ you have an award waiting for you over at my blog. Stop by when you get a chance to receive it. Congrats!
    Cindy

    ReplyDelete
  16. Nothing to it.Fall seems to be a great time to bud and grow from cuttings. R

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for stopping by and reading what I share. Comments are welcome and very much appreciated. Spam and trolls are not!

Related Posts with Thumbnails