I told you about going to Florida last month for my uncle's funeral. I brought home three cuttings of my Aunt Vicki's rose, Louis Philippe. All three of those cuttings rooted. I was fairly certain they would ... China roses root pretty easily. (I also took cuttings of a lovely pink Bougainvillea, some of which have also already rooted.)
Yesterday, I potted Aunt Vicki's cuttings into individual pots. Look at these lovely little root balls! (Notice how some of the roots are coming from the slits in the stem ... This is why the slits are there.)
The cuttings that I rustled in May from the huge Noisette at the abandoned house in Spotsylvania have done pretty well. Out of about a dozen cuttings, I have two that produced roots. One of these is stronger than the other, so I have great hope for getting at least one plant from this.
I have cuttings from a large 'Shailer's Provence' in downtown Fredericksburg. Three of the five cuttings produced roots, and these are now in individual pots, too.
A garden friend shared cuttings of his 'Green Rose' ... which he has had in his garden for 40 years ... and he got as a cutting from a friend's garden. Six of eight cuttings rooted, two of these plants died, but the remaining four plants are doing great.
My only total failure so far this year has been a big one. The one rooted cutting of Mrs. Sharpley's red rose didn't survive. It produced a nice crop of roots, and I had every hope that it would grow into a healthy plant ... but it never grew shoots or leaves and the little stem turned brown and died. I hope I get another chance to help save her rose.
All of this potting is in preparation for our upcoming trip ... two weeks in Alaska. The baby roses will stay with my parents while we are gone, so our daughter doesn't have to worry about forgetting to water them.
I will leave you with a picture of Aunt Vicki's rose ... already growing new shoots!
Now I have to go finish packing. (This is another iPad post ... I'm getting better at this!)
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