This is why I do these before I edit. I almost forgot! lol I get so dang into the editing (or book cover making), then suddenly all day has passed by. Well, not that bad, but it can so easily get that bad.
So not talkie about the story. But I did want to share a gardening thing for anyone who wants to know how I multiply my roses. Mini, or full size, it doesn’t matter. Same process. Dipping the ends into rooting powder is beneficial, but I am sometimes too lazy to go find it and the process still works.
Materials needed?
Scissors (or pruning sheers), the rose. lol Oh, and dirt. Say that stuff beneath your feet? Works just fine. No special dirt needed. Just a place to plant the rose. And water to water after planting.
What works best are the twigs that are thicker than normal, but I’ve had success with some thinner twigs, just requires a careful watch to keep moist, and I will sometimes cut the end of the stem in a vertical line | like that much. Center of the stem, just a quick little snip. I’m sure if the scissors were sterile, it may be better too in case disease from another plant got into that cut. Maybe twice. Just to open up the bottom of the stem and promote rooting.
And I have done this VERY successfully with a dozen roses that I received from a florists shop so it can work for them too! Actually it did really well, but rats burrowing beneath the roses a few years ago and the weather took much of them. During their rooting stage they need the perfect moisture. It’s a give or take on how much. After a few rootings, you’ll get the hang of it. Just know that 90% may work, but it’s still a baby plant that requires tender care for those first few years.
Since I do this so often and so much, I take a cutting, shove into the ground, and if it don’t root? I’m not out money, time or energy so it’s not that big of a deal.
That’s all you do. Find a five leaf stem on the main plant, then cut right above that at an angle. Try for a thicker stem, but some thinner stems still work. Doesn’t mean the thick will be 100% rootable because sometimes those thicker ones are stubborn and don’t root easy. With that you may want add in a dip of rooting powder for the extra boost, but the moisture that stem keeps on it during the stage is most important. Too moist = mold so keep that in mind too.
Once you’ve cut your stem, remove the leaves at least an inch or two at the bottom. For best results, you’ll want to snip off buds, leaves, and only leave maybe one or two leaf stems around the top. That’s so that all the energy goes into rooting and growing, not what’s already there.
Then shove into the dirt. At this point, if you have a rooting powder of course you can dip the end into it then shove the plant in dirt (needs to go down at least an inch, two is good too), buuuuuuttttt I tend to not waste my time too much. Water after shoving the stem into the dirt, then like any new plant, keep an eye on the moisture of the planting. Don’t allow it to get too wet, or dry. That’s the crucial part.
Few weeks (doesn’t take that long, but that’s when you know for sure the plant has rooted) later, you have another rose plant. That’s it! Here’s a couple I did just last night, and you’ll see this round I didn’t even take off the leaves or buds, save for the bottom of the plant.
The second picture (if you can see it well) is the full plant of one I did last year. Full size this year. Or is it two years? I do so much, I don’t remember. I do it every year with them too that way if one plant dies from weather or whatever one year, I still have another. Some roses will root better than others, some stems too. But you can easily take an entire rose and cut it down near fall to about 4-6 inches and then root all the rest of the pieces (cut those into 6 inch stems) and you’ll have that many plants the next year.
If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll have seen me share this image and this comes from one of the roses I’ve done this with. It’s the bloom on that extra planting.
This is placed near a lilac I did the same with. I took that lilac stem from the main plant, shoved it into the ground, and it rooted. This year you can see the long stem as it’s growing up, and the other smaller one behind the mini rose I just jammed into the dirt. Annnnnnnddd Mila’s ball hiding under the snapdragon.
I put this mini rose by another lilac I rooted last year, and you can see one I’m rooting now. It’s the wilted looking thing in the background (center of the other lilac). While the lilac is rooting, it looked wilted, but I keep it watered, and soon it will look like that one I rooted last year at the top.
I tried to take a good picture of this, but this is a full size of that exact mini rose (actually the one I took cuttings from this round) to show how well they root and multiply.
Now THAT plant above? All I had was a thin less than 6 inch cutting that I put into the ground. Mila was a baby when I first planted it so she’d trip on it, I’d have to replant it, then she’d trip again, and we’d go on. So once it rooted last year, it finally got ground and now this is a full-size. It’s about 3 feet tall and decently bushy. I’m making it more bushy by taking those cuttings. Also I have discovered that the ivy that I put in that garden? REALLY helps my roses. Roses don’t like their base uncovered. Mulch is good, but I’ve noticed since that ivy took over (finally!) and I keep it growing in that garden, my roses are doing well there. They like that they get sunshine and the ivy keeps the base shaded and just moist enough. Awesome.
This particular rose and when it’s a bud. Such a pretty cream and yellow coloring. You can see, I don’t worry too much over most bugs as that has a few traipsing about. I’m more natural with things. I think of how they’d grow in the wild, treat them fairly like that.
Here too is that rose in bloom. Yup, same as above. Sometimes it looks more cream, sometimes more blush, all depends.
If you’re wondering where the originals of these roses came from, it’s QVC. I want to say Roberta’s Garden, but you’ll see them advertise a 12 pack of minis. That’s where these guys come from. 🙂 Brother got them for me as a present.
Kimberly Sue Iverson - Author 