Rooting Roses
Each fall I cannot bear to cut back my mini rose bushes and throw the cut branches out, so I reproduce the plants at that time. This is usually in mid-September. It is an easy process, and takes little care, to have minis growing in the spring.
The steps I take are, to cut the mini roses (or HT's too) with six sets of five-petal leaves. All of the bottom leaves are removed, one remains on the top. You have a stem about six inches long, for minis, and eight to ten inches for a HT. Dust the stem end in a package of root stimulator or hormone. This can be purchased in a packet the size of a seed packet for about two dollars at any nursery. It will last indefinitely and one packet will be enough for several years of rose rooting.
I have prepared pots for minis, as it is easy to lose the little things. I use one pot for each variety, so it is easier to label them accurately. I prefer a pot about three or four inches in diameter and this can accommodate about ten cuttings of one cultivar. I use potting soil but any good grade soil will be okay if there is enough organic matter to maintain good moisture content. The cuttings I have prepared are put in a hole made in the pot, with a pencil, down to the lowest remaining leaf, and firmed in with your fingers, until the pot is full of cuttings.
This pot is submerged in the ground so that the lip is below ground level. Now cut the bottom out of a gallon plastic milk carton. Keep the screw cap on. Set the milk carton over the submerged pot, after it is watered thoroughly. Now you are ready to sit back until you cover your other roses. At that time, about Thanksgiving, I cover most of the milk carton with mulch so that it will not be kicked off or dislodged until spring.
In the spring you can peek in by removing the cap. Do not take off bottle until late May or June. You will see new leaves forming when you peak and occasionally one blooming. These are similar to hot house roses, so care must be taken when you uncover them, in May or June, that they don't get sunburned or dried out. They can be separated and placed in the garden but they do better if a jar or newspaper is covering them for a few days after transplanting. Keep them watered well. Easy, isn't it !