Cuttings from some long time survivors [roses]

Back in the late 1990's, I planted dozens [literally] of roses on the back corner of the lot that we later built our home on. Since only four roses have survived all this time, I decided I should try to take some cuttings and get them propagated. Keep in mind, these have been totally neglected and also surrounded by Rose Rosette Disease infected roses.

First is a huge chunk off of the almost dead Rosa helenae. I left two other canes as insurance. I think the dense shade of the maturing trees all around is probably mostly to blame for the sad state that this rose is currently in.

Second is 'Alexander MacKenzie'.

 Here's that 'Alexander MacKenzie' shoot sticking up out of honeysuckle and poison ivy. The trees overhead are also shading it heavily too.

The only survivor that I didn't take cuttings from, was I think 'Lilian Gibson'. I hope to dig it and move it in the Spring. Here are bundles of the other survivors - the Rosa helenae, the 'Alexander MacKenzie' and 'Ash Wednesday'. I've got them soaking in willow water and plan to wrap them in damp newspaper (burrito style) to callous for a couple of weeks.

More rose cuttings rooting

Yippee! Having more success this season than all the previous times I've tried (all put together).
Here are some more pictures of those bracteata hybrid cuttings that are rooting so nicely. I took the container outside and opened it up to let out a couple of flies that I think hatched out from the charcoal (that had a little bit of composty stuff like old cat food accidentally mixed in with it). Anyway, the five cuttings on the left are "Pink Monster". Second picture shows their sprouts. Third picture shows the root systems showing along the side of the clear container. You can also see in this third picture, the change in amount of perlite in the two layers. I mixed a lot of perlite into the top layer (where the bottom end of the cutting was located), so that it wouldn't be to wet.

 

Here's another successful rooting - a cutting of the F1 hybrid Rosa arvensis X soulieana. This hybrid seems to be very susceptible to Rose Rosette Disease so I was afraid I was going to lose this last one of five seedlings. So I'm especially happy to be able to root it. I also was trying out a different container made from two 2-liter ginger ale bottles pushed together. I cut the top bottle so that it still has a little of the curved part (near the neck of the bottle). That way it easily fits inside the bottom bottle which has a straight edge at the top.

 

 

Lastly, are some newer cuttings I took in late December. Seems like they've been wrapped in damp paper for about three or four weeks. They've got great callous tissue formed but no roots yet. To encourage roots, I'm giving "willow water" a try. "Willow water" is supposed to be a natural rooting aid - made from cut up pieces of willow branches soaked overnight. I think the recommendation is to soak the cuttings before callousing, but I didn't have the willow branches available at that time, so we're trying it this way instead. The paper in the background is the damp paper the cuttings have been wrapped in while callousing.

 

 

Rose rooting update

Follow-up from the posts on Dec.7th and Dec.17th... I'd burritoed in wet newspaper some rose cuttings and gotten them to form callous tissue on the cut ends. Afterwards I dipped the calloused bottoms in "Dip N Gro" rooting hormone and planted them almost horizontally in a clear plastic storage bin. I just noticed today that "Holy Moly" there's a whole bunch of roots showing along the side where the bottoms of the cuttings are close. But there's quite a bit of difference among the different roses - one rooted very well, one moderately and one isn't showing any roots along the side yet. Here's the bin with a LED aquarium light on top so that the sprouts get at least a little bit of light.

Here's the great roots forming on the "BH1" bracteata hybrid. [It's a complex hybrid - Rosa bracteata X (rugosa x palustris)] I'm happily surprised at how vigorously this one is rooting. This is the one I've also called the "pink monster" and it seems to be most people's favorite of the four siblings.

 Here are the buds beginning to sprout at the other ends of those "BH1" cuttings.

 Here's the decent roots forming on "BH3", one of the white-flowered siblings of "BH1".

 And at the far right end of the container, I'm seeing no roots action yet from the cuttings of Rosa multiflora X rugosa.

 

Even so, it's great to be getting any roots at all. I usually have an awful time trying to root anything, which is one of the reasons that I've always appreciated roses that send up suckers.

Two December 16th surprises...

My reblooming diploid [24 chromosome] Miniature Tall Bearded iris named 'Cricket Song' is still insisting on blooming up close to the foundation, even though the foliage has just about completely gone dormant.

 

Also the late flowers on 'Tristan' ornamental strawberry are still ripening fruits!!! Even though they're small and very firm, they're still pretty tasty. 

 

I expect that the colder weather predicted to be coming this weekend will probably put a stop to these two, but it's been fun while it lasts!

Rose rooting success

Well, I said that I'd try to keep updates on my progress... and lately I've been having much better than usual luck with rose cuttings. This first picture shows a softwood rose cutting forming some nice healthy callous tissue all along the two inch scrape I made on one side of  the bottom of the cutting. The scraped surface is intended to give more area for callous to form. Hopefully roots will be next!

I think the loose and relatively drier potting media may be the key to my cuttings not turning black and rotten this time. I added a LOT of perlite and crushed charcoal too so the percentage of actual potting soil is pretty low. I also have been just barely keeping it damp. Seems to be helping. Oh and with this softwood cutting, I've been keeping it inside a clear plastic container like baby spinach comes in.

 

Now on to some hardwood cuttings. These were the ones recently calloused inside damp newspaper "burritos" in plastic trash bags. After callousing I dipped them in rooting hormone [which I'm not so convinced isn't doing some tissue damage to them] and put 5 cuttings of 3 different hybrids in this clear plastic storage bin. The soil is once again very high in perlite especially at the top layer where the cuttings bottoms are located. I have them almost laying on their sides, with all but the tops buried.

 

 

Here are the ones in the middle. The big one sticking up a little, is the one I pulled up to see how the callous was looking.

 

 

Here's how it looked. Woo hoo!!! There's even a little root!

Two amazing late strawberries

How about that! I found a strawberry almost ripe, on our "White Clubhouse" strawberry. Of course it's along the foundation of the house, but still - December 6th!

Out front, the pink-flowered "Tristam" we got at Wal-Mart three years ago, is also still flowering and fruiting too. What a cool little plant.

Peppers - saving for next year

I specially selected these seven peppers (actually a couple of the 7 pots have multiple plants) to save for seed production next year. They are all mild peppers chosen from among some super-hot siblings, and are derived from a complex mixing over many generations of Serrano, Habanero, a variegated hot, a purple leaf hot, Yellow Marconi and a yellow fruited bell pepper. I also selected for interesting flavor, productiveness and furry foliage from Serrano. I've been keeping the pots indoors ever since the hard frosts came, but on warmer days I roll them out for fresh air and direct sunlight. I also have to periodically knock back the aphid population using soap spray and blasts of water from a garden hose. But so far it's looking pretty promising that they'll make it through the winter and be around for the 2016 garden.