Fall hardwood cuttings stuck in well aerated (for instance loamy or sandy) ground of sufficient depth root easily. (You insert most of the length of each stick, get lots of rooting that way). The main problem with this otherwise easy and simple method is being diligent enough to get them dug up again before the new top growth starts at the end of winter the following year.

Are you saying you take leafless hardwood cuttings and just stick them in the ground? And you leave them in the ground for over a year? Can you dig them and re-transplant earlier?

I checked the bottom of the two that are sprouting and sure enough roots are coming out the bottom of the pot. I plan on overwintering these in the greenhouse and planting out next spring.

Yes, that's exactly what I do - poke likely looking prunings into the edge of the vegetable beds, ready for lifting and transplanting the following autumn. It is quite feasible to take summer semi-ripe cuttings, keeping the rose stems under cover (in the absence of misting units). The success rate is around 50% (70% with hardwoods)...but I do grow robust roses which are still close to the species type.

Yes, I'm doing the summer semi ripe, also called softwood cuttings, method. I will try some hardwood cuttings for this fall.

What do you mean by "but I do grow robust roses which are still close to the species type." I was always under the impression that any plant grown from cuttings will be identical to the mother plant. Thanks.

The Westerland cuttings are rooting like crazy. So far none of the others are. I realize that I pushed the cutting to the bottom of these d2 pots and the roots are readily growing out the bottom. I plan transplant them into gallon pots and give them some more room to grow soon.

What Camp meant was that she is propagating robust roses similar to species roses. So they are more rootable than fancy hybrids. She didn’t mean that the cuttings produced something different from the parents.

A second variety has begun to root, the Darlowe's Enigma. I'm going to buy some rooting hormone. Any recommendations? Powder? Gel? Brand?

I ordered this based on an article I read.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/your-account/order-details?ie=UTF8&orderID=111-7699861-3189005&ref_=pe_2640190_232748420_TE_simp_od

I'm looking forward to trying it out and expanding beyond roses.

That link just connects to a sign-in to your Amazon account :-)

But all rooting hormones are essentially the same stuff (natural or synthesized plant growth hormones) and are readily available at any local nursery or garden center. You can even find them at Fed Meyer!!

Well that was damn link clumsy of me.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004Q3NN4W/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I am so lazy I didn't even think to check a garden center. :o)

A few progress photos. Almost every Westerland cutting has rooted. Only one of the American Beauty's has, but a few others are putting out buds and I'm hopeful. I have seen roots on one Be Bop, but so far nothing from the Knockouts. Or it might be the other way around as I didn't label them and have forgotten which are which. I figure if they root and bloom I'll know then. :)

The Westerland's had way more roots than the one in the pic and have been potted up into gallons.

Had a bit of a setback. I've had the cutting in the greenhouse through out winter. Which was fine as we had such cloudy, cold weather they were fine. But on Mar 15th , 16th and 17th the sun came out during the day and it got quite warm. I didn't check on them until the 17th. By that time several of them had crisped leaves and don't look like they'll survive. I've moved them all out doors in a protected and partly shady spot. The Westerlands are doing great, the American Beauties are doing ok. I think one of the Knockouts and one of the Bebops will make it, but all the Darlowes don't look so good. They had some decent green leaves coming on and they are all brown.

Propagate and learn. :(

I live in the Pacific northwest. They would likely be fine outdoors, though with small fresh roots our freezing temps I thought it better to be safe than sorry. This winter we had 20 inches of snow, all at once, and a few weeks with temps getting down to 13 degrees at night. The last melted about 4 weeks ago. It was at the start of the cold snap they went into the greenhouse. If i'd checked on them just a few days earlier they would have been fine.

And now they are all dead. Very bummed. There are a few things I'll try different next time. Number one, make sure they don't dry out or get to hot and better draining soil. I think the soil I used had too much clay. After they got stressed by getting burned in the greenhouse, the roots just seemed to rot. The soil stayed pretty sopping wet and I think it may have smothered the recovering roots.

When I have done semi-ripe cuttings, Junior, I tried to take first year lateral canes with at least a heel of older wood where the lateral(s) grew out of the main cane(s). I always felt a bit annoyed at the amount of material I had to chop to get a piece of cane which had meristem cells. The rooting process was fairly quick, 6 weeks or so until root was visible. I used large plastic bottles which I cut in half, filled with a loose potting mix, planted the cuttings and taped the whole thing up so it was basically a sealed unit and put it in the coolest place, in shade in my garden...where I ignored it until new growth was apparent. While this part was relatively successful, I found an equally dangerous situation was transplanting. I lost as many cuttings to this stage as general failure to root. Using hardwood, however, although slower, is far easier to dig a field grown cutting which has had a whole season of growth. I go for the longer, but less challenging field planting of hardwood cuttings all the time now...but hey, why not try both this year?