I've had Spring fever so bad, I can't express how happy I was to find this "treasure" today. I was cleaning and found a tiny notepad tucked away in the pocket of a travel bag. I opened the cover and read the words... "Frank's notes".

These scribbled notes of mine were his answers to a few questions I asked 5 or 6 years ago. He answered "from the hip"/"pop quiz style". ~ For those who didn't know him, he was one of my dearest friends (and rose mentor) for years... He was also head propagator at Chamblee's for almost 20 years. He lost his battle with cancer on December 28, 2004.

I know there are hundreds of ways to root things. I thought our rose buddies would like to read his opinion on one or two things:

When propagating:

Take cuttings shortly after the blooms are "spent" - before large hips develop.

When rooting Climbers, laterals root best.

Hybrid Perpetuals and Hybrid Teas root best in Fall ~ others (Chinas, Polys) root best after the first Spring bloom cycle.

Use straight H20 mist to wet down cuttings- if you have blackspot, add 1 capful of fungicide per gallon (ie;funginex) and mist.

When potting up cuttings, dip in H20 w/ vitazyme 1T per C H20

In 4-6 weeks, check to see if they have good root before transplanting into soil.

The closer together leaf nodes are on the canes, the faster the roses root. (mini's, chinas root fast)

Mini's root in 2-4 weeks. Recommends Fall rooting to establish good root system for Spring planting (need to get established before heat of summer sets in)

Roses that have "hollow" canes with a core in the middle/soft center... don't root well/lend themselves to own rooting.... they do better grafted

Species roses (ie;Lady Banksia/Swamp Rose) try tender cuttings on species only immediately after blooming. Use a liquid rooting hormone for Species roses. (use powder on others).

~ that's all I have, now I'm ready to go out and rustle some roses!