I would love to learn the answer too. Also, do you keep the leaves on the stem? If it is a long cutting, do you use the hard part and discard the part with leaves off?

Mark

Well, I'm not very helpful; I don't root Rugosa's; I wait for them to send out suckers :)

Mark, one of the ones I sent you was actually cut off of a sucker (it had kind of a knob on the end). I heard that thats what some people do...maybe that one will be the winner!

Tammy

With suckers, you dig the root and all -- its like a small rooted cutting after you separate it from the mother plant. Rooting rugosas is basically the same as rooting any other plant, choose fresh semi-hardwood cuttings and keep them moist, not wet.

Rugosas also grow readily from seed -- the germination rate is very high so only put one seed per cup. If you want to try growing roses from seed, rugosas are a great place to start.

Except that like other hybrid roses, rugosa rose seeds will not grow true to the variety. If you don't care what color or bloom form you end up with you can grow them from seed but if you're looking for a specific variety, you'll not get it from seed.
I inquired of a rose nursery who sold rooted rugosa cuttings along with others and was told rugosas required special treatment. They purchased all their rugosa liners from speciality greenhouses in Canada.
Rogosa cuttings root best when heat is applied from the bottom. I have the heat pads and thermostat but I get enough plants from suckers.

Thanks Karl, How deep into the ground do you need to dig when digging up a root sucker?

I don't dig, I pull them up. I pick those with two or three canes, They seem to be stronger and I get a good set of roots. More canes means the sucker makes more roots. If I do dig I use a spading fork. Most single cane suckers seem to get most of their water and nutrients from the parent plant so aren't very well rooted. After potting I cut them back so the roots can grow w/out having to support top growth. If foliage wilts I cut it off and in most cases new growth soon sprouts.
With Blanc Double De Coubert, I got several rooted suckers from two plants, so many in fact, I burned some.
Too bad you don't live close. I'd have lots for you.

Rugosas respond to the "plastic-bag-over-pot" treatment too, but I strongly suspect it helps to remove all the thorns and prickles, because they are often so thorny the potting-mix doesn't always touch the stem properly. To be able to remove the thorns fairly easily it often has to be a mature enough cane, if it too young the cane might stick to well to the skin and it might tear. Side shoots that are just about finished flowering are good rooting material. To promote suckers: loose moist soil and a good dose of fertilizer now and then, however Hansa doesn't sucker that much in my experience, just now and then.

One method for rooting cuttings is to choose a cane that have just flowered; then cut of the top and let the cane keep 5-6 eyes to sprout from. Take of the leaves of the three that goes below the soil, and let it keep three set of leaves above. If there is abunant with leaves they can be shortened by cutting off the outer leaflets.

I think I may start trying to root some this weekend with thorns removed and see what happens.

Karl, I just looked, and all of my root suckers on Hansa look too new to pull, but rather than chopping them off like I usually do, I think I'll let them grow out a bit and then try pulling them. Rosa Rugosa Alba did have a couple that I was able to pull...I see what happens :)

Thank you both for the advice!

With young new suckers, find where they grow from the mother plant and sever the connection leaving the sucker in the ground. There may be tiny almost invisible feeder roots attached to the runner that'll mature and eventually allow the sucker to grow with decent roots. If they take, the leaves on the sucker will not wilt. By this fall or next spring, you should have well rooted suckers you can transplant.