Yes, Jessica. You propagate from that stem which demonstrated the change and wait to see if you got it. Sometimes, the sport isn't stable and it reverts back to the original. Sometimes, the amount of tissue which mutated wasn't enough to get a plant of and you lose it. The best way is to mark the cane which sported so you don't prune it off. Let it grow until there is enough material of the sport there to either take cuttings from or use for bud wood without removing it all from the plant. What happens if there is just enough for one cutting, which you cut completely from the plant and the cutting fails?

Sometimes, the plants produced from the sported cane don't continue demonstrating the mutation. Then, you continue propagating from the stems which show the mutation until you get a plant of the change which continues showing the change. That's often called "isolating" the sport, or fixing the sport. Hopefully, the plant continues producing the change, remains stable, so you can then decide what to do with it. A number of sports are so unstable it seems virtually impossible to obtain plants of them. Abracadabra/Hocus Pocus are two of the same rose and so unstable that maintaining plants of them seems impossible. My Mrs. Charles Bell out back was a Careless Love, which reverted back to a more stable sport of Radiance than the striped version. Kim

I have a sport on 1 portion of my Kronprincessin Viktoria it's been doing it for about 4 years now. Next year I will attempt to have it propagated it has not reverted back to white but remains pink sometimes it's quite similar to SDLM at other time looking like Madame August Charles

My Careless Love also reverted to MCB. I'd love to have a stable plant -- I know there were some, once, because I owned one, at a house I had many years ago.

Jeri

There are a few variations of Careless Love. One, which "he who shall remain nameless" grew, had very faint stippling instead of the dramatic striping. The one which is making the rounds now is the old Huntington variation which I believe they obtained from Phil Edinger. It's the one pictured in The Quest for the Rose and which reverts to Mrs. Charles Bell with a fair regularity. Kim

Thank you Kim and Jeri :)

You're welcome! You might seriously consider learning to bud. It takes several buds to root a cutting, but can require only ONE bud to create a new plant through budding. It really isn't that hard! Kim

hehe your funny ;) me budding haha I wouldn't know where to begin... :)

If you were interested, there are a number of us here who could tell you, as well as lead to you illustrated instructions on line, You Tube, etc. It honestly is NOT difficult, but like anything, requires interest and practice. It's been quite a few years since I budded anything, but I began collecting virus indexed stock a few years ago, propagated them and have some successful buds coming along from just the past few weeks. You'll see pretty quickly if they're going to fail.

Budding makes it much easier for you to isolate sports; increase material of seedlings; save failing rose plants; succeed with material given you at odd times and increase your garden with plants which may be better suited for your growing conditions. I'm sure most of us have roses we wish had been available budded so they perform better. Not everyone as budding to some is just not acceptable, and that's their choice, but there ARE many roses which just aren't great without that added vigor. Kim

i tried a couple of the budding videos on youtube... could somebody recommend a trusted one? my first 5 bud attempts failed, so im looking for advice

I might give it a try later :)

Not a You Tube video, but wonderfully illustrated, this link is an article Burling Leong of Burlington Roses created to demonstrate her Chip Budding method. It concerns budding tree roses, but the ONLY difference between standards and bushes is the length of the shank (trunk).

You probably know this, but someone won't, so please bear with me. There are three basic components of a rose stem. When you view the sliced end, you see the strong, white, woody center called "pith". Consider this "bone" as it supports the plant, permitting it to stand upright. It is also often used to store nutrients in. Encasing the pith is an extremely thin, bright, juicy green layer called the "cambium layer". This is the circulatory system of the plant. You can also consider this the "stem cells" of the plant. Depending upon what it encounters, it can respond several ways. If left undamaged, it functions as the plant's circulatory system, it's blood vessels. It is what transports sap and nutrients throughout the plant. If it is damaged and receives the appropriate circumstances, conditions, it calluses, granulates, like scar tissue in any wound you experience in your body. That callus is the granular, whitish tissue you frequently see when you root cuttings. It is also what you frequently see when a cane is damaged or girdled and it swells, forming callus around the wound in an effort to heal itself. If kept cool, dark and damp, the callus forms roots and you have a new, own root plant.

If two layers of cambium are pressed firmly together, they knit or heal to one another. This is what happens when plant parts are budded or grafted together. It's all grafting. The difference is what style of grafting is performed as to what it is called. If a section of stem or cane is inserted into another plant, it is called grafting. If a single bud is inserted, it is called budding. Chip budding differs from T budding by what kind of cut is made into the stock, the receiving plant piece.

You need to have the stock growing actively, flowing sap freely. Which stock you choose and what your climate is like determines when this can best be accomplished. The four most common reasons for bud failure are:

1. Stock isn't ready, isn't flowing sap freely so the scion dries out before it knits, heals to the stock.

2. Stock dries out before bud heals to it, causing there to be insufficient sap flow to nourish and maintain it until it heals.

3. Bud (scion) dries out before being inserted into the stock.

4. Insufficient cambium is left on either the bud (scion) or stock. Pith won't bond to pith, nor will cambium layer bond to pith.

There can be a few other reasons, but these are probably the most common and the ones most of us will encounter. Preventing these four will tremendously improve your success rate.

Cures:

1. Root your stocks the year before you want to use them. Keep them actively growing, well watered and properly fed as you would any rose growing in your garden. For convenience, they can be kept potted as long as you can maintain them appropriately. Before budding on them, check to see if the growth buds are at least swelling, indicating they are actively growing. You can also attempt lifting the bark (skin) from the cambium layer above where you intend to bud. If the bark lifts easily from the cambium, without lifting the cambium from the pith, it's likely ready.

2. Maintain your stocks to the best of your ability. Don't let them dry out or they either won't be ready for budding, or any buds you've inserted may easily fail. Some stocks are much more susceptible to water stress failure than others. This is one major reason Dr. Huey was selected for propagation use. It is ready earlier, remains ready longer and experiences far less water stress bud failures than any other commercially used stock. Plus, it roots very easily and appears virtually immortal!

3. It can sometimes require a few minutes to properly prepare the stock after you've removed the bud to be inserted. Permitting that amputated bud to dry out before inserting it into the stock virtually guarantees its failure. Some people have found putting the bud on their tongue keeps it wet enough. I don't suggest this for a variety of reasons, the most important to me is I can't be guaranteed the material I've been given hasn't been treated with some systemic chemical and I do NOT want that in my mouth or body! I've found by using a shallow container of clean water next to where I'm budding, I can keep the bud stick (from which the buds are to be cut) hydrated and the removed bud can easily be kept right there where I can see it, IN the water. It isn't going to dry out sitting in an inch or so of water. That also makes it easier for me to rinse off anything I may have gotten on my fingers. Though not absolutely necessary, keeping your fingers, the bud and your tool (knife, razor blade, etc.) clean makes the whole process easier.

4. This one takes the most practice! The bark is actually very thin, as is the cambium layer. Your goal is to separate the bark from the cambium while leaving as much of the cambium attached to the pith of the root stock as possible. You also want as much cambium left on the reverse of the bud as possible. Cambium will only bond to cambium. If you cut too deeply into the bud stick and remove pith on the back of the bud, it's more difficult to remove without damaging that fragile, small bud than it is to make a shallower slice through the bud stick so there is no pith and only cambium on the back of the bud.

The same is true about the root stock. You want to lift the bark and not the cambium. It actually doesn't require much cambium for the bud to succeed, but more is always better as it flows more sap and heals faster, stronger, than a very thin layer. This is where practicing slicing up all those root stock suckers in your garden can help you greatly. Not only can it be FUN to torture them to death, but they can teach you how to accomplish proper budding.

You can see the difference between these layers of stem growth fairly easily. Most bark is fairly translucent. It often appears like a slightly greenish waxed paper. Cambium is the really juicy, bright green layer, which is logical. The bark is to seal in the sap, seal out pathogens, prevent the cambium from drying out and permit light to pass through so photosynthesis can be accomplished in any green parts. The pith has little real colored pigmentation to it as it is predominantly cellulose. It has to be strong to support the plant and it needs to be used for storage.

Your goal is to thinly slice the desired bud from the bud stick with a good layer of cambium on the back of it without slicing into the pith. You CAN do it with practice, being careful not to slice into your hand or finger with the knife or single edged razor blade. I prefer the single edged razor blade as I can dispose of them once finished or if they dull. New ones are always readily available and I don't have to keep track of a knife, sharpen them and they are inexpensive.

Next, you want to slice through and under the bark while leaving a good layer of the bright, juicy green cambium coating the pith surface. With practice, you can easily slice under the bark and see what I mean about it resembling waxed paper.

You want the root stock to be at least the same thickness, or thicker, as the bud stick or the bud won't lie flat against the stock, making good cambium to cambium contact. You can't force an inch wide bud to shape itself to a half inch wide stock. It won't work. But, you can have a half inch wide bud sit firmly against the cambium of an inch wide stock.

Once the properly prepared scion is firmly inserted into the properly prepared graft on the stock, you tie it in and keep it well watered, growing actively.

It sounds complicated, but it honestly isn't once you've practiced! Trying to write out the instructions for riding a bicycle is worse than this, believe me. Yet, most of us can just DO it. Budding and grafting is exactly the same. Once you've practiced removing the buds and preparing the stocks, it becomes second nature. You will be able to see when your stocks are ready without checking them. You will quickly learn how far a bud can push growth and still be useful for budding. You will learn to tell by looking if a bud is going to grow or not, just as you've learned to tell how your roses are growing just by studying them. It is all practice and observation and we can all do it, as long as there is interest and patience. I suggest Burling's chip budding method because it really is the simplest, fastest and easiest method I've encountered.

I hope the above helps. If I've left something out, please ask. You'll probably help me to remember something I should have remembered! Kim

Here is a link that might be useful: Burling's Chip Budding Method

A suggestion to consider...once you've mastered rooting your stocks and are presented with a rose you wish to save, consider rooting longer stocks as I outlined on my blog about rooting standard stocks. Bud as many as you can on it to hedge your bet, increase your chances of success. All it takes is one to succeed. From that one, you can make many more. This is a section of Virus Indexed IXL with many buds of a breeder a friend has the only plant in existence. I wanted to be sure to get one to take, so there are two stocks like this, budded with multiple buds. If multiples take, that's just so many more cuttings available! Kim
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How would you know if you have a "stable" plant? I have a careless love I have had for 6-8 years now.. still very small as it doesn't do well in the colder winters, but always comes back.

More than happy to try to root some cuttings off of this if it is worth trying for anyone interested :)

Marleah