Propagation used to be my job. Best job I ever had, and it was in a small wholesale nursery a few miles from home. I was very sad when I had to leave there for unavoidable reasons. We grew mostly shrubs and climbers, and a few herbaceous plants and ornamental grasses. I was lucky to be in charge of the propagation house after initial training, and had lots of heated mats and a misting system - bliss!
I decided to order a few more roses from, Cottage Memories. I have to say,I am very satisfied with a selection of potted roses purchased from them earlier. These are still flowering. This latest order is for, bare rooted roses. These include. Gorgeous. Hamilton Princess. One in a Million. First Great Western. Scent from Heaven. Summertime. Ena Harkness. & A whiter Shade of Pale. If I may. I'd like to share some of my rose growing experience with members. I have grown roses for over sixty years, because I love them. During this time, I have done all the propagating etc. Then 2010 my wife of fifty years passed away. My plan now was to turn my tiny garden into a memorial garden. Valerie also loved roses. We both loved, Rosa: Ena Harkness. Even today it is considered to be the best red rose ever, despite sadly the weak neck to the bloom. I ordered a vast section from a grower in Hertfordshire. I knew the family via friendship with The Supt. of Regents Park London. S.M.Gault. I selected roses that in various ways depicted my dear wife. Sadly I had to complain. The condition was unaceptible of several plants. Zilch was the reply. All were planted in the garden. A lot of money had been spent on soil and fertilizers etc. Time now to try other rose growers. Sticking to, bare root plants. Results were up and down. Then along comes Covid. In the rose world. Prices hit the roof. Sorry, but just plants I recieved were rubbish. Still buying bare root plants. Single stemmed, pruned to almost ground level etc arrived. Thankfully. Emails can be sent with a photo. So who knows. Perhaps bare roots from this company might do well. I will continue this thread.
Those are interesting videos. I propagate a lot of my plants. Last year I started about 20 forsythias for a hedge. As an experiment, I ground-layers a few, started some in water, and started some as cuttings in seed starting soil. The biggest plants that resulted were from ground layering. The water-started ones were excellent too. The cuttings in seed starting medium were much slower and smaller, but most of them did root. The cuttings were after the plants bloomed and the sticks were about pencil size or smaller. From dormant cuttings, I've grown forsythia, plums, figs, roses, pelargoniums, willow from dormant cuttings. Lots of other from green cuttings. It's a lot of fun and very frugal.
