how do I root cuttings of my shrub roses?

I have three KnockOut roses that are doing beautifully. I ordered 5 more but the nursery had a freeze and couldn't supply them. I could just take cuttings of the ones I have but I don't really know how. Advice?

Rose propagation info from the rose forum...
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/556678/

not like coleus, hunh? Thanks - it looks hard.

Too much work for me.

Rooting roses is easy. Nip off a limb, find 4 growth buds. Cut below #1 and above #4. Good clean cuts. Dip growth buds 1 and 2 in rootenone. Stick in the ground just passed growth bud 2. I root in the winter down here and just put a quart fruit jar over and forget it until about March. You can root now just keep the soil moist. You need to leave a rooted cutting alone for at least a year before you move it or transplant shock might kill it.

Remember that hybrid roses won't root true. You never know what you will get. Heirloom roses root true. I have heard that knock-out roses root true but have never rooted one of them. I don't know if they are concidered a hy brid or not.

This message was edited May 28, 2010 11:35 PM

Excellent Jim but I can't quite picture it. First of all,what's a growth bud? Second, 1, 2, 3, 4 in a row, then what? Can you illustrate? Redescribe? I agree, too much work the other way. I'd rather buy new ones!

Look at a limb on the rose. You will see nodules down it about every inch or so. Number 1 is the one at the bottom of the limb where you make your first cut. You don't have to go all the way the stalk of the rose to make your cut. I like for the piece I'm rooting to be just smaller than a pecil. Count up from the first growth but and cut again just above #4. Put 2 buds under the ground and leave 2 above the ground. Always put the big end in the ground. Don't forget the rooting compound. If the ground is loose, I just poke a hole with my finger. Make sure the dirt is tight around the piece you are rooting. I always moisten the end going in the ground before I dip it in the rooting compound. It is really very easy. If you can't figure out what the growth buds are, just cut off a piece of the limb about four inchs long and do it like that. Also, remove all foliage.

Quite a lot clearer now, Jim, thanks! I have rooting compound, too.

Good luck with your rooting. An old guy that is dead now showed me how to root many years ago. I have a success rate of about ninty five per cent on roses. Down here we root in the winter. Just put a jar over them and work it in the ground a little way and forget it.

I think I'll either do it now or in the fall - what do you think? In the winter it definitely wouldn't work, I know that.

I believe if I lived in your area that I would go for it now and let it get rooted good before winter. Then it will be at the stage where it should go dormant. I'm just guessing because I'm not familiar with your part of the country. I've always lived in the deep south. We had the coldest winter we have had in years but the really cold weather just lasted about 30 days, not even to compare to your temps.

I'm just wondering about covering it with a jar - it would fry if we got a really hot day, but otherwise sounds like a good idea .... hmmm. Maybe an opaque jar? A jar and shade cloth? Something like that?