Roots of Progress

There are some roses that are just hard to root. You try and you try and you try and every year you wind up staring at trays of dead cuttings. But as I’ve said earlier I’m Dutch and stubborn and so approach it with the attitude that we are just going about it the wrong way.

Two in particular are Stanwell Perpetual (left) and Secret Garden Musk Climber (right). For years I’ve tried over and over to root plants because they are great roses that need to be in commerce.

Enter Michael Hayes. He came to us part time last year and since he graduated from the Horticultural Program at Spartanburg Tech a few months ago, now full time. He’s fine tuned our propagation procedures and re-installed discipline in how they are taken, processed and handled. We had gotten a little sloppy because we were stretched so thin trying to keep up.

I was entering new cuttings in the database where we track such things and I noticed some cuttings of Stanwell were taken about 9 days ago. So what the heck why not see how they are doing? While I know a watched cutting never roots I couldn’t resist.

Viola!! Roots on Stanwell! And Secret Garden Musk Climbers in pots all over the place. It’s going to be a good year!