Some people learn how to grow roses by going all out, and start by buying several plants to put right into the garden. But what if you could learn rose gardening by a more gradual method? One way of doing this might be to cadge some rose stems from a friend, and see if you can get them rooted and growing in your garden or a container. This might help you discover if you even have an affinity for roses, and it is certainly less expensive than going with a garden center purchase of several bushes.

Some roses work better for this than others. The hybrid tea rose, for example, might be more difficult to propagate by this means, as will Gallica roses. And unfortunately, most of the roses that come from florists will not be amenable to this version of how to grow roses, because of the way they themselves were produced. Floribundas and many others that are actually garden roses do much better, and miniature roses are usually grown this way.

You should do the rose pruning in early spring, taking three or four six-inch stems (or for miniatures, three-inch stems). Cut them on a slight diagonal, in the morning before the stresses of the day. In the past, people knew how to grow roses with cuttings protected by Mason jars, and the practice still works well. So once you have your cuttings, take off the bottom leaves, with just a few at the top, and dip the stems into a rooting powder. Then set them either into your garden soil or into containers of potting soil. At this point, place a Mason jar over each stem and water now and then over the next few weeks.

When teaching people how to grow roses via cuttings, some recommend using containers with heating pads under them to encourage root development, though that may not be necessary if you’ve used rooting powder. In milder climates you should be able to grow the roses right outside, and may not even need Mason jars. Either way, it should take one or two months for the cuttings to become rooted. Once that has happened, and with continued research and rose care, you should be able to start creating a rose garden. You may discover your green thumb, and realize that this method of rose propagation is something you want to continue exploring.