I personally have tried several methods of rooting rose cuttings, but the best way I have tried is our Great grandparents method by using canning jars. What I do is usually in the fall ( I don't like to try in the spring because it gets too hot quickly here and the rose will suffocate in the jar ) is I take a small cutting that's no wider than a pencil and I do use a rooting powder on the bottom, stick it in the ground and put a canning jar over it. I usually put a few rock around the jar so the wind will not blow it over, and by spring, ta-da a new rose has rooted! I just would not plan on moving it until the next spring though since it's roots are still very tiny and easy to break if you dig it up.

When I first moved to this place about 10 years ago, I bought a JC and loved it. But it died in a particularly harsh Winter. I didn't care that much for roses for several years, but around five years ago I started getting into clematis, with some success but a lot of rotted roots along the way. Got more into the gardening forums and slowly got a few roses on sale because of the many beautiful pictures I've seen of roses & clems growing together. So last Summer I found a potted JC on sale at Kmart. Got 2 fantastic blooms from it before I even got it into the ground, around early October. Because it was rated hardier than the other roses I had bought, I dared to plant it in a more open area than close to the East side of the house where the z6b kinds were planted. It did have some dieback, and was a little slower starting to leaf out than the more protected ones, but the new canes. or maybe they would be called laterals, are about 6 inches now and I started fastening them at a 45 degree angle to the wires on my homemade trellis, which is a little shorter than 6 ft. Will keep at it as they grow, and even if it only makes it halfway up but blooms, I will be more than happy. There is a type 3 clem planted next to it which should get up to the top this year. And as it grows I can coax it more to the JC side. So, if you like it, go for it. Marie

Both sulfur and copper can burn rose foliage. Be sure the plants are well hydrated and spray in the morning. Don't apply copper on a drizzly day--it is less likely to burn if it dries quickly. Don't use sulfur in very hot weather. I've used the copper soap product Soap Shield successfully. Wear standard PPE when applying copper products.

I'm in zone 5 and most of my climbers are in the lower garden where they get a lot of very cold winter wind. The ones that have been most hardy for me are New Dawn, Ramblin' Red, John Davis, William Baffin, Dortmund and Morgengruss. I really love Kordes Antique 89, but find I have to cut it way back each spring. The good news is that it rapidly puts on height again. I also love growing America. Again, I have to cut it way back, but it not only grows quickly, but blooms very heavily as it grows (Antique wants to put on height first and then bloom later). I grow Polka in a more sheltered spot, but it still needs to be cut back quite a bit in the spring. New Dawn and Ramblin Red are probably the heaviest bloomers, and Ramblin' Red has the heaviest repeat bloom. My William Baffin is completely cane hardy and has a gorgeous heavy spring bloom, but only scattered blooms after that. Constance Spry (a David Austin) has also been cane hardy for me, with an amazing spring bloom, but it is a once-bloomer. Eden Climber grows more like a shrub for me, but the flowers are really lovely. John Davis is very cane hardy for me and will rebloom during the summer. Westerland and Autumn Sunset usually have to be pruned back quite a bit each spring, but are quick growers. They never go up and over the arches though like Ramblin' Red, New Dawn, William Baffin or John Davis. I grow several other David Austins as climbers also, but they do need to be cut back a fair amount in the spring (St. Swithun, Abraham Darby, William Morris, and James Galway.) I just planted the Austins Crown Princess Margareta, Teasing Georgia and Spirit of Freedom on pillars, but haven't had a chance to test their winter hardiness yet. Hope this helps.