Thanks for the info, all! I didn't realize there would be more branches but it seems sort of obvious now. :)

Yes, it's still in its starter pot (with its starter baggie to catch spills). Mildew? You bet. It has dropped all its leaves and been counted as dead. It didn't start to outgrow the pot until recently. I do keep it in a sunny spot--I moved it away from the window to photograph it.

Would it be worth repotting it to a gallon pot for just a few months before putting in the ground?

Re: Would it be worth repotting it to a gallon pot for just a few months before putting it in the ground?

IMHO, yes. Why? A few reasons. It would allow the root system to grow while still being easy to move around to sunnier or shadier spots, or out of the wind, while you are acclimating it to being outdoors. It would also be easier to keep an eye on its needs i.e. Moisture level. A larger pot is more stable in the wind and also more stable in moisture level (Less likely to dry out if you forget to water or if it gets hot and you are away for the day). In a pot there would also be less competition from weeds. It's also easier to inspect for insects or other pests because you can lift it up and check the undersides of the leaves easily. A potting mix also has more easily available nutrients and less harmful fungi, so it is easier for the plant to grow. Planting it in the ground when it is very small, it is more susceptible to things like a stray footfall (crunch), drying out without noticing, damage from animals, being buried in mulch, being uprooted by a gush of water, etc. I think you will also find that shortly after repotting to a larger pot, your plant will suddenly start to grow faster, because it has more room. Good luck!

Agree with noseometer. A 1 gal pot would be great for it now. Be sure to acclimate it gradually to outdoor sun. You don't want to lose the baby. What a gorgeous parent rose.

Whatever you do, do not prune the baby. New strong canes will grow when it is able, Fori. I use rose planting mix for pots.

Good reason! It wouldn't live through acclimation in that tiny pot. A bigger pot gives a little more neglect insurance. :)

So how is your cutting doing, Fori? I was thinking about this thread when I was checking out my cuttings today. Here's Abraham Darby showing what I meant, a bigger shoot coming from the base of the spindly one.

Noseometer when did you take that cutting? How long from the time you cut to the time you plant?

I think I took the cuttings in October. then potted them up once they rooted either in November or December. When they grew spindly stems, I realized they weren't getting enough light in my house, so I moved them to my garage so they would be cold and would stop growing until I could put them outdoors in the sun. I put them outdoors last week when the weather warmed up, but I bring them back into the garage when the weather is below freezing at night or when it is very windy.

Thanks! I know nothing about cuttings but might try next year.

I like mass plantings.

Awww thanks for asking. :)

No shoots yet, but it seems to he happy in the new pot. There's new growth getting started along the old stem. It's still indoors, though. My back yard is still under construction due to rain delays and everything outside--front and back--is at risk of being smashed. I'm sure the neighbors are impressed with all the tomato cages in the front yard. It's amazing how much damage a simple garden hose can cause...

My long floppy cutting is still a long floppy cutting. It's been outside for a few months now and refuses to make any shoots. I'm tempted to stick it in the ground anyway because it'll probably be more resistant to neglect that way. Should I? (The caterpillar damage actually occurred in the house. How embarrassing is that?)

I'm no expert on container plants, but that still looks like the pot is way too small.

And surely you have it acclimated to the outdoors by now. Put it out in the full sun--maybe some later afternoon shade at most. It needs 6 hours of outdoor sunlight.

You are treating it like a houseplant. Roses are NOT houseplants.

The good news is that it must be a tough rose, surviving this long in less than optimal conditions. : )

Kate

Thanks. It does get at least 6 hrs of sun in this spot (this time of year, anyway).

At this point is there any reason to repot it instead of planting it? I was going with the 1 gallon pot advice offered above. I'm not up on nursery pot sizes, but this is a bit larger than a gallon of milk. :P

In your climate planting in the ground would be great too if you made sure it got enough water through the Summer. The parent plant is gorgeous.

Thanks, Sheila. I'll have to figure out where to put it!

Well, the thing has been in the ground for about a month now and it isn't dead yet. A few new leaves on a new twig, but no shoots. The older leaves are losing color but the new ones look good. Is that likely just due to transplant shock (paired with ridiculously hot weather)?

It gets a lot of sun in this spot and was put on the drip irrigation system since we were traveling a bit and I didn't want it to get dry. There is some minor insect damage but nothing serious or persistent.

The single stem is in the lower left corner. It's quite woody now. (The bricks are there because something evil or--more likely--something cuddly that I feed digs up fresh plantings.)

What do I do with this thing now?

Thanks!

(ETA: Soil test is coming...)

Great job! Now be patient and keep watering, mulching, organic feeding very gently and it should grow roots and take hold. When that happens you will see more top growth.

I think it looks healthy, just young! Are you feeding it with anything? Don’t use anything strong on such a young rose, but it might like some diluted fish emulsion or seaweed extract. (If you have animals that like to dig things up, seaweed extract might be a better choice - it’s less smelly than fish emulsion.)

Looks bigger than your first photo. The old leaves that developed when the plant was in the house or in the shade may burn or dry up. They can't handle as much sun so they drop off. That's pretty normal (you could also put some shade over the plant for the first few weeks). Did you prepare the ground by digging in a lot of organic matter (i.e. compost)? That will help keep the roots moist but well drained, Pretty soon it will take off and you will be showing us photos of the flowers.

Thanks!

A few weeks ago I did give it some leftover diluted houseplant food (the stuff you dissolve in water) figuring it wasn't strong enough to do (or hurt) anything but will have to get proper outdoors food. I probably didn't add in enough organics when I planted though.

I'm a little suspicious of the soil. After the backyard "remodel", this is essentially a new bed and I don't know how good the dirt is. It looks nice. But is it? There are two other plants in the bed: a kumquat which the landscapers installed in March after it had been languishing in a nursery pot in my yard for 2 years and a hibiscus cutting that I did at the same time as this rose.

The kumquat looks super happy. (It had not been happy in its pot.) The hibiscus looks a little washed out like the rose but is coloring back up. The kumquat is probably deep enough to be in native soil though, which is good stuff.

You can top dress with compost and organic goodies over time to improve the soil if the initial planting did not incorporate as much organic matter as could have been helpful. Good luck with the baby rose.

Progress report!

The new foliage looks good and green. The long floppy section is longer and floppier and has a bud on it. (It was tucked through the trellis today because it was almost on the ground.)

Can I consider a shoot to be a shoot if it is still coming off the original cutting? I think I still have no shoots. None! That new branch on the left--which isn't floppy!--doesn't count. Hmmm!

That looks great. My cutting develop at their own pace! They have a mind of their own, but new growth is always a good sign regardless of where it grows. : )) JC, did you ever try cuttings? It's so much fun.

Why doesn't the branch on the left count? It all looks great!

It counts! Just not as a shoot from the rootball. It's coming off the original cutting. But it's nice and fat and vertical and self-supporting. :)

Totally counts. I’m excited for you and can’t wait to see your first flower!

It's a little deformed but it sure smells like a rose.

That color is so beautiful!

How exciting! Don't you feel like a proud parent?

Wasn't the original rose yellow? Or was it this color at times?

The original was orangey yellow. They started off more orange and yellowed when they opened. This is a bit more orange than I expected. I found a few old photos of the parent flowers, probably from when I was trying to find an ID on it. (Nothing conclusive came of it.)

As your plant matures, the color and flower form will change to be the rose you know. It's common for the first flowers of young cuttings and seedlings to be somewhat different from the flowers of a mature plant. If you ever discover the name of your rose, please share.

What a beautiful rose! Thanks for the updates. I love these rose stories here.

How do you transplant a long floppy cutting? I may have miscalculated when I selected a planting site.

This isn't a compact plant at all. It's laughing out loud at the trellis. It's reaching out sideways and nudging the neighboring kumquat bush. If it decides to go the other way it will be attacking passersby. The parent plant must be snickering in the compost bin in the sky because this twig is imitating its growth quite accurately.

We're having nice dry weather in the 70s. Should I move it now or wait until it's larger and more prickly in winter or spring?

If you live in a mild winter climate (stays above freezing in the winter), you would be fine to transplant it. It is still young and probably doesn't have a lot of roots yet. You would probably want to prune it back a bit and make sure it gets enough water. If you live in a climate where it is cold enough that the roses go dormant in the winter, then I would wait until early spring, and transplant while the plant is still dormant, or when the local roses are starting to bud out. If you transplant now and you live in an area where the ground freezes in the winter, you may lose the plant.

Thanks, Noso. We don't freeze here so we have to work on the yard all winter. :) Get to. We get to work in the yard all winter...

I didn't move it in time. I was lazy and tucked the long bits into the trellis so it wouldn't attack passersby. It seems content. Using that hose bib is going to be a challenge pretty soon. :)

I've had luck getting new shoots with alfalfa pellets watered in.

It looks so healthy and it has grown so much! I see a number of flower buds. It’s too bad you need to move it. At least it is still young. You could also take another cutting to grow somewhere else. Just in case. Can it be espaliered tightly against that wall?

I think I will leave it where it is, but taking an additional cutting isn't a bad idea. I put this in a spot I felt it would be safe (from dog, drying out, neglect, etc.) but not necessarily the best location for appreciating a rose. So I do need another. :)

As far as getting it tight against the wall, I wisely put it in front of a hose bib and an electrical thing. So not only is it in the corner of a crescent-shaped bed by a walkway, it can't go towards the wall until it's tall enough to leave those things accessible. Sometimes I impress myself with my planning skills! I'm going to have to get creative because it will probably need to be espaliered or otherwise trained so not go after people's ankles.

This thing is so floppy. It's flowering nicely, thriving on neglect, but all the flowers are droopy. Someone needs to tidy up the garden.

Is this an identifiable growth pattern? It would be flat on the ground if it weren't stuffed into a trellis. Does that make it a climber?

The look of the parent plant in your first photo makes it look like this rose tends to grow vinous, at least as a young plant. The trunks are quite sinuous. That doesn't in itself make it a climber, but that quality could make it work as a climber if it grows tall.

I think it looks great. Just keep tying it in.

I agree with Sheila. I especially appreciate the color echo of the flowers and the kumquats.

Thanks! Perhaps I'll train it over the walkway if it runs out of space. Meanwhile, it's starting to get rust, just like the parent. It always looked terrible by midsummer. It's time I learned how to use fungicide...

:)

Wow it has really filled out. I love the sunset colors!

Looks happy and healthy! You could take another cutting to plant elsewhere. Moving an established plant (I see that the last post was 3 years ago!), is risky, and young plants establish better anyway.

It looks so happy there. I agree with noseometer.

Wow! Nice rose, and a great success story of patience paying off!

Ha! It's not patience so much as the good luck to have a plant that thrives on neglect.

I probably could move it. The parent plant pictured at the top had a root ball smaller than a basketball.

This young plant is too thorny though. I'm gonna go out there and try to make more instead.

It's also very smelly.:)

I've gotten so much good advice here and I heartily thank you all!