zigzag: happy to hear from you, but you have left me no way to contact you (your membership has no active link to email) and I cannot locate your email addy in my notes anywhere. I know we got acquainted very recently and discussed our gardens etc. Please update your membership to activate the email link. Just go to the bottom of any page here and click Member Pages to edit your page. Please email me soon and I'll be happy to mail that out. FYI: Brugmansias are only hardy to zone 8, so here in zone 7 we must protect those that are in-ground by mulching heavily (I use a few hale bales placed around them). Cuttings being rooted must be kept indoors over winter in a bright window out of direct sunlight. A florescent fixture will also work. Get in touch.

(I was waiting around to respond so that someone who knew what they were doing could post a follow-up.) Now my two bits worth. When I had a greenhouse and did propagation experiments for my amusement I found that often I had better results starting woody cuttings when the plant was dormant. I never tried roses, hence my hesitation.

Do you have a cold frame? A greenhouse is a brilliant asset but since not many of us can spare the space for one, a cold frame is a good winter protection for tender cuttings. Yep, the top growth may die back but it is the roots where the action is so as long as the pots do not freeze for weeks at a time, they should be OK. If your winters are too cold, then simply keep them in a dormant state in a garage or basement - they are not dead, just resting. I sow a lot of my seeds all year round and frequently have cuttings to overwinter from summer...and I just assume that the plants 'know' what they are doing, will go into dormancy and when the conditions are right, will start to grow top growth again the following spring. There are always losses, especially with tender pelargoniums, which are susceptible to over watering (I keep mine practically dessicated now) but if the cuttings have developed enough roots, they will be perfectly OK coming through the winter.

I don't overthink it either. I break off a Brug (Charles Grimaldi) sprout from the base of my larger plant and stick it immediately into a vase or bucket of water. I have also taken the starters and stuck them in potting soil and kept that moist, but not muddy, until they root. In the Spring you can put them in a shadier location to root, but usually in the Fall I will set them in a sunnier spot (if, and until, there is a threat of temps below 50 at night....I live in South Texas.) You can tell they have rooted in the soil mix because at first the leaves will fall off the cutting, then about 3 weeks or so the tiny little new leaves will begin to pop out from the branch. Good Luck!!