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Are hybrid tea rose cuttings successful?
Q Is it easy to take a cutting from a rose? I have an ‘Alec’s Red’ rose in the front garden and would love a second in the back garden.
Grant Rivers, via email
A I would like to say that the beautiful hybrid tea rose ‘Alec’s Red’ can be propagated from cuttings.
Sadly, unlike floribunda varieties, hardwood or softwood hybrid tea cuttings have less vigour and seldom root successfully.
But, you may be lucky and it is worth trying to increase your variety from hardwood cuttings. They are normally taken in November, but it may not be too late now as the plant is still dormant.
Select mature pencil-thick shoots 9in (23cm) long and make a sloping cut just above a bud at the top and a horizontal cut immediately below a leaf node (joint) at the bottom end. Then insert your cuttings to half their length in a
