READER QUESTION

I HAVE a beautiful pink climbing rose, Constance Spry. It grew up a tree which was blown over by Storm Eunice. The rose survived, was cut back and is now sprouting. Could I take cuttings from the shoots?

Mrs T. Miller.

YOU can. Constance Spry is a vigorous grower so most nurseries provide plants raised as cuttings. You can take softwood cuttings now or semiripe cuttings in September.

For soft cuttings select young stems, about as thick as a pencil and up to 20cm long. Push the bottom third into good soil in a sheltered spot. Water regularly and they’ll root, with luck.

Option Two is to gather semi-ripe, basal shoots in early autumn. Push those into good soil, somewhere sheltered. Any which take root will produce live buds and come into leaf next spring.