I want to find and get an old time rose bush....the kind you see growing wild on ditch banks or old abandoned house places. What is the best way to do this? Take a cutting and try to root it or what?

Welcome to the rose forum!

Quite a few nurseries sell Old Garden Roses, possibly including the ones you are admiring. Cuttings take a long time to grow to the blooming stage and may not be the best option. A rose that grows wild in southern states that you do not want is Macartney Rose which is highly invasive. I would start your search at nurseries. The Antique Rose Emporium has a web site that might offer suggestions.

I am sure you will get many ideas here.

I agree with Porkpal, be very careful about wild roses. There are about 10 species of wild roses recorded in Mississippi and only 3 are listed as native. At least two of those exotics are very invasive, Rosa bracteata (McCartney Rose) and Rosa multiflora, others may be invasive also. Here are the 3 listed as native,
Rosa carolina, Rosa palustris and Rosa setigera. You should be able to find them for sale online.

Thank you, Horntoad and Porkpal. I didn't know that roses could be invasive. I just love the way they look along roadsides and old houses. Figured if they grew wild I would be able to grow them.

If you could see the McCartney Roses here you would understand how invasive they can be. Just curious, what color are the ones you are seeing? The three native I listed are all pink the two I listed as invasive are white. The are some pink exotics in Mississippi, but I have no idea about the invasivness of those.