That's an intriguing method, Kim. I wonder whether it would work on some roses I've never succeeded in propagating.
I've always had fairly good luck with rooting cuttings either in potting soil in containers or directly in the ground close to the mother plant. There are a couple of roses, however, that I've never been able to grow this way. One is First Kiss, Warriner's floribunda. I know fragrance preferences are highly subjective, but everyone who smells First Kiss in my garden wants the rose. It has a delicious scent. The other is English Elegance, an Austin rose that's almost impossible to find these days. It's another one that visitors to my garden want. I've tried numerous times to root cuttings of both roses and I've failed every time.
Both of these roses in my garden are grafted, so I suppose the reason could be quite simple: Perhaps they just don't want to grow on their own roots. Their absence from the usual offerings of own-root nurseries certainly suggests this. It seems odd, though. Why would one Austin rose be so temperamental when all the others root so easily? And what makes First Kiss so different from Warriner's other floribundas?
