Might be a long shot but I have stuck cuttings of "Spice" and "Pink Cracker Rose" in the Water Wise Container Garden I made from a concrete mixing tub that supported Plantago major last winter and spring. (I think I see HUNDREDS of teensy seedlings coming up). The soil is a spongy rich compost with a fair amount of Publix clay cat litter worked in so I will shield it from heavy rains. This is not an ideal time to root rose cuttings in Tampa but I have tons to work plus enjoy experimenting. IF any root I should know for sure by early October.

I've been proud and pleased to know Norma Lopez Bean since the early 90s. Her roses collection was breathtaking and defied the dogma of "you have to spray, you have to bud to Fortuniana to grow roses in Florida". Here is a pic I took of her right before she moved out of her house about a year ago...timeless beauty!

http://www.tampabay.com/features/homeandgarden/from-house-to-high-rise-8212-a-legendary-tampa-gardener-downsizes/2187291

Bugs and fungi can abound in summer here, so here is an article from my old St. Pete Times gardening column.

http://www.sptimes.com/2004/03/20/Homes/Wash_away_your_garden.shtml

Today I harvested a plump hip of (Don Juan X "Spice") and will extract and sow the seeds shortly. All the 4 inch pots of hybrids are now soaked, drained, each tucked into a clear produce bag and are back in a tray at the bottom of my fridge. Hopefully I'll see many germinations this fall.

I got approx. 15 big fat seeds from the hip of my dream cross (Don Juan X Rosa gigantea) now sown in a 4 inch pot, soaking in rain water to then drain, go into a clear produce bag then 2-3 months in the fridge for germination!!! My hope is vigorous, Florida-friendly climbers, repeat bloom unlikely but would be nice!

I need a cigarette....just did an unplanned rose pollination that might yield some very interesting hybrids: (Teasing Georgia X Rosa multiflora)!

http://www.helpmefind.com/gardening/l.php?l=2.18152&tab=1


http://www.helpmefind.com/rose/l.php?l=2.5366.5&tab=1

TOTAL RAGE here....the damned Lubber grasshoppers crawled up my 'Teasing Georgia' climbing rose, ignored all the open pollinated hips and chewed off one of just two hybrid hips of (Teasing Georgia X Rosa gigantea)!!!! I massaged SUPER hot sauce onto the surviving hip and all the hybrid hips on 'Don Juan' in hopes of saving them. Rough Lubbers year for many and the application of Nolo Bait I did 12 years ago finally stopped working this season, likely due the protozoa Nosema locustae no having host grasshoppers to replicate in. What makes me SO ANGRY is that Rosa gigantea pollen is NOT easy to get and available just once a year each spring, so I can't repeat the pollination until NEXT spring! Why couldn't they have eaten any of the many open pollinated hips?