Question
My neighbor and I have rose bushes between our houses.  We are not sure as to who exactly the roses belong to.  I would like to get a start off one of the bushes.  It looks like a "Queen Elizabeth" rose, it's light violet in color and has the most wonderful aroma, similar to rose perfume if you will.  I would like to grow one that I know is my own, that is an off spring of this particular bush so that I know I'm getting what I want.  Is it possible to get a start, and if so how do I go about getting one?  Also, how can I find out for sure what rose bush this is?  If I took a picture would you be able to help me identify it?  Thank you for your time.

Sincerely
Keri McKenney
Idaho

Answer
You can start a rose bush by taking cuttings from another rose bush and the cutting will be exactly the same as the rose bush you took if off. Here are a couple of web sites that will show you how to do it. It is almot impossible to identify a rose unless the rose haas something very unusual about it as over 300 new roses are introduced every year. Also the commercial life of a rose is 5 years. As you can see it is impossible to be accurate. Take at least 10 cuttings as some will not strike. Hope this helps. Lynnette
http://members.aol.com/mmmavocad3/Cuttings.html
http://www.ars.org/explore.cfm/propagation/