The best time for taking rose cuttings is August & September. There is no need to take a `heel`, indeed if your Kiftsgate is like mine, to get suitable wood with a `heel` would mean sacrificing 7 or 8 feet of growth for each cutting.
Simply select a suitable strong shoot of this year`s growth, take off the soft top, then cut immediately above a leaf joint at the top, and ten inches lower immediately below another leaf joint, then remove all but the top leaf. Take another couple the same (so you can pick the best). You can either pot them up in a decent potting compost with plenty of vermiculate mixed in, or you can plant in the open ground in a trench with sharp sand dribbled in. In either case make sure that at least half of the cutting is buried.
With potted cuttings a look at the drainage holes will tell you when they are rooting, those planted in the open ground should not be disturbed for a full 12 months.
