Hi all, are cuttings good as long as the  bark is still green when you cut them, how do you tell if a cutting is no longer good, thanks Rex.

They can dessicate and still be green for a while as they mummify. They should be plumped up and have a slightly waxy look to the bark when they are healthy, the bark should be tight and not rub off easily.

Basically, if I see wrinkling along with redness, the cuttings probably aren't so viable.  I've seen some pretty miraculous stuff, though.

I just rooted a 10 months old cutting that I had placed in the fridge (properly wrapped in barely moist paper in ziploc bag and forgotten). It rooted fast enough for my experience this month. So, if a viable cuttings is wrapped and stored properly in the fridge it can stay good for rooting for reasonably long time. Visible signs of potential loss of viability have been mentioned above by other posters.

I have some 12 month old cuttings that are still in very good shape, but most won''t last that long. It depends on how fresh they were and how they have been stored.

Generally as they dry out, the bark gets more ribbed looking, and the cuttings get lighter, and have a sort of "hollow" feel (can't describe it any other way).

When in doubt, give them a try at rooting - you have nothing to lose.