JR, You brought a smile on my face with your last sentence!! I bought 3 small Walker's Low at the end of the season last year and noticed that during the winter some green stayed inside the crown of the plant. They were planted on a rock wall which receives little snow cover and harsh winds and COLD, but when the warmth of the spring started, they began to show and grow and prove themselves. I love the texture and the silvery hue of the leaves and the scent - of course! They are beautiful little mounds at this point - about 1.5 feet in diameter - and I can't wait for the blooming party to start. :O)

Faye, I do root cuttings in potting soil. You can also use vermiculite or sand, or a mixture of any of those. Don't obsess, just try some of whatever you have. Usually I put about 3 cuttings or maybe 5 little ones in a gallon pot. You don't have to fill the pot more than about 2/3 full of whatever you're using as planting medium, as they're not going to stay in that pot much longer than it takes to root well. You might want to put one cutting to a smaller pot. I set the pot in usually a grocery bag and I loosely tie the top just to help hold in humidity. I peek daily for the first few days to make sure the cuttings are not wilted (in which case you can spray them with a little water in a spray bottle -- you did water them in well when you stuck them?) Some sources say you can tug the cuttings gently to see if they rooted -- I don't tug anybody, or I'll have a cutting in my hand, no root. I take the pot out of the bag after a few days and just wait for new growth to indicate rooting. Grow on for a 2-3 weeks after you notice new growth, gradually moving them to brighter light. Maybe we'll hear from those who have more scientific methods, but this works for me. Persian Shield rooted easily without wilting, bagged. Things like pentas and alternanthera that are not prone to be 'floppy' can be just kept in the shade without bagging them up, just give 'em a spritz of water now and then. The division method that Cameron and Libby use are for making two big plants of one for quick effect. Cuttings are for making lots of little plants that will grow into big plants over a season. I just like to see them grow, or I'd go buy the plants I need. Nell

FWIW - applying an element or compound aimed at delivering a single nutrient (in this case, Mg) is FAR more likely to result in limitations than it is in improved growth ..... especially if you have no reason to suspect the plant is suffering from a deficiency of Mg. There really is no substitute for a nutrient supplementation program that is resultant of a measured approach to addressing the results of a soil test for plants growing in the ground. If your plants are in containers, regular supplementation of nutrients in the ratio at which the plant actually USES the nutrients is far more likely to yield better results than an approach based on the idea that it seemed to work before, so it's gotta work again. If Becky's plants aren't being limited by a Mg (or S) deficiency at the time the Epsom salts are applied, it's a certainty the excess will be a limiting factor. The goal for fertilizing containerized plants can easily be described. Ideally, we would work toward ensuring that all the nutrients plants normally secure from the soil are in the soil solution at all times, in the ratio at which the plant actually uses the nutrients, and at a concentration high enough to ensure no deficiencies yet low enough to ensure the plant isn't impeded in its ability to take up water and the nutrients dissolved in water. This goal is easily achievable using one water soluble synthetic fertilizer. You CAN use organic forms of nutrition, like fish/seaweed emulsions or various types of meal, but that makes it much more difficult to achieve the goal. Since you don't have reason to believe the result of your Epsom salts application will leave the plant with Mg in the soil solution at a favorable ratio, or if the ratio and therefore the o/a level of TDS (total dissolved solids) will be unnecessarily high due to the supplementation of unnecessary Mg and S, the probability is that following that plan will result in further unnecessary limitations. We can Keep It Super Simple by choosing a soil that allows us to water correctly, and using a fertilizer that provides nutrients in a ratio that ensures nutrient availability in a ratio that suits the plant, as opposed to one that virtually ensures limitations resultant of nutritional imbalances due to applications aimed at supplying a single element. Plants might look like simple organisms that sort of sit around not doing much of anything, but the truth is, plants carry out activities of amazing complexity every moment of their life, and react to cultural influences in their environment constantly in ways, some of which are understood, or in ways that yet still confound the efforts of researchers to isolate and describe. Approaching growing in ways that depend on a wing and a prayer will almost inevitably leave growers who embrace that plan standing in the slipstream of growers who take the time to put together a measured plan that takes what is known of the plant sciences into account. The more we learn about a plant's needs, the more likely it is our efforts will carry the day (from the plant's POV). Al

As mention in your other post the primary issue is the soil mix you used. But yes the yellowing of the lower leaves is due to over-watering and lack of sufficient nutrients. If you are going to leave them in that soil then you are going to have to switch to one of the liquid fertilizers that can be diluted to 1/2 strength and feed them from the top until the plant is old enough for the roots to reach down into the water well. Personally, if they were mine, I'd dump out that soil and use one of the soil-less potting mixes made for containers. Dave