I was given cuttings from a Brunswick last summer, August I believe. After a month or so one of the cuttings rooted and developed top growth, and the other had no signs of developing anything. I potted the rooted cutting, and also buried the other cutting in the soil at the side of the pot to "give it a chance". I've kept the potted cutting on our glassed sunporch through the winter where the temps have been high enough that it didn't go dormant and it gets sun all morning. Watered sparingly. I noticed yesterday that there's a little green growth coming up from the second cutting, so there's probably hope for yours.

Hi everyone! and thanks in advance to anyone that replies! Hi, and welcome to the discussions! I'm on a super tight gardening budget this year - and by super tight I mean the only way I'll be getting flowers/plants for my container garden is from taking cuttings/seeds from what I already have and what my friends/family are willing to let me take little "snips" of. Anybody with cash can go buy a truckload of beautiful blooms - even have someone plant and care for them. What you want to do takes love, patience, consistent effort, forethought, determination, and IMO, can be extremely satisfying. I'm fairly new to propagating from cuttings - I have Purslane and Blue Daze (Evolvus) down pat, but I don't know what type of cutting and when to take them from ... pretty much anything else, I don't know if it's even possible to take cuttings from some stuff. Here's a list of the plants I have at my "snipping" disposal - Here's my experiences with some of your list... Clematis ... I had 'the president' but it pooped out the first day it was 100 degrees - boo) Clems like to be in full sun with their roots cool. Next time, try placing a potted plant so that it shades your clem roots during the hottest part of the day. This may help it get going. Remove flowers after the petals fall off so the plant does not waste any energy making seeds. Clems take a few years to establish. They make seeds but it is uncertain if seeds will make the same flowers as the parent plant. Mulch is very helpful for Clems. Balloon flower (platycodon grandiflorus - just the regular one and P.g. 'Mariesii') - makes seeds that are ready when the seed pods develop openings at the top. A long-lived perennial. Hosta (32 jillion varieties) - divisions as soon as the summer heat passes or early spring. Hostas live for a LONG time. Columbine - makes seeds that are ready when the seed pods develop openings at the top. Individual plants are short-lived perennials. Canna (My grandpa is going to mow over them if I don't come dig them up this weekend - can you move them any time or will they just die? Most of his don't have flowers and I don't know if it's because he doesn't water or if it's because he mows over them almost every year - can you grow them in containers?) - makes tubers that can be moved about any time. If grandpa mows them, no big deal. I think the ground (vs. in a pot) is preferable for anything perennial in your zone. Try to put them somewhere where they won't be soggy all winter but will get plenty of water in the summer. Mowing and/or lack of water could both lead to lack of flowers. You can cut large tubers in half to make more, and each year the tubers get bigger and make "pups." They also make seeds but people don't always have an easy time trying to get these seeds to sprout. A long-lived perennial as long as the tubers don't rot in the winter. Jasmine (not sure on variety, it may have...

I have been experimenting with dormant cuttings this winter, with mixed success. Out of boredom in early January, I decided to take whatever promising cuttings I could from the garden and see what happened. 50/50 mix of perlite and promix, some cuttings in my milk carton/soda bottle set-up, some in 6-packs in plastic storage boxes, under lights in my unheated basement. I was assessing things earlier this week. Sally Holmes, Evangeline, and Mme Plantier struck roots in the storage box. About 1/3 of the other varieties croaked. Others are green, so there's still hope. In the bottles, some of the cuttings Moonlight, Prosperity, and Carnation are showing roots. So are Blaze, a found rambler (probably Spectabilis), and a few others that I can't remember right now (and I can't check on because I have a cat asleep on my lap.) I have been fighting an outbreak of aphids in the winter cuttings that I don't have on the ones I stuck earlier in the year. I give them a bath in Safer soap solution every few days. I think the honeydew from the aphids is fostering mold that may be reducing my rooting success. Or it could just be that the winter cuttings of certain varieties just aren't programmed to grow roots well. It's a learning process, and I'm having a ball with it. On a completely different note, the cuttings you sent this fall are fabulous. Out of 16, 11 have great roots and are breaking new growth. Nick, if you're soliciting garden slaves, count me in. I'm available during the week, and I'd LOVE to give you a hand with anything, whenever you need it. I have rosy things the next 3 weekends (Charlotte, Lynchburg, and Staunton), but I'm available after that, or most times during the week. Connie

Now is an excellent time to line out hardwood cuttings, I just started a batch of Chloris last week. I've gotten very good results by lining out cuttings on the northern side of my shed along the dripline. The soil was ammended with some gravel and sand, then dipped the cuttings in rooting hormone and stuck them in the dirt. I've also started them in soiless mix in a container that was kept outdoors for the winter, but watering seems trickier that way. Every time I've tried them indoors, even in an unheated but well lit basement, they've died from fungal problems. Keep your cuttings wrapped in damp, wrung out paper towels and a zipper plastic bag in the crisper of your fridge (or outside, if safe) until you can work the soil. They should last a couple of weeks that way. Give them a fresh cut below a node under water before applying rooting hormone. And don't worry about transplanting them until they've grown into each other in the spring. HTH Jeanne