May 31 i got a gardenia flower from the restaurant owner at my sons rehearsal dinner. It was soo very wonderful and I thought I would try to sprout the thing. So I put rooting compound on it and put a glass jar on top of it all. Lo and behold it did root!! It has been almost 2 months and it has new growth and is not touching the jar yet. What do I do next as I live in Indiana and the winters indoors can be hard on plants. I was wondering if a gardenia can live in a terrarium environment over the winter. I havent taken the jar off yet as it looks so very healthy and happy. Any advice ?

These are easy rooters, no need to fuss to get forsythia to grow. It's deciduous and this baby that is destined for a harsh sun location will probably benefit by removing the 'greenhouse' and letting it get natural air in a dappled shade location. The movement of this sprig in the breezes (in its pot) will help it develop stronger anchor roots and I suggest in another week or so you transplant it to a much wider pot of similar depth (4-6"deep by 10-12" wide) This way it spreads roots laterally to begin to create a crown from which it can bush out and broaden. I don't think you need to baby it so much in October. It needs that sun for as much time as it can get before those leaves drop but morning sun and some afternoon protection is best for this young cutting. With some sun, those leaves are making food for the developing roots. I wouldn't plant it until early next spring when its roots are more developed and the new leaves are starting to sprout. Adapt it gradually to more sun exposure once the leaves are fully out. It will need to harden off before putting it in its new permanent site and you can probably plant it a touch deeper than what it was in the pot.

Thanks for the reply Georgez5il. I'm new to the world of propagation, and thought I would solicit some input from more experienced folks. In my part of the country (Z8) it was a pretty cool winter until a few days before Christmas. Since Christmas the weather has been all over the spectrum. Cold, warm, cool. Some plants folks even say we might be experiencing a false spring. Many trees and shrubs are trying to bud and I have been reluctant to take cuttings. Would cuttings in this state qualify as "firm new growth"? I took a some hardwood cuttings in late Nov., and seem to be having good sucess in rooting these cuttings. Thanks for any input! Dan

In zone 5 without a greenhouse, there are a couple of options for doing hardwood cuttings of deciduous schrubs during the winter. One method is to make the hardwood cuttiongs after a hard freeze when tie them in a bundle with the buds all facing in one direction and bury them completely in the ground with the bud growth facing down. Sometimes some moist peat on top helps. In the spring, they shoul have caluses and can be planted out in a good potting medium. Keep watered all summer and by fall they should be rooted. The second method is to take the cuttings after they are dormant, dip in a liquid rooting hormone for 5 seconds and plant in a bed of course sand. Keep watered if it is dry during the winter and the following summer, they should be rooted by next fall. Sometimes one method works better than the other so I would suggest trying it both ways. The fastest method for decidious schrubs is with softwood cuttings in the early summer, most will root in 4 to 8 weeks under mist or an upsidedown fish tank. Mike