what are you propagating?
cotty1000
Posts: 293
I have been busy this year dividing hostas and some sedum. I have filled up most of my trays with seed,with varying degrees of success,and the other day I took some cuttings. Penstemon,scabious,bowles mauve and campanula. I came to water them this morning and a caterpillar had started to eat some and lay eggs. I wouldn't mind but they had bags on tied around with royal mail elastic bands(they drop them everywhere).
What have you been up to?
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I have a wonderful big bowles mauve which has flowers on it winter and summer, think i'll take cuttings from it to give to friends and family, have u taken them before cotty? How have u taken them? softwood and covered with plastic? I have some penstemon as well, i'll do those at same time
cotty just read ur post again, u've put plastic bags over, r they in a greenhouse? shud I just leave them outside? I have taken a few cuttings before
The caterpillar must have already been on your cuttings.
I had to dig up one plant as it was smothering everything around it. I have taken a few cuttings over the years. I have an out building that is joined to the house and is pretty warm at this time of year and it gets sunlight in the morning. I cover them with bags and I water and spray them. I remove lower leaves and dip in hormone rooting powder. Then just hope. I am planning on giving these to my daughters school. I have had to trim my cuttings from previous years as they get big quickly. But when you see all the butterflies on them you can't help but love them. Hope this helps.
Trial and error but it is fun.
I think so fleurisa,I couldn't bring myself to kill it as I love butterflies so much.
Yeah the bowles mauve is getting big, hoping its stopped growing now
It will carry on,believe me they get big.
I am going to sow some sunflowers and marigolds this weekend with my young girls,hopefully they will get the gardening bug.
Cuttings - penstemon, pink buddleia and clematis but it was too soon for the latter so only one is doing anything. I shall layer some and take cuttings of more at the normal time in summer. Might try cornus alba sibirica when I prune those this weekend.
Divisions - assorted hostas and hardy geraniums, pink and white perennial cornflowers, shasta daisies, physostegia, basil mint, lemon balm, ginger mint, echinops ritro, giant scabious and there'll be lysimachia clethroides, hemerocallis and phlomis russelliana to come as I work my way round the borders.
When's the best time to do Bowles Mauve cuttings? I have a variegated form that I'd love to propagate.
Dont forget that Erysimum Bowles Mauve tends to be fairly short lived, it literally flowers itself to death, so it is always worth having cuttings to replace it.
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root
I do erysimum cuttings later on in the year, around August time , so that they have good roots before the winter.
Try and use unflowered shoots.