It’s no secret that I love to propagate plants. I especially love to propagate the easy plants. The ones where success is almost 100% assured! Believe it or not there are a few of those. Basil is one that I almost always can get to root simply by taking cuttings and putting it in a […]
plant propagation
Plant propagation is the botanical art of creating a new plant from another one! It can consist of growing from seeds, cuttings, dividing plants, grafting, and even cellular cloning. For the purposes of the home garden we delve into cuttings, division, and seeds mainly. These post are all about plant propagation including annuals, shrubs, perennials, and trees.
Plants written about on these pages include but are not limited to:
Annuals: basil, coleus, Persian shield
Perennials: coneflower, Russian sage, salvia
Shrubs: beautyberry, hydrangea, viburnum, willow, yew
Growing Oak Leaf Hydrangeas From Seed

I did a video a while back on Youtube about collecting oak leaf hydrangeas from seed. I thought since now is the ideal time to start collecting those seeds again I would go ahead and direct sow some oak leaf hydrangeas from seed. Below you can watch a short video of the flat I put […]
Elderberry Bush – Transplanting and Propagating

Over the years the side garden area of our yard has gradually grown into a small forest area. My kids call the area “the thicket.” They play in the pathways I’ve cut through. Over time the sassafras trees have grown tall changing the hillside from just a grassy field to a small forest. Among the […]
Starting Japanese Maple Seeds

While the weather outside resembles that of the arctic I spent a few minutes starting Japanese maple seeds. I had two varieties of tree that I saved seed from this fall, ‘Sango Kaku’ and ‘Bloodgood’ (Acer palmatum). Both types of Japanese maples are fairly common and can make good root stock for other, more unique […]
Plants to Propagate in Winter
Winter is officially here! If you’re reading this post you are probably thinking what I can do in the garden in winter? Well if you’re a fan of plant propagation you should try some winter plant propagation! What plants you can propagate and at what time of the year largely depends on the type of […]
Hydrangea Propagation (Natural Layering)

Hydrangeas are fantastic garden plants! The flowers are beautiful but even when not in bloom hydrangeas can be a well formed shrub in the garden. Yesterday while walking through the garden I found a hydrangea that had rooted itself on the ground. This is called layering. Layering is a method of plant propagation where you […]
Plant Propagation Cloner
I came across a video today on Youtube that I thought was a fantastic demonstration of how to build a plant propagation cloner! This is a DIY project I would love to try when I have a bit more time. If you have tried something like this please let us know in the comments on […]
Oak Leaf Hydrangea – Garden Favorites
Over the years I have grown many plants. I have a bit of a collectors attitude toward my garden and pick out unique plants as much as possible. Some of those plants haven’t done well for me, but other plants have simply been amazing. I thought it would be a good idea to go back […]
Growing Buckeye from Seed (Aesculus pavia)

A couple years ago I bought a fantastic native plant at a local native plant nursery. It was a red buckeye (Aesculus pavia) and is great for attracting everyone’s favorite tiny garden visitor, the hummingbird. The flower clusters are red (you probably expected that from the name: red buckeye) and tubular. The red buckeye grows […]
Growing Plants from Hardwood Cuttings

I’ve always been one to enjoy experimenting with plant propagation in the garden. This past weekend, since the weather was so pleasant, I went on hardwood cutting spree. Hardwood cuttings are very easy to do. The success rate varies quite a lot depending on the type of plants you are trying to propagate. I took […]