Before the first frost of the fall I took a few cuttings of my Persian Shield (Strobinlanthus dyerianus) to hopefully overwinter it as a houseplant. This was the first year for Persian Shield in my garden and I’ve only seen it at one nursery around so I wanted to be sure I had some for next year in the garden. Saving a little cash while getting more plants is a pretty nice side effect!
It’s a very cool plant with it’s almost metallic sheen that reflects a mixture of purple and silvery hues in the light. It likes the shade but did very well in a part sun area in my garden. I took as many stem tip cuttings as I could to increase my odds of getting a rooted cutting but really this was so easy I probably didn’t need to take any more than 5-6. I ended up with 8-10 rooted cuttings.
How Did I Root My Persian Shield?
The water method! The simple, plain old method for rooting cuttings of coleus, basil, or sedum works very well for Persian Shield too. I gathered a variety of internodal and nodal cuttings and placed them in baby jars filled with water. I didn’t use any rooting hormones since I don’t normally when using the water method for propagation. If you have willows available you may want to prune a stem off and put it in the water with your water cuttings to make them root faster but it isn’t necessary. (You might end up rooting an extra willow that way too!)
Change the water regularly (at least every other day) while the roots are forming. Once roots have formed, which for my cuttings took about 3 weeks, you will need to add water as it depletes or plant the Persian Shield cuttings into a pot. I’ll be planting these together with some coleus to make a colorful house plant combination.
Something I Noticed About the Roots
The internodal cuttings didn’t root along the stems which means that nodal cuttings are the way to go when taking cuttings of Persian Shield. Nodes are the growth points on the stem where you will normally see leaves growing. Roots grew from each node that was submerged under water and the remains of the stems that were on the cut ends died back to the rooted node. It’s not a big deal if internodal cuttings are taken since the cuttings still rooted but it might work better if the extra stem was removed before trying to root them.
Now if I could just get my greenhouse ready to house them for the winter!
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I wish you had posted this sooner. I think mine is toast now.
It will be so nice to be able to pull it out of the house and put into the garden next spring. P.S. I'm going to save an angel trumpet for you too. I promise! So far two names are in for them as they go fast.
Phillip,
Sorry! I only now was able to get to it. So many other things going on.
Tina,
An Angle trumpet sounds great! The Persian Shield will go right back into the garden, in many places too!
You can't have too much Persian Shield. I've rooted it in both water and soil. Water is easier.
It is perennial here, coming back from the roots in spring, but I like to have some inside in winter.
It blooms during short days of late winter, so you'll have a treat in the greenhouse. Not that the little blue blooms are anything much to look at, but they are a novelty.
This is just the kind of information I need. So useful to have all of the pictures of the stages along the way, too.
Many thanks.
Dave I had no idea adding willow can speed up a rooting process.
Cheers for this tip!
Rob
A most informative post Dave. Mine has bit the dust for the last 2 yrs. but come next yr. I'll have a way to increase my plant #'s. I really like this plant. It has the most interesting color.
Thanks for the info.
Nell Jean,
Some plants are just easier in water while other prefer the soil. Persian Shield is a goner/annual here in TN!
Karen,
I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for reading!
Rob,
You're welcome! Willow has strong natural auxins that are basically the same as rooting hormones.
Lola,
It's easy to do and just think of all those free plants you'll get!