Taking a stab at propagation

Decided to get a head start on some propagation last week, after taking a look at my plant propagation textbook for one of my horticulture classes. Took a cutting from my Endless Summer hydrangea, about 4" long, removed the lower leaves, dipped the base in Rootone, and stuck it in a pot of quick-draining, lightweight potting mix, and then covered the pot with a clear plastic sheet held up by coat hangers taped to the side. Have been keeping it misted all week, and have it in the shade out of direct sunlight. So far so good, only very slight browning of part of the edges of the two leaves I left on the stem. My second propagation project is some Rose of Sharon (hibiscus syriacus) seeds I collected and put in another pot of lightweight potting soil mix. Set it out in the sun and keep it pretty moist. The few Rose of Sharon shrubs I have are have been growing with little help even in this intense heat and lack of rainfall, so I have no doubts that the seeds will germinate shortly and start growing. The question will be how to overwinter it, as its already started to get cool. Found some neat greenhouse kits on Home Depot's website and am considering getting one, to keep cuttings and seeds going through the fall and winter for next spring.

Will post again later about the cutting and the seeds when I see some more progress.

Nothing new, looking ahead

Not much new to report from the garden...just doing a lot of deadheading right now, seeing if I can get some more blooming before the weather turns cool and the plants go into dormancy. The hibiscus syriacus I got from my neighbor seem to have gotten adjusted and are looking good. I can see new leaves poking out, and they aren't wilting as much as they did two weeks ago. Note to self: patience pays off.

Other than that, just looking at what I'd like to replace, and considering taking some cuttings and doing some divisions to overwinter for next spring. Some plants, I've discovered, need to be divided to maintain their vigor and stimulate the roots. Such is the case with our rudbeckia (Black eyed susans) which are blooming but are only half as tall as they were last year, and are looking rather sad. Same story with the shasta daisies. Some plants that have just barely been hanging in there I'll probably dig up next spring and put in pots, give to some friends and replace with more drought and heat tolerant shrubs. Had a thought earlier today about perhaps a dwarf crape myrtle with some knockout roses around it. Anyway, this summer has just whizzed by. I never feel like I have enough time to enjoy what I planted back in the spring, always want a few more months to take it all in. But that's the way it goes. Gives me something to look forward to at any rate.

Latest undertakings

A few pics from my latest undertakings out in the garden. The first one is of a paulownia tree (also called Empress tree) that is very weedy in the south. The neighbors behind us had one growing amongst a forest of Rose of Sharon saplings. They invited me over to dig up and take home some of their rose of sharons. This is not the best time of year to be planting or moving flowers and shrubs, but I couldn't pass up the offer for more of my favorite shrub. I bought some tree and shrub soil, wet the ground with the soaker hose, and planted three of them at the end of the driveway. Watered them good and cut back about a foot or two from each one, to help them focus more on root development. Lastly, I sprinkled some Espoma Triple Phospate around the base for additional help with rooting. Today, the leaves were still a little droopy, but I don't worry too much. Rose of Sharons are traditionally very hardy and tough and adapt to whatever soil they're planted in. The other two I put in next to the first one I bought, back in the corner of our garden. The original one I brought home finally bloomed again!


Also, I'm beginning to pick up some landscaping work of my own, apart from the work I do for Francis Services. A friend from church has a yard that slopes down into a drainage ditch, and the erosion is pretty bad. He wants to put up a fence, and put in a bed with crape myrtles and slow shrubs and flowers around those. A neighbor across the street has a patch at the end of her driveway that flows around to her front porch that has a few seedums, boxwoods, and a number of other small plants, and a lot of bare space that could be filled in nicely. So I drew up a plan for her and will be working on that as well. All in all, a very fulfilling and productive summer so far. Good thing about living in the South is that it really doesn't start getting cold until mid-October, so there's still lots of time to enjoy those blooms!