beginner needs help!

I have moved into a townhouse in zone 7 that has existing azaleas,mums,sedum,loosestrife,lillies,and hostas. I would like to learn how to increase the numbers of all of them even if I end up giving them away. I have some books that I am reading but I'm such a novice that I feel I need lots of hand holding. For example: can I divide or take cuttings of anything now (Oct)? Should I replant them outside or keep inside till spring? Is spring really the better time and I should hold my horses?? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

This message was edited Oct 9, 2005 10:47 AM

I can tell you about azelas and mums. Both can be started from cuttings that I take when the moon is right, dip them in rooting hormone, plant in a 3-4" pot of soil, put the pot in a zip lock baggie or in an empty covered aquarium http://davesgarden.com/journal/d/i/5654/ placed in bright indirect sunlight and wait.

Best of luck!!

Spring is always the best time, your plants have all the summer to recover. When you divide plants near the winter, you increase the risk of injury by frost. Up here, everything should be done before mid august to get the plant to re-root and be ready for winter. Here is a nice link:
http://www.extension.umn.edu/projects/yardandgarden/ygbriefs/h140perennialdivide.html

There are many different types of sedum. These are best divided in early spring or late winter when they first appear. You could also wait until after bloom and divide then by cutting the stems by half, dig up, cut apart and replant.

Purple loosestrife: dividing the rootball, sowing the seeds and herbaceous stem cuttings are the ways to propagate them. The stem cuttings are taken in an early stage, planted in a soiless mix under plastic cover, they should take about 2-4 weeks to root, then you aclimatize them by opening the cover gradually. For this last method you might need a little experience.

Lilies : dividing bulbs (including offsets); you can also remove some of the outer scales and plant them just below the soil surface, each scale will give you a new bulb; it might take a few years to get them to bloom, the first year you will probably have only one leaf, the second year a small stem and a few leaves and so on. their is a third way to increase you bulbs: by collecting bulbils, you can force lilies to make them when you remove all the flower buds at once before they open. This will trigger the plant to form bulbils on the top part of the stem. This species makes bulbils by itself (black balls on the stems): http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/63842/

For hostas, the only way I know to get a plant identical to the mother plant is to divide the root ball when they begin to grow in the spring, keep at least 2 nodes for each cut to give them better chance to grow back.

I wish I had pictures to share!

Good luck
Zarcanat

Thanks, folks. Great tips!

pictures to help understand lilies: http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles1001/prop_lilies.asp

Sorry to be a killjoy but purple loosestrife is considered an invasive plant in many states. You might want to check out these sites before you spend a lot of time dividing your perennials.

http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/dnh/invinfo.htm

http://www.suffolk.va.us/citygovt/udo/apdx_c/appendix_c9_potentially_invasive_plant_list..pdf

Please don’t be offended if you already know this, I just wanted to make sure that you know.

Suzanne

Yes indeed, you must avoid growing it near water. What I do myself is that i cut flower twigs just before they end blooming so they do not have the chance to set seeds.

Thanks for the information, seems so obvious that I forget to mention it most of the time!

Very interesting and thanks for the link. Maybe I have misidentified what I have because it has yellow flowers, not purple. Does purple loosestrife have a cousin and is it invasive too? What I have is certainly hardy but it seems well behaved unlike the mint that I inherited. :)

This could be some kind of lysimachia http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/26781/

That's it!! Even down to having varigated leaves in the beginning but less so after three years. I am relieved to see it is not considered invasive so I won't have to do the dirty deed. Best way to propagate?

If your plant have variegated leaves, remove all the green stuff and keep only the variegated one since the plant is trying to revert to the green form which is more "healthy" since it can do more photosynthesis. Stem cuttings or divisions of the root ball are the only way to keep the variegation since it produces clones from the mother plant. Seeds will give green plants.

Good luck!

edgeman, A excellent book on propagation is Making More Plants by Ken Druse, it was pricey but is by far the best that I have read. it has individual plants listed with what method to use. you don't have to experiment with each plant before you know what will work.

Thank you all. Your comments are tremendously helpful and reassuring. I feel that I have enough lysimachia to do some experimenting with everyone's suggestions. And I will definitely get that book.