Blog

Azaleas are easy to grow from cuttings if you get the timing and the mix right. Here is how I root new shrubs from a plant I already love, step by step.

A single jade leaf can become a whole new plant if you’re patient. Here’s when to take it, how to callus it, and how to keep it from rotting.

ZZ plants will grow from a single leaf if you are patient. Here is how to take the cutting, why soil beats water, and how long before you see a new shoot.

Those little spiderettes dangling from your spider plant are free plants. Here’s how I root them in water or soil — and avoid the rot that kills most.

Grow vibrant bougainvillea for free from cuttings. When to take them, the bark-scrape trick that boosts rooting, warmth and moisture tips, and how long they take to root.

Star jasmine roots surprisingly well from summer cuttings. Here’s when to take them, how to avoid rot, and what to expect week by week.

Turn one lavender plant into many, for free. A tested, step-by-step guide to taking and rooting lavender cuttings — when to do it, the gritty mix that prevents rot, and how long they take to root.

Imagine multiplying those heart-shaped chartreuse leaves, conjuring more “Marguerite” and “Sweet Caroline” from simple snips. It’s alchemic! The blade gleams, severing a piece of summer, a tendril brimming with potential. You gently undress the lower stem, anticipating the shy emergence of roots. Submerged in water, a nervous vigil begins. Will they unfurl, these nascent threads of life? Days lengthen, then, a miracle: ghostly white tendrils reach, grasping for existence. Triumph! The promise of vibrant foliage dances in the winter sun.

The promise sleeps within the tiny, crinkled geranium seed – a dormant riot of color yearning for release. Each seed holds the potential for sun-drenched petals and the earthy fragrance that whispers of summer afternoons. Patience becomes a virtue, a nurturing hand guiding fragile life from darkness to light. Weeks crawl by, a suspenseful countdown to the first tentative sprout – a thread of green defying the soil’s dark embrace. These tiny seedlings, miniature versions of their future selves, embody hope’s tenacious climb toward a summer symphony of crimson, pink, and white.