Is there a such thing as overspending at nursery? Not in my life so far, but I'll gladly add it into my bucket lists.
Visiting nursery is definitely of the things that inspire and animate me in the middle of monotonous and repetitious days, although I can't pick out plants to take home as much as I would love to. Sometimes, I get honestly envious when I see people on YouTube bringing in large quantities of very pretty and high-quality store bought flower pots and transforming the shabby front of a house into an amazing flower bed. But unfortunately, my level of FLEX at garden center is just to take some pots from long lists of wanted plants only couple of times a year at best. Just imagine a little girl in a cake shop.... She needs to do her best to control her willingness to take them all home. hmm..what a happy yet sad scene!
What are the odd of cutting?
So I had to resort to another way to fill my garden: propagation with what I've got already in my garden. Mainly through cuttings, which can be a highly effective way to achieve both mental satisfaction and visual enrichment at minimal cost, if you have the patience to wait long and strength to spray them frequently and constantly, it's definitely worth a try, I would say.
Separation and division method.
However, other than cuttings, another successful way of multiplying plants is by separating and dividing roots from the parent plants. Of course, not all the plants can be divided but I think even bulbous plants such as daffodils and cymbidium can be considered to belong to that type propagation. The examples that I increased the number of plants through division the most were Sasha daisy, Sansevieria(mother-in-law's tongue), Monstera, Peace Lily(Spathiphyllum), Chrysanthemums, and Benjamin. I'm a bit surprised to realise there are a lot more than I thought. As sasha daisies have plenty of fine roots growing all the way around lower part of stems, similar to air roots, even if you happen to break them near the roots, if you just cover them well with soil, they are still very likely to make it and grow vividly again.
Genius displays itself even in childhood, so do the plants from its cotyledons?
It might be true. Whether it's cutting or dividing, there are some that are resilient by nature. Even within the same plant type, there are those that are strong and fertile, and there are those that do not grow fast, get sick easily, and ultimately die no matter how good soil and fertilizer you provide. Second-generation plants propagated from strong ones are just as robust as their parents. Same goes to the weak ones. It's so interesting. It seems that plants also have specific type of DNA. I brought in red and white begonias together, but the white begonias can hardly withstand rain, and their stems become soft inside easily and on the whole they seems to struggle to thrive.
If you are lucky enough to find and bring home some resilient plants from the flower garden, chances become very high that you can spread them in your garden at a minimum cost. I think Begonia Semperflorens (aka wax begonia) is one of them. As its name suggests it can flower all the year around at a mild climate. How can that delicate and weak-looking flower clusters have such a bright and vivid red color, and how come the sparkling green leaves that go fabulously well with that fluorescent red color feel so refreshing?
However, the reason I am deeply fascinated by them is not just because of their adorable and glittering appearance. Their vitality is truly amazing. They do very well both with cutting and dividing. As I mentioned in a previous post, I use scissors very often in the garden to cut down the stems to reshape and ensure ventilation or shorten overgrown plants. I often put the cut-out stems into my favorite "cutting incubator bed" without any nutrient under a tree or simply stick them into the soil nearby in a shady area, without expecting too much and forget about them for long, without realizing this will turn into such a pleasant surprise in the distant future.
As the season when splendid flowers busy showing off their beauty is coming to an end, the temperature drops sharply and drizzling rain comes and goes continuously. When all the flowers have quickly left the garden, It's time for petite begonias which have been ardently growing from cuttings underneath them here and there to make a debut and surprise me!
They are proudly raising their heads among geranium leaves, which have turned yellow and tattered due to the non-stop rain. When all the colors has gone, making my garden look dull only with green colour, how nice to see these short fellas with such a energizing color. It's literally healing to watch them bloom like nothing's wrong even in this weather.
When growing plants, there are times when you appreciate that plants do provide comfort and strength to us. So I thought..... I wish there were more begonias... so I decided to take a very shortcut.
Propagating Begonias by dividing
As the rain stops, the sun comes out shortly. I rushed to the garden with a hand shovel and dug up the begonias. If you gently shake off the soil and carefully separate the tangled roots, they can be divided.
From this one plant, we get two independent entities. These guys are pretty sturdy. It has a lot of leaves as well.
This one has smaller volume but produced 4 individuals begonias. The family of 4 has had a packed time living together. I will prepare you a separate home and make you independent, so you can prosper.
I also had white begonias, so I scooped them up, but I got too greedy and ended up getting them hurt. Why do I always fail to control my strength? Queen of clumsiness. I sprinkled cinnamon powder on the injured surface. Sorry...if you heal well and grow up strong, I'll restore your honor and recognize you as having strong DNA like the red ones. (Good luck)
Actually, at this time of year, chrysanthemums are supposed to be in full bloom all over the house, but I can't see a single flower... I wonder what happened to them... That's why I'm even more thankful for the begonias that fill the space. In a little while, the days will become shorter and colder, and Kalanchoes' flower will come and join them soon.
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