Survivor Pink geraniums, Peppermint Double Impatiens, flats of flowers and Boston ferns of green are appearing in front of grocery stores. Spring flowers are my kryptonite (science fiction element that made Superman weak). They cause me to become as helpless as dandelion seeds being blown by a spring breeze. Then, reality checks in to calm the flower frenzy. To have food on the table one cannot spend $100 of the grocery money on flowers. My compromise? A hanging basket of roses, such as double Peppermint Impatiens.
- You can grow plants from your garden or buy one and grow many:
- Use sharp garden pruners to cut off new but mature growth shoots at 30 degree angles from the parent plant. An added bonus is that the pruning results in more branches to produce more blooms.
- Strip at least half of leaves from the lower part of the cutting and remove the bottom two leaves and pinch off the top pair of leaves. Roots grow from leaf nodes.
- Remove flower buds as they will compete for the nutrition that the plant needs to grow new roots.
- Root the cuttings in a weak mixture of water and fertilizer to provide nutrients. Impatient cuttings actually produce roots better in water than in soil.
- Place the cuttings under a single fluorescent light or indirect sunlight.
Rooting cuttings is a fun science experiment to involve young children, and you can see when the plant is ready to transplant. Other easy to root plants include coleus, mums, althea, hydrangea, gardenia and herbs like basil, mint, rosemary and lavender. Grow many and give rooted cuttings to family and friends, and they will think of you every time they see them. It brings great joy to cast my eyes upon two large crepe myrtles from Aunt Vera’s yard that now line my driveway. Beside my shed an almond shrub greets spring with soft pink blooms like the ones that long ago appeared in my great grandmother’s garden.
Ruby will be looking for her Growing Little Green Thumbs readers Saturday, May 17 and Sunday, May 18 at the 2014 SC Book Festival. Appalachian Mornings, her third book for middle school and up, Growing Little Green Thumbs, 2013 SC Book Festival selection, and Earth Turns on Its Axis, and… will be for sale. Sharing Booth 213 with Ruby is Ollie T. Moye, author of North to Prosperity, a murder mystery set on Lake Murray. The 2014 SC Book Festival will be held in the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center at 1101 Lincoln Street, Columbia, SC.
