Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Intervention needed, please

I have an addiction.  No, I am not a crack addict or a cutter.  Take that back, I admit it...I am.... a cutter.  I prune the hydrangeas or other plants and cannot force myself to discard those cuttings into the compost or the city's  vegetation collection.  Instead, I have to trim the cutting.  I trim it to two leaves, dip it into water and then dip it into a rooting solution (found at Lowes for $4.95).   


I actually plant the cuttings in my containers with waning impatients (which are being pulled out one by one to support my habit.)  Water.  Make sure there is some shade/filtered sun available for shade loving plants.  Assure that all black spot leaves are pulled off and discarded in a separate waste bag.


Once it's rooted nicely (have patience--it's not an immediate high...it takes a couple of months to get a great root system going), transplant it in a place (if you can find one) to allow it to grow.  This cutting is a blue lace cap hydrangea. 


Plant, tap it down and then water.  I'll add compost this weekend. Unfortunately, I'll have to wait until next year to see the fruits of my labor.

I try to fight it but the habit has overtaken me.  In the meantime, I'm running out of space for cuttings to be rooted.  Wait....instead of an addict, I may just be .....a hoarder.

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