Cuttings

Last week, I mentioned I will be taking measures to overwinter a variety of plants this year.  About three weeks ago, I started taking cuttings and rooting plants.  I also potted up some annuals, some for the second year.  My family room is starting to get crowded.  Not only are these plants in, but a lot of the houseplants that spent the summer on the back deck are back inside as well.  And of course, I don't have pictures (yet). 

I thought I would share a quick list of what I've brought in so far:

Overwintering

Dracaena, large - second year (2)

Dracaena, small - first year (2)

Cordyline - second year (1)

Geranium - first year (2)

Cuttings

Sweet potato vine - 'Marguerite' (3)

Sweet potato vine - 'Tricolor' (3)

Geranium (2)

I also have a few things left on my to-do list:

Overwintering

Dracaena, large - second year (1)

Mandalay Begonia - first year (2)

Cuttings

Mandalay Begonia 'Bonfire' (2)

Sweet potato vine - 'Blackie' (3)

Coleus (3 varieties, 2 cuttings each)

Sedum (2 varieties, 2 cuttings each) 



Mandalay Begonia 'Bonfire'



This is my first year taking cuttings for potato vines -- they produced roots almost instantly!  I also dug up quite a few tubers.  From what I've read, these are pretty difficult to grow new potato vines from, since they have a tendancy to either rot or dry out.  I left my tubers on the table out back, so they've been rained on quite a bit...I'm willing to bet they'll rot, but I'm going to bring them in anyway and try to sprout them in the spring.

This is my second year overwintering the dracaena and the cordyline (usually sold as "spikes" at the big box stores).  I use these in the middle of big pots and surround them with annuals and potato vine.  This will probably be the last year I overwinter my three biggest dracaena.  As they gotten bigger and as the lower leaves (?) have fallen off, they're looking less like spikes and more like exotic palm trees.  The cordyline is 'Red Star' and I'm working towards shaping it as a specimen.  This year it was in a pot by itself, but I might add annuals again next year.

I've overwintered geraniums before, but they got a little leggy, so I decided to try cuttings as well.  After two weeks of sitting in water and not doing anything, the cuttings finally developed some roots.  Since this is the first year I've had the Mandalay Begonias, I'm hedging my bets and taking cuttings AND overwintering them.  I really enjoyed them in the hanging baskets this year and they attracted quite a few hummingbirds to our deck.

What plants do you take cuttings from?  Do you ever overwinter annuals?