How to Propagate Hardy Perennials from bare cuttings?
To raise new plants from subjects that are difficult or impossible to divide, shoots can be taken off as bare cuttings in spring and summer, and put in to make an entirely new root system. They do this best in a closed humid atmosphere under glass; setting them in pots or boxes in a closed cold frame is ideal. A cloche can be used if the ends are closed up, or a single cutting can be rooted under a jam jar in the open ground.
Where cuttings are particularly plentiful, as, for instance, with pinks, it is even worth trying some in the open ground without covering. Choose a moist, shady spot, and set them in an inch or so deep in a V- trench lined with a half-peat, half-sand mixture. A daily overhead spray is needed to keep them fresh. In general, shoots 2 - 3 in long should be selected, either pulled from the parent plant at that size, or trimmed to it with a sharp knife after taking off the bottom leaves. Dipping the Ris in hormone rooting powder it Iiquid will assist rooting, but ...le, moisture, a light mixture o set them in, and patience are essentials.
How to Propagate Hardy Perennials from root cuttings
Some hardy perennials, among them oriental poppies and Anchusa have thick fleshy roots with dormant growth hr ids on them. These types can be propagated from root cuttings, a useful method when a new plants are required.
Take a piece of root in the early 'filing, cut into inch-long pieces, and set the thickest, end up, in a box of seed compost with the top just level with the surface. Cover this with a half-inch layer of half inch layer of coarse sand, and keep moist and
They soon start to grow, and when they have made a few leaves, they can be potted separately, and grown on until big enough to plant.
Bearded irises are one of the few Hardy perennials best propagated in midsummer. When a clump of their tuber-like rhizomes has become overcrowded, they should be dug up when flowering has finished in July, and the outside ends cut off with a sharp knife to give half-rhizomes with leaves and some roots. These are then replanted at the same depth as previously and the worn-out centre rhizomes thrown away. Plants propagated either by division or cuttings are said to have been raised vegetatively. They will always be exactly the same as the parent plant they came from, and in some cases, this is the only way to be absolutely sure of true reproduction.
Lupins and delphiniums, for instance, can easily be raised from seeds, but the seedlings are likely to be variable, different from the parents in height, habit or color. It is only by vegetative propagation that new plants of these and many other subjects can be produced, exactly the same in every respect.
