The Shift to Thrift.

Strike it Thrifty.

Not everything one does in life is a success, and that is OK. We actually learn more from our failures than our successes and since life is a journey of learning, and hopefully gaining wisdom, we should be thankful that opportunities for lessons and personal growth come our way. It is the same in the garden! Not everything I do is a success and I am always learning.

Today I want to talk about how to “strike” plants or grow plants from cuttings. I call this striking it thrifty as the cuttings are free, usually given from a friend’s garden and I strike it lucky enough to consider this a very worthwhile and thrifty way to garden. Not only is this a blessing to me but once established cuttings can be given to others.

So here are some of my plants grown from cuttings.

My rosemary bush was once a little stick of rosemary given by a friend.
  • This is my bathroom plant. It thrives in water and lots of plants will grow in water. I remember as a child we had an old brown teapot growing a water plant on top of the fridge. It was a My Ladies Slipper and I have one under my tank stand, anyway sometimes a green frog made its home in the teapot. I love green frogs!
  • We found this one at home the other day. so excited to see him. It’s a good sign.
Plants can also be rooted in water and then ready to plant in the garden.
Another example of a lovely plant from a small start.
Mother in Laws Tongue; one tiny rhizome from my older sister’s garden and slowly but surely it is growing.
All these succulents have been grown from a cutting,
Waiting for this one to flower. A quite recent cutting.
All my geraniums are grown from simply sticking cuttings in the ground. Not only are mine grown this way, when I cut back the plants, I put the cuttings in a tub at the front fence for passers by to take for their gardens. In fact 90% of this garden is grown from cuttings from friends. I call it my friendship garden.

And of course, there is much more that can be said. I have a dear friend who very successfully strikes roses from cuttings. I always plant the bottom part of shallots when I buy them and regrow new ones and if you look at Facebook or Google you will find lots of ideas on how to grow from cuttings. I hope I have written enough in the last couple of blogs to convince you to scatter some seeds and stick some cuttings in the ground. Experiment,there is nothing to lose! You too can strike it thrifty!

2 replies to “The Shift to Thrift.”

  1. Thanks Estelle. I recently planted cuttings from a red flowering frangipani into pots with the thought of getting them established, then giving them away. If you are interested let me know. I have been trimming back geraniums too and planting sticks in the ground at desired spots. You have inspired me to take some ribbon plant runners and cultivate them in our ‘secret garden ‘ too.
    Thanks again.

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