Saintpaulia
I was absolutely horrified this morning when three pieces of a trailing saintpaulia fell off after I moved it so it could be watered and go through a weekly check up. I have had this particular one for two years and never had any issues. I was about to toss the pieces, but, as I tend to rescue everything thought there must be some way of getting new plants from these bits. Upon investigating I found very little on propagating from pieces. I have done it from leaf cuttings with alot of success so decided I would treat the stems like leaves.
After cutting off lower level leaves to give me a bit of a trunk I cut the trunk on an angle, covered it with rooting hormone and placed the pieces into damp potting soil (mix of sand, perlite and potting mix)then covered them with the tops of juice bottles, creating a small greenhouse. If this works I will have three new already large trailing violets (elle gardener). Crossing my fingers.

High Temperature:
Actual: -9°C feels -12 cloudy Wind NNW16km/h P.O.P.40%
Average: -1°C
Record: 14°C in 2008

Low Temperature:
Actual: -12°C -20 cloudy Wind N20km/h P.O.P.19%
Average: -9°C
Record: -26°C in 1940

Coleus is an extremely easy plant to propagate and overwinter.

I have collected several cuttings from various coleus to overwinter at home.
Rooting in soil from cuttings is your best way of propagation.
When you choose your cuttings pick healthy stems, water your plant thoroughly a few hours before cutting, cut your stems at least 2" long using a sharp knife or other implement, plant your cutting in a good growing medium (vermiculite, perlite or sand), keep your growing medium moist, maintain humidity and do not fertilize. You should check after one week and transplanted when roots are two to three inches long.

Another easy,less time consuming, tried and true method is to take cuttings and root them in water. There is however a downside to this method. If rooting several stems roots can become entangled and be pulled apart. Try rooting each stem in a seperate container. When roots are two to three inches pot in soil.

Cuttings can be done at anytime. The best time however is early summer to have a good size going before fall. There will always be losses over winter so a good collection to start will get you through. Keep coleus in a protected sunny sight over the winter.

You can also bring your coleus in and treat them as houseplants until spring.

High Temperature:
Actual: 2°C Cloudy rain/wet snow 1.5mm Winds WNW27km/h P.O.P.40%
Average: 9°C
Record: 20°C in 1959

Low Temperature:
Actual: -5°C Mainly cloudy Winds NNW24km/h P.O.P.20%
Average: 1°C
Record: -9°C in 1951

I have decided to increase my Buxus stock. To do this I have read several sites and read a few books and decided the easiest and hopefully the most productive way to do this is as follows:
Prepare the pots or flats that you will be growing them in with a mix of sharp sand and vermiculite or 50% sharp sand and 50% peat moss.

Collect the cuttings, at least 4" to 6"long and place cuttings in water to prevent drying out.






Remove leaves from lower 1" of cutting. Dip 1" into rooting hormone and insert cuttings in medium.





Cover with plastic making sure cover does not touch cuttings and place in indirect light.
As roots develop gradually remove plastic to harden off.


If you have space you can also plant cuttings directly into a prepared bed and cover with plastic tunnel until roots develop.




Some other shrubs that you could grow from cuttings this way include:
Buddleia spp, Chaenomeles spp, Cytisus spp,Daphne spp, Euonymus, Kerria japonica, Lirodendron tulipifera, Magnolia spp, Viburnum and Wisteria.

High Temperature:
Actual: 17°C sun and cloud Wind W17km/h P.O.P.8%
Average: 27°C
Record: 36°C in 1946

Low Temperature:
Actual: 6°C partly cloudy Wind N8km/h P.O.P.40%
Average: 15°C
Record: 8°C in 1965

Propagation of a Hoya (Wax plant):

Use a cutting with one to three leaf nodes (small swelling that is the part of a plant stem from which one or more leaves emerge ).
Remove leaves from bottom node and dust the end with a rooting hormone powder or use the rooting gel (Home Depot, Rona, etc.)
Press into a good potting mix. Water thoroughly and let soil dry before watering again.
Generally, expect to wait at least 2 months before the cutting has sufficient roots to take care of itself and be moved into its own pot.
You can also take a portion of stem including one or more pairs of leaves and root in water or damp sand. These will root in approx 2 weeks.
Those who desire a larger plant may take cuttings of 1 m (3.2 ft) or more. These provide an almost instant vine once planted.
New growth appears first as leafless extensions up to 2 m (6.4 ft) long. Once fully elongated, new portions of the vine produce pairs of leaves along the stem. Such a growth habit permits hoyas growing in the wild to extend new growth long distances through the branches of trees before becoming weighed down by leaves.
Flowers can only be expected on plants four years and older. Clusters of attractive, star-shaped, pink-white blossoms are produced in summer. The delicate flowers appear to be made of porcelain, and are truly unique. In fact, those seeing hoya blossoms for the first time may need to touch them to determine that they are real.


Day -10 partly sunny Wind NNW25km/h P.O.P.0%
Night -18 partly cloudy Wind N28km/h P.O.P.0%

Propagating your own Saintpaulia
Making new plants from leaf cuttings is a simple process. Before you begin make sure you have the following ready to go....
an exacto knife, pot, soil mixed with vermiculite, rooting hormone, plastic bag or some other form of clear cover.
Mix your potting soil with vermiculite 50/50. Fill your pots or containers leaving some space before the rim. Now pick a few strong, firm leaves from the parent plant. Cut the leaf in half (this isn't necessary, but, it will stop the leaf from growing) and make a 45 degree angle cut on the stem(petiole).



Dip stem into the rooting hormone. Using a pencil make a hole in the soil and place stem into it up to the bottom of the leaf blade. Make sure the soil is packed around stem. Soil should be moist but not soggy (soggy could cause leaf rot). Place your cuttings in a bright location with moderate temps, no direct sun or very warm location, this may cause cuttings to burn or rot.



Put a cover to create a greenhouse type atmosphere, plastic bag/ top of a 2 litre bottle / saran wrap with sticks to hold it up.



It will take at least 12 weeks for you to have one or more plantlets developing from the cut end of the leaf's petiole. If you allow these to grow for at least 4 months the plantlets will be larger and easier to handle when transplanting.
Divide plantlets, and pot them as soon as you can safely do so. Do not seperate variegated types from the parent leaf while they are still all white. (They require the green chlorophyl to nurture them)










Did you know.....
Touching the soft fuzzy leaves of an African Violet can be hard to resist, but, studies have shown that doing just that reduces plant size and quality, especially if used lotion on your hands.

Day -4 partly cloudy Wind S14km/h P.O.P.0%
Night -13 showers of rain/snow 2.80cm Wind SW16km/h P.O.P.50%