The Garden that Keeps on Giving

I like to think I have somewhat of a green thumb. Throughout the years I’ve taken indoor plants near death and back to life so many times I’ve had to learn a few tricks to keep greens in my house. One of my favorite things is expanding my garden with the plants I already have. People that know what they’re doing call this propagating.

Lamium, pictured here is great as ground cover, and for sprucing up a window sill. This variety is known as Yellow Archangel, and is typically with the perennials and ground cover at your local nursery.

They are shown here giving life to a windowsill, but they go great as the centerpiece on a table or mixed in with peonies or other cut flowers. The key is to keep these clippings in a warm and bright location, but out of direct sunlight. In two to three weeks new roots will develop and you can re-plant your clippings back outside in your garden. Voila! Double your ground cover and repeat, cut and bring more inside. You can do this all summer.

I’m testing myrtle here on her ability to root. Two weeks in and no dice. We’ll keep you posted on this ground cover’s ability to duplicate.

These also root – buy some at your local nursery, plant, but also take some cuttings. They shoot roots in about a weeks’ time.

Tip: Let the roots grow to be at least an inch before putting in the ground. The Yellow Archangel is after 2 weeks. The Coleus is shown at 1 week.