Tuesday, July 29, 2008

How to Propagate Hydrangeas, Part I: Taking Cuttings of Sister Theresa

I just planted a hedge of southern magnolias. To cover up the space between each, I thought I would plant more of my favorite hydrangea: Sister Theresa. I love this hydrangea for its large pure white mopheads.

The purity of the white is stunning: it has no of pink or cream. The flowers are quite large and the individual sepals are very big making the blooms more striking. In addition, Sister Theresa performs beautifully in full shade and part shade which makes her a good choice for interplanting in my hedge.
This week I took cuttings from my Sister Theresa of non-blooming wood. I want about seven new plants, so I took two stems. I cut the stems into three or four parts with very sharp pruners.
I trimmed the leaves by cutting half or more of the leaf surface away. The easiest way to do that is to fold the leave at its midrib and cut half off. After which, I cut the stem which will be rooting at an angle and dipped it into rooting hormone.
~

5 comments:

Terra said...

What a pretty flower and name, Sister Theresa. My friend told me today she will root a cutting of a hydrangea today, to give to me, and here you are describing how to do it.
Did you buy, or make, those little planting containers with the covers?
Terra
terragarden.blogspot.com

Katarina said...

Interesting - I hope you get your seven new hydrangeas.
The pots seem perfect for rooting - I haven't seen those around - do they have a name or are they common in New Jersey?
/Katarina

Julia Erickson said...

Terra/Katarina,

I bought the pots at gardentalk.com. They come four in a pack in two different sizes.

-Heirloom Gardener

TAILS of TANKENE said...

What a lovely white color! I also enjoy the Lace-Cap Hydrangeas. THey are wuite easy to root. Please visit my blog. Sparkles
designsnatural.blogspot.com

Fishtail Cottage said...

I am so curious if this worked? I am in need of one Sister Theresa Hydrangea after losing one over this past winter ~ ugh, i hate bare spots! lol
look forward to hearing from you!
xoxo, tracie

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