We show you how to save money by taking cuttings of your perennial bedding plants.
How to propagate perennial bedding plants
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Take softwood cuttings from healthy, non-flowering shoots of penstemons, fuchsias, pelargoniums, osteospermums or marguerites in mid to late summer. Use sharp, clean snips and put the shoots in a bag to keep them from drying out.
Prepare and insert the cuttings. Trim them to about 7.5–10 cm just below a leaf joint. Remove the lower leaves and dip the ends in rooting hormone if using it. Insert them up to the lowest remaining leaves in pots of moist, gritty cutting compost. Firm gently, water with a fine rose and label.
Keep them warm while they root. Put them out of direct sun. Use a propagator or a supported clear bag where appropriate, but leave pelargonium cuttings uncovered. Once they have rooted, pot them up individually and grow them on.
