Propagation Of Rose Cuttings

My first attempt at propagation (first attenpt at this for anything) is going well! I got a basic rundown of how to do it from a GardenWeb friend who is a Master Gardener. She's awesome (Thanks, April...lol)! Basically, these are the steps she told me:

*Get a 2-liter soda bottle, wash it out & cut it in half
*Put some soil in the bottom half of the cut bottle
*Dip rose cuttings in rooting hormone
*Place cuttings into soil, putting at least 2-3 leaf nodes below soil level
*Water heavily
*Place top of bottle back on (around) bottom half, leaving the cap on, forming a terrarium of sorts
*Put bottle in somewhat sunny location, but not too sunny so cuttings don't get cooked in bottle
*Once rose cuttings start to show a bit of new growth, take top of bottle off for a few hours a day
*Once a good bit of new growth has formed & roots are visible on edges of bottle quite well, etc., transplant & you have new rose plants!

Well, I followed these directions with my 3 Zephrine Droughin Climbing Rose cuttings I got from another good friend on GardenWeb (Thanks, Connie!). They have been "propagating" for almost 3 weeks now. About a week after I started them I saw roots coming off all 3 cuttings. I was so excited (as this is my first real attempt at propagating anything)! =) Now, they have started to get a little bit of new growth & are almost close to the stage where they need to be transplanted. I bet, by the end of November, I will have transplanted all 3 to their own homes. I just think it's awesome to be able to cut a 6 or so inch piece off a rose plant and using what it seems like is so easy of a process, make it into a totally new plant! Below are a few pictures of the process, in chronological order. The first one is from a day or two after I started them. The second is from about 8-9 days ago & the third is from Wednesday morning of this week. I know it's not too easy to see the plants through the bottle, but you can get a general idea of their size (somewhat...lol). Let me know what y'all think. =)

Fall Middle Tennessee Plant Swap Garden Additions

This past Saturday, the 17th, I attended the Fall MTPS (Middle Tennessee Plant Swap) with about 30 other great kind awesome people! I brought home some beautiful plants. Some of which will make up my new flower garden. I also got several neat herbs which will be my indoor Winter herb garden & more. Below are some pictures of them along with identification. Thanks again to all the great friends from the MTPS who gave me(or traded for) these new additions! =)

UPDATE: All unidentified plants have been named. =) Thanks to some of my gardening friends on here & on GardenWeb for help with them.




OUTDOOR WINTER GARDEN


Aloe:



Bee Balm:



Cereus Tetragonus 'Fairy castle' Cactus:



Caryopteris:



Grape Hyacinth: (Thanks a ton, Evelyn! There must have been over 30 wee bulbs in the lot you gave me!)



Kerria Japonica (Japanese Rose):



Close-up of Kerria Japonica:



Dragon's Blood & Blue Spruce Sedums: (Thanks Jenn F. & Dave for the identification help!)



Cereus Peruvianus Monstrose Cactus:



Strawberry Bed: (Thanks Dave, these should do well. Half of them have already started straightening up!)



Kalanchoe Daigremontiana (aka Bryophyllum Daigremontianum...also known as Alligator Plant & Mother Of A 1000): (I love this plant! It drops wee lil babies into the soil)



UT Orange Canna's: (Jeff: If you see this, you're proud of me now, right? ;) )





INDOOR WINTER GARDEN


Old & New African Violets, Lemon Lime Basil & My Target $1 Plant Tests:



Herbs (Parsley, Greek Oregano, Cilantro, some type of Purple Basil, some other herb I forgot the name of (in bottom left corner), and my new Red Dragon Flower cuttings. Thanks, Wanda!):



Indian Mint (Deffinitely one of my new favorites!):



Wandering Jew:

Fall Seeds & Plants: Preparation For Spring

Some of you may be aware that tomorrow I will be attending the Fall Middle Tennessee Plant Swap. I already have a handful of pre-arranged trades & i'm sure will be coming home with some other items I didn't expect, also. So, i'll have some new things to grow next year from seeds & plants I get there, plus from seeds i'm getting off the GardenWeb Seed Exchange forum. I am very excited about some of them. See below for my already building list of new items for next year, which include my new flower garden section! =)

New additions:

*Dwarf Pomegranate Tree seeds (will be a great addition to my fruit garden!)
*Kerria Japonica plant
*Zephrine Droughin Climbing Rose plant
*Bee Balm plant
*A few more Red Dragon Flower starts, as my current plant seems on its way out due to the weather :-\
*Melrose pepper seeds
*Wisconsin 55 tomato seeds
*Sungold tomato seeds
*Canterbury bell flower seeds
*Aloe