I see this hedge from my window! What a treat.
Abelia Edward Goucher is a beautiful semi evergreen bush and my neighbour has several mature plants as a hedge. It does lose its leaves in this northern latitude of 54° and looks really bare until spring.
Apparently this abelia is the result of some complex crossing between Abelia chinensis and other species by one Edward Goucher. It was created in 1911 at the Glenn Dale Plant Introduction Center and was named for its creator. The flowers are beautiful.
How gorgeous are these flowers!
Now, I do know that cuttings should be taken in autumn after flowering has finished. I had asked my neighbour last year if I could take some cuttings. She had agreed but I hadn’t done anything about it. Now I have a summerhouse to keep things warm, I am more interested in taking on plant projects. So, this year, being impatient (ie. not waiting until autumn!) and seeing these gorgeous bushes in flower made my fingers itch and they picked up the secateurs wilfully and my legs walked across the road. Honest! I just followed:-)
I took six vigorous soft stem cuttings. Trimming the leaves by half to reduce transpiration is a good trick and also cutting the stem on a slant and removing leaves to allow a good stem length will help the cut stem to root.
The preparation!
I had some potting mix, compost and sand and made a mixture, putting some into a couple of pots and because I had never used a plastic propagator I bought a year or so ago, I filled four of the little containers in the propagator. Once the containers were watered well, they were left to drain excess moisture away.
I dipped all the prepared cuttings in water and shook all excess water away. Then dipped them in the rooting powder (I must get some more as there is precious little left in the bottle) and tapped them against the side to remove any unnecessary powder and popped them into the holes I had made with my trusty chopstick.
Ready for its plastic bag.
The two pots were covered with plastic bags making wee greenhouses and the propagator lid went firmly on. Now to leave the cuttings for two to three weeks and hope they take root. The pots and propagator were transferred to the summerhouse where the warmth should aid and abet the rooting process.
First time propagator use.
Related articles
- Propagation unit (doubledigg.wordpress.com)
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