There are few things as satisfying in life than successfully taking cuttings from plants. Sowing seeds probably probably has the edge as that involves an element of magic; seeing that first shoot is always a moment of amazement to me. Cuttings feel slightly less magicky (that is a word, promise) but, very importantly, they do provide plants for free. With my plant-habits, plants for free are three of my favourite words.
You may remember around a month ago, I went to the Plant Fair at Felley Priory. Much fun was had and I bought a rather nice Impatiens sodenii. You may also recall a reported conversation about how easy it was to take cuttings from. So I chose a couple of nice shoots, snipped and popped them into a glass of water. I did the same from my Impatiens tinctoria, which I have had for a few years now and it seemed sensible to take some contingency cuttings from it so I do not lose it over the winter.
The roots started to appear within a couple of weeks, and after four weeks there were enough for me to plant them on.
Two of each, nice rooted.
Looking healthy and green, (sodenii)
and I pinched the tip out of this one to see if it would bush out nicely. (tinctoria).
I have been told via twitter conversations that rooting in water is 'not what proper gardeners do'. Now I have never made any claim to be a proper anything never mind a proper gardener, so this is hardly going to bother me. Also what is a 'proper gardener'? Is it not someone who enjoys gardening and sometimes gets things to root? I am not sure I want to be proper, give me improper any day! So here I stand, proud and tall (well actually a bit short really, but shush) waving my flag for the improper gardeners; long may our plants flourish.