As you might expect, we have a house full of cut flowers. We put various things in bottles, jars and vases and stick them on the kitchen windowsills, island and table. We often do this to “vase test” new plants to see how they do before we put them in arrangements and bouquets.
Rooting Plants in Water
Most cut flowers and greens wilt and die in the vase over varying periods of time, but some start putting out roots and live indefinitely in water. We can’t predict which plants will root and we’re always pleasantly surprised when one does. We currently have cuttings of mint, aucuba, basil and ageratum growing roots. When things root, we can plant them on our farm or share them with others. Perhaps someone can tell us why cuttings from some plants will readily do this and others won’t.
Adventitious Roots
The official term for roots that form on any plant part other than the underground roots is “Adventitious.” Knowing that a plant will root makes it easy and inexpensive to increase our farm’s production.
Rooting Hormone Powder
We know hormone powder could be used to increase the likelihood of a plant rooting, but we haven’t used it yet. If anyone has personal experience with using rooting hormones, we’d like to hear from you.
Our Roots
Three years ago, we sold our house in River Hill and moved to Blue Gables Farm, a few miles to the west. It wasn’t long before our new house and the land around it started to feel like home. We cleaned up some debris, updated the house and built a barn and garage. Making emotional and financial investments in our farm has rooted us here. We feel attached to the place – as if we’re connected by a deep tap root and the community is the soil holding us. Now we can’t imagine leaving.
