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Home » Complete Guides » Page 2

Growing Hydrangeas from Cuttings in the Fall or Winter.

Updated : November 8, 2016

97 Comments

Hydrangea cuttings stuck close together.

I am writing this article on election day, November 8th, 2016. Don’t forget to vote for the Donkeys, they are Running for President! The plants right in front of Cathy are Annabelle Hydrangea.  We stuck those cuttings last November, potted them up in late June and I took this photo in October.  They bloomed like… Click here to read more…

Growing Roses from Cuttings in the Fall.

Updated : November 6, 2020

98 Comments

Wrap the rose cuttings in several layers of wet newspaper until you have a "Rose Cutting Burrito".

Basically there are two ways, two different times of the year to grow roses from cuttings.  Softwood Cutting Season begins in June and continues through the summer.  By fall the wood hardens off and you have to do things a bit differently, You have to Apply Hardwood Cutting Strategies. Let’s keep things simple and put… Click here to read more…

Pulling Rooted Cuttings from the Sand Propagation Bed.

Published : March 24, 2016

56 Comments

Rooted cuttings, trimmed and bundled.

“Normal” rooted cutting harvesting. Normally you stick Softwood Cuttings in June and they are rooted in four to eight weeks.  If you remove them from the bed right away you can do so without doing any root damage, so it’s okay to remove them during the growing season.   You can simply dip your hand in… Click here to read more…

Easy Way to Sharpen Pruning Shears.

Updated : April 20, 2021

80 Comments

Mike McGroarty's Favorite Pruning Shears.

Before we dig into the nitty-gritty of this article, let’s have a chat about which pruning shears are best.  The answer to that is simple, it really depends on what you like.  I will give you my opinion and why, but others will argue telling that they like another brand for a lot of different… Click here to read more…

Proper Nursery Plant Tagging.

Updated : April 4, 2018

31 Comments

Hand written aluminum plant tags.

Even Fergus knows how important proper plant tagging is.  Lately we’ve been sticking thousands of hardwood cuttings right along the Donkey Fence and let’s face it, right now they all look like sticks so making sure they are properly tagged is extremely important. There are a couple of things you need to know about tagging… Click here to read more…

Growing, Selling and Propagating Variegated Liriope Liners and Plugs.

Published : November 8, 2015

22 Comments

Variegated Liriope

Liriope muscari ‘Variegata’, also known as Variegated Lilly Turf. Variegated Liriope is an awesome landscape and I tell you why.  It’s colorful, it flowers, it’s attractive and it’s super easy to care.  I’ve used this plant in landscape plants for years and 20 years later it still looks good.  It never gets too big, it… Click here to read more…

Who will Buy the Plants that I Grow?

Published : October 28, 2015

22 Comments

Firewitch Dianthus

That’s a fair question and I am going to attempt to address it as thoroughly as I know how.  There are so many options, places and ways to sell plants both large and small it’s a big mind boggling, but let’s give it a whirl.  This is the list that comes to  mind right off… Click here to read more…

How to Grow Japanese Red Maple Trees from Seed

Updated : September 27, 2019

76 Comments

Sowing Japanese maple seeds in a black nursery container.

Japanese Red Maple Trees are actually quite easy to grow from seed.  In this article, I will give you step by step instructions for doing so. A Step by Step Guide to Growing Japanese Maples from Seed. But first, we need to chat about what kind of Japanese maple can and cannot be grown from… Click here to read more…

Annabelle Hydrangea Propagation, How to Root Cuttings

Updated : April 18, 2020

29 Comments

Annabelle Hydrangea, hardwood cutting.

  Looking for a plant to grow and sell that is crazy popular, super easy to grow and sells like hotcakes?  Annabelle Hydrangea is that plant.  People love Annabelle Hydrangea because of the great big snowball type blooms. The Hydrangea that never fails to bloom. Annabelle never fails to bloom because unlike many other hydrangeas,… Click here to read more…

How to Build a Plant Propagation Bed for Rooting Cuttings.

Updated : October 23, 2020

105 Comments

Tens of Thousands of Rooted Cuttings Waiting to be Potted.

Building a Bed for Rooting Cuttings is really easy and it’s something that you shouldn’t over think.  Many people ask about putting things like hardware cloth (screen) or Weed Barrier Fabric in the bottom of the bed to keep critters out  and I always tell them not to. The roots of the cuttings will get… Click here to read more…

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Rooted cuttings of variegated weigela in bunches to harden off.

Over Wintering Rooted Cuttings.

Posted On January 8, 2023 By Mike

Mike's Big Perennial Bed.

Mike’s Big Perennial Garden

Posted On January 8, 2023 By Mike

A Profound Thank You from Mike.

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Finnegan keeping the sun off his head.

An Old Guy, Two Donkeys, a Puppy and a Hammock. What could possibly go wrong?

Posted On July 17, 2022 By Mike

This upside down donkey is a hoot!

An Upside Down Donkey and Cute Puppy.

Posted On July 14, 2022 By Mike

'Rockin Raspberry' Bee Balm.

‘Rockin Raspberry’ Bee Balm.

Posted On June 26, 2022 By Mike

'Bubblegum Blast' Bee Balm.

‘Bubblegum Blast’ Bee Balm

Posted On June 26, 2022 By Mike

Blue Angel Hosta.

‘Blue Angel’ Hosta.

Posted On June 25, 2022 By Mike

Big Daddy Hosta.

‘Big Daddy’ Hosta

Posted On June 25, 2022 By Mike

'Humpback Whale' hosta.

‘Humpback Whale’ Hosta.

Posted On June 25, 2022 By Mike

Complete Guides

Growing, Rooting and Propagating Dappled Willow in Tree Form from Cuttings.

Growing Seeds, Winter Sowing, in Milk Jugs and Kitty Litter Jugs.

The Correct Way to Pot Rooted Cuttings, Nursery Stock Liners and other Plants.

Training Arborvitae and other Conical Evergreens to Grow with a Single Leader.

How to Propagate, Root Cuttings, of Dwarf Alberta Spruce.

Recent Posts

Blue Angel Hosta.

‘Blue Angel’ Hosta.

'Blue Angel'hosta is by far one of my favorite blue hostas. A big hosta like this in a perennial bed covers a lot of area and that keeps a ton of weeds at bay! These giant heart shaped leaves are very slug resistant. We have this plant in full sun. With … Read Full Article

Big Daddy Hosta.

‘Big Daddy’ Hosta

'Big Daddy' hosta is one of my favorite big hostas, mostly because it's big, it's blue and it has very interested leaves that are a bit dimpled. Big Daddy hosta gets about 24" tall and 36" wide. It's hardy in zones 3 through 9, the flowers are blends of … Read Full Article

'Humpback Whale' hosta.

‘Humpback Whale’ Hosta.

We sold out of 'Humpback Whale' hosta pretty early this year. Humpback Whale is pretty impressive hosta and this one really hasn't matured yet because they can get three feet high and 7 feet wide. I've also seen photos of them that show them to be a lot … Read Full Article

Ice Plant, delosperma

Ice Plant, delosperma

How pretty is that? And it's a ground hugging perennial that comes back year and year. These plants were new to our nursery last year so Pam and I planted three of them in our landscape at home. Not only did they do really well last year but they wintered … Read Full Article

Electric Red Dianthus

‘Electric Red’ Dianthus

I've been working on my perennial bed at the nursery and this Electric Red Dianthus caught my eye and was screaming "make my picture". So I did! Dianthus in general are great perennials for your garden. They are super winter hardy even here in cold … Read Full Article

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