PENTSTEMONS 



Propagation from Cuttings 



may therefore be our starting-point, and the best time for 

 propagating is the month of August, although cuttings 

 may be taken throughout September with good prospect 

 of success. 



The stock plants from which cuttings are desired 

 should have their flower-spikes cut immediately below 

 the basal blooms before the middle of July. This will 

 encourage the production of vigorous young shoots 

 from the axils of the leaves on the main stems, and these 

 shoots, when about 3 inches to 4 inches in length, make 

 ideal cuttings. Sever the shoots at their junction with 

 the main stem, making a clean, sharp cut immediately 

 beneath the lowest leaf-joint, to form the base of the 

 cutting. The first two pairs of leaves must be removed 

 by cutting with a sharp knife close to the stem, but not so 

 close as to damage the bark or skin of the stem. The 

 cuttings should be inserted in the soil as quickly as 

 possible or they will soon welt and droop, greatly to the 

 detriment of the chances of success. The best compost 

 for rooting cuttings is made up of equal parts of sifted 

 leaf-mould, loam, and sharp silver sand, a sprinkling of 

 finely crushed charcoal being a distinct advantage. 



The best plan of all is to put the cuttings singly into 

 clean thumb pots; for they not only root quicker, but can 

 be potted into larger pots without the slightest check 

 through breaking young roots. 



Failing the use of thumb pots, alternatives are to make 

 up a bed of the prepared compost in a cold frame, provid- 

 ing a depth of about 6 inches over a layer of rough 

 material to assist drainage, the cuttings being firmly 

 dibbled in about 3 inches apart, or to insert six or eight 

 cuttings around the edge of a 4S-sized pot half-filled with 

 crocks and filled up with compost dressed down to make 

 it evenly firm ; or again, it is quite possible, although least 



