There are a few fun things you can do in the summer besides drying plants for winter, and one is maintaining a cutting box. So what is a cutting box? It's where you save stuff you encounter that can become new plantings.
This could mean cuttings or "slips" from your own plants or from friends' plants. How often have been envious of plants in other people's gardens knowing they are the kind you could slip? All you have to do is ask, and mostly, they will consent.
Use almost any kind of a wooden or plastic box. I have found that a plastic shoe box is lightweight and easy to use and is also leak proof. It also has a cover that fits well and retains the moisture.
For the rooting medium, you can use plain sand, or the combinations of sterile soil materials, such as vermiculite and perlite, mixed in 50-50 proportions. Dampen it well.
After you have set it all up, you are ready to start collecting. When you groom house plants, you won't be inclined to toss the clippings away, but will use your cutting box. Sometimes, a friend will give you a cutting from a plant you admired. You may put it aside in a "safe" place and forget about it until it's too late. That's why many gardeners pop a slip into some water. But cuttings rooted in water do not seem to do as well as when they are placed in a soil medium. They have to grow a different sort of root system, for one thing. So plant it in the cutting box right away.
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You can root cuttings from the wild. Make sure the plant isn't on the endangered list, particularly ladyslippers or wild red lilies, although neither one will lend itself to cuttings.
Keep the cuttings in a cool place and check them once in awhile. When they are large enough to thrive on their own - when the roots are about an inch or so long - they can be potted in regular soil. Take care so the roots don't break. Continue to care for them as for a young thriving plant.
Too much rain
While we need and love rains in our gardens, many of our plants are faring no better than the crops. Too much water. Wait until it all dries out. Then tackle it again. We need to take care in how we handle hoes and shovels so we don't clump up the soil.
After the ground dries out some, we need to feed our plants. Roses will need fertilizer, if we did not do so when we first took off the cover this spring.
Peonies are big feeders and should be fed when they finish blooming. If any of them aren't doing well and you wonder why, it may be that the ground has settled and it is too deep. Make sure the plants have enough sun. It could be that it has been hit by botrytis disease. Otherwise, peonies are not too bothered by diseases. Some of them have been recorded as living 50 years. Dig up an ailing peony, (which is a dreadful job - you will need help) and check out the root system.
Several kinds of iris are beautifying our gardens now. Tall bearded iris are blooming well and Siberian iris are just getting into bloom. I love the Siberians - they are so neat and you don't have to watch for diseases, nor do you have to divide them as often as the bearded ones. In less than a week, the Spurias will begin, and it is nice to have some every tall iris too. They make a great background.
This is really a wonderful time of year. Flowers are blooming or budding and there are very few insects. And of course, the beginning of the rose bloom makes waiting out that winter worthwhile.
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Collins is The Forum's garden columnist. Write to her by mail at The Forum, Box 2020, Fargo ND 58107, or direct e-mail to her at dorothycollins@i29.net
