Dave Nelson wrote:
============
"Thanks to Larry, Kyle, and Mark for the information. I'll definitely
give
their expert advice a try. Last question: would immediately after
petal
drop be the best time for cuttings or can one clip them earlier in the
season?
There are times that it feels like 500F out here in the summer.
However,
apparently the Alpine-L system does not like superscripts."
============
I never tried woody penstemon cuttings pre-flowering, as the growth is
too green and any attempt by the cuttings to flower will siphon away
energy from producing roots, even if the developing buds were to be
pinched off. I have always waited until after flowering. Although on
some of the "woody ones" that don't flower so prolifically, one can
usually find non-flowering shoots suitable for cutting material. My
preference for taking cuttings (true of many plants), is relatively soon
after flowering, at that semi-ripe wood stage, before the onset of hot
summer weather.
For herbaceous plants (Penstemon included) that have basal shoots in
evidence in spring (and often new ones forming late summer or autumn),
spring cuttings of the basal shoots before they grow too elongated work
fine. Late-forming shoots near the end of the growing season also can
work, however late cuttings will need protection. I sometimes take
basal cuttings on tall Aster species (now Symphyotrichum) in autumn, and
root them indoors on a windowsill over winter, or better yet, in a cold
frame.
Regarding the hotter than Hades temperatures in your climate ;-), this
is a good example of special-formatting characters (such as the
superscript "degrees" symbol) that are best not used in email-based
forums because they often do not survive being parsed by the maillist
system. Participating on international forums, I just use syntax such
as 50 F (10 C) for temperature, which seems readily understood.
Mark McDonough
Alpine-L list-owner
[email protected]
Massachusetts, USA
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