Rooting Plants the Easy Way
NRS
By: Annie Owen, Master Rosarian Rooting roses and other plants is fun and easier than ever. One of the best stores in the Nashville area for gardening supplies and particularly supplies for propagation of plants is All Seasons on 8th Avenue. They have standard flats with several sizes of humidity domes (clear plastic covers). For rooting roses, I buy the flats with no holes in the bottom and the tall humidity dome. After rooting, you can add a little water to the bottom of the flat and create a mini greenhouse environment for your cuttings.
News
for children and impatient adults because you can see the roots forming before your eyes. Place the cuttings in a mini-greenhouse environment of your choice. The 3 liter soda bottle or other plastic containers also will give you the humidity you need.
A great mini humidity chamber for rooting cuttings and also be created by using the large plastic containers that Costco and Sams use for salad greens. I use two bottoms, placing one on top of the other and making a very inexpensive mini greenhouse.
The weather is finally warmer and that is a sign the “Nashville Rose Society Garden Tour 2011” is almost upon us. The tour will be Saturday, June 4th 12:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. Jim and Starla Harding, our editors for the Rose Leaf, are opening their garden located at 1705 Catalpa Court in Thompsons Station , Tennessee 37179. We will be touring our President and First Lady’s (Larry and Connie Baird) gorgeous garden at 2571 Totty’s Bend Road in Duck River Tennessee 38454.
Rapid Rooter plugs
Create a mini green house with a flat and a tall himidity dome.
Annual Garden Tour
The Rapid Rooter is another excellent way to root plants. It comes in a package of 98 plugs that fits in a standard flat. You can also buy the plugs in bags of 50. Each plug is suited for a cutting or will root a seed. These starter plugs are made from composted tree bark with an excellent airto-water ratio which promotes root growth and makes very strong plants. After the cutting is rooted, just pot the cutting still in the plug into a larger pot.
Lyle and Ruby Worsham invite you to stop in and wander through the paths of their breathtakingly landscaped gardens at 212 Cheyenne Trail in Columbia, Tennessee 38401. The Belmont Rose Garden at Belmont University in Nashville will be another stop. We are also enlisting people to greet visitors and act as guides for the Belmont Rose Garden. You will answer questions and give information for joining the NRS. We could use more members to sign up to be on the tour this year or next year. Can’t wait to hear from you! Denise Thorne, Garden Tour Chairman Phone 615-237-9757 Cell 615-289-2138
Tenarky District News
Gel Rooter 6 Pack
Closeup off Rapid Cl id Rooter plugs l
The Gel Rooters come in a package of 6 pots covered with foil. After you prepare your cutting, just insert it into the gel through a hole in the foil. Each pot can hold up to 3 large cuttings or a few more smaller ones. No rooting powder is necessary. It’s great
Any annual or perennial that can be rooted from a stem cutting will root in the Gel Rooters or the Rapid Rooter plugs. I have had great success with both methods and would recommend either one depending on your needs.
The annual Bowling Green Rose Society rose show is May 21st. If you want to see roses this spring, the BGRS is the closest spring show to Nashville and is just a short 1 hour drive north on I-65. This is their 49th rose show and it is dedicated to Kent and Claire Campbell, long-time members of BGRS who have made many contributions to not only our society but also the Tenarky District and American Rose Society. For exhibitors who are interested the rose show schedule is available on our website: www.bowlinggreenrosesociety.org
NASHVILLE ROSE LEAF, MAY 2011
3