What cuttings have the GC members taken for overwintering 2017

I know what you mean @“M” about trying to sex them but I find the little tummy hairs get in the way

PS,I think Busy Bees are usually of the lady variety because I never seem to see many busy bee men around

 

Has anyone ever taken cuttings from a sanvitalia? I've had one that's looked amazing in a pot all summer. I'd like to try and replicate it for next year,ni idea if it will work or not though!

 

Hi @2nd_bassoon sorry for late reply only just caught up with your post

I have pots and pots and pots and pots of Sanvitalia (creeping zinnia)
I even have started using it in hanging baskets I LURVE it.... its flowered as you say all year and is still going strong and all i do is when the daisy disc heads finish flowering ...you will notice that the top yellow disc can be taken off like an egg yolk top and underneath the yellow top is a disc (ring) of seeds quite small and greyish black in colour if you have a paper envelope with you when looking at the tops provided its a dry day and the plant isn't wet/damp the seed heads will fall into the envelope ....all those seed heads then are ready for sowing in the Spring the will germinate quite quickly ...so don't worry about missing out on late summer germination ...to be fair the way the weather is at the moment i would still try to germinate some now and just do as i am doing keeping the smaller seedlings undercover in a frost free but unheated greenhouse ...what have you got to lose
If i can take a photo of the seed heads tomorrow i will post it on GC
I have planted my summer-sown seedlings on top of Tete e Tete bulbs ready for the spring-
I am more than willing to send you some seedlings in the post if you want
And then next year in the Spring you could look to dividing/splitting the original plant depending on its size of course as you'll have its offspring in reserve if it takes a while to recover

 

It was only a matter of time before the sexist comments came out!

Anyway, the lady bee has a pointed abdomen with fewer segments than the males which is blunt.
And it is only the female that has a stinger.

 

My cuttings so far are from 2 dahlias, no names unfortunately but pompom shaped, one yellow and one orange and 4 lemon verbena cuttings but only one took.. Will get on to the fuschias soon.

 

@2nd_bassoon here's piccy of Sanvitalia (creeping zinnia) as promised hope it's easy for you to follow

As you can see that not a bad amount of seeds from just two seed heads not too sure how i ended up with three tops thou i must have been when I touched one of the really ripe heads and the seeds just fell out Hope this helps- because ive never taken any stem cuttings from my Sanvitalia (creeping zinnia) not to say you couldn't try that method

 

Thanks @BeeHappy - I've collected seed and taken cuttings today, so we'll see what happens!

 

@2nd_bassoon good luck with both methods - will be good to know the outcome

 

I accidentally broke off a piece from one of the Ribes yesterday so have stuck it in a glass of water. It's never occurred to me to actually take Ribes cuttings before . I googled it and they are very easy to propagate.