Skip to main content

You can grow these 9 flowers from cuttings today

There is almost nothing more satisfying than taking a cutting from a plant and growing a whole new beautiful plant. Watching the roots grow and new shoots sprouting is exciting! It’s also an excellent way to get new free plants and either beef up your existing garden or share them with friends and family. No matter the reason, propagating plants is a lengthy process, and it will require an enormous amount of patience. 

azalea bush
Photo by Zhen Hu on Unsplash

How to take cuttings

While hardwood cuttings can be more complicated than others, they all follow the same basic rules and steps to get from a cutting to a new baby plant. As with most propagation projects, patience is a virtue; cuttings can take up to a year to be ready to plant in the garden. Keep in mind that some cuttings may fail, so it’s best practice to take multiple cuttings, so you’re almost guaranteed to have one success. 

Before starting any cutting or propagation project, be sure to sanitize tools such as gloves and shears with soap or rubbing alcohol. Cuttings are vulnerable to disease and pests, so sanitizing tools will reduce the risk of anything spreading and ruining your efforts. 

You’ll also want to take the cuttings at an ideal time of year. It is possible to have successful rootings any time of year. However, it can make it easier for you and the plant to take a cutting after the leaves have fallen but before the ground has frozen. 

It’s time to take the cutting. 

  • With clean shears, cut a section of the new growth from the plant.
  • Cut the stem again in a diagonal direction. 
  • Dip the bottom end of the cutting in root growth hormones to encourage roots to grow. These products come in powder or liquid form. 
  • Once the growth hormones have set, prepare the pot with a well-draining, but damp potting soil. 
  • Dampen the soil before potting to avoid washing off the root hormones. 
  • Plant the cuttings in damp soil. 

And now you wait! Most plants will grow roots within three to four weeks, and you’ll want to check for roots around that time. It’s important to check to ensure the cutting isn’t rotting. If you’ve potted up more than one plant in the same pot, this is especially important to avoid any rot or disease spreading to other healthy cuttings. 

krolya25/Shutterstock

Semi-hardwood flower cuttings

Honeysuckle

Many of us are familiar with the small white flower of the honeysuckle plant. We may have even spent summers picking and dissecting them to get the slight taste of honey from the center! However, many of us probably didn’t know that there are over 200 varieties of honeysuckle, and all of them are beautiful. 

Azalea

With over 10,000 azalea varieties, it’s no wonder they are one of the most popular flowers in gardens. Their colors range from bright white to a deep red and almost everything in between. You could take cuttings from your neighbor or that aunt who seems not just to have a green thumb, but a green hand. 

Camellia

Camellias are some of the easiest semi-hardwood cuttings to propagate, as well as one of the most beautiful, head-turning flowers you can find. There are about 250 varieties, but most stay within the pink, white, and red color families. 

Ancha Chiangmai/Shutterstock

Greenwood flower cuttings

Dahlias

Coming in almost every color, dahlias are a pop of color that gardeners everywhere love to plant. There are around 42 species of dahlias and more than 20,000 cultivars to choose from. This makes it easy to find precisely what you want. 

Gardenia

These flowers are very fragrant and perfume the air with delightful aromas. There are 200 varieties of gardenias, and most of them are a soft, delicate white, but there are a few that dip into yellow or gold. Their petals resemble those of a rose in the way that they twist into each other. 

Kiian Oksana/Shutterstock

Softwood flower cuttings

Aster

Asters root well from cuttings and can be very rewarding to care for. With over 600 species just in North America, there’s an aster for every garden. Their colors tend to stay within the pink, purple, red, and white hues, but their petals can be thin and long or round and short. 

Chrysanthemum

Also known as mums or “funeral plants,” chrysanthemums are a small bushy flower that come in almost any color imaginable. These colors include white, burgundy, purple, pink, red, and more. With only 40 species to choose from, your decision-making might be more manageable. 

Rose

These are probably the most popular flower in all the world. With over 150 species, roses come in a wide range of shapes and colors. The colors represent feelings and intention and look lovely in almost every garden. Depending on the type of rose, it could be classified as a hardwood cutting. 

Hydrangea

Only blooming after a full season of growth, hydrangeas are a popular favorite among flower gardens and landscaping. Their colors are unique in the way that they change based on the pH balance of the soil. This can sometimes result in a bloom being half purple and half pink. There are only six types that are commonly grown in America. 

No matter which flower you choose to take a cutting from, you’ll be rewarded with a new, free baby plant. It’s a fun experiment for kids and to create homemade gifts for neighbors, friends, family, or yourself!

Editors' Recommendations

3 simple ways plants can (and should) be incorporated into a slow living routine
Low-maintenance ways to bring gardening into your slow living routine
A happy gardener with gloves

Life can feel like it’s all about the grind, but it doesn’t have to be hustle and bustle all the time. Slow living is a lifestyle all about being in the moment and moving through the world at your own speed. But you don’t have to turn your life around to enjoy a slower life. Incorporating plants into your everyday routine is a great way to pump the brakes and enjoy life at a slower pace. If you’re curious about slow living and how gardening can be a part of this growing lifestyle, read on.

What is the slow living movement?
What exactly is slow living? Well, it’s really all in the name. Slow living, at its core, encourages a slower approach to living. Countering a fast-paced life, it’s all about completing things at a leisurely pace. It emerges as pushback against consumer and hustle culture as it favors being intentional with your time, energy, and resources. The goal of slow living is to be present in your daily life and avoid packing your schedule with things to do. As such, you'll be able to engage with life in a deeper and more meaningful way.

Read more
Do you live in climate zone 9b? Here’s a helpful guide on what’s best to plant
The best plants to grow in zone 9b and when to grow them
Person harvesting summer crops

From show-stopping roses to hardy agave, zone 9b is home to plants of all stripes, thanks to its warm, sunny conditions. It’s also an ideal environment for a wide range of fruits and veggies, whether you’re partial to hot peppers or sweet cherries. Its hot summers can be challenging, but it’s generally a productive and lush area for thriving plant life. Here’s your zone 9b planting guide so you can nourish a fruitful, beautiful garden in one of the country's warmest areas.

What is a climate zone?
With climate zones on the Plant Hardiness Zone Map, the United States Department of Agriculture divides the country into 13 regions based on average annual minimum temperature ranges. The temperature ranges go from coldest to hottest as we move from zone 1 to 13. Zone 9b, as you may have already guessed, falls on the warmer parts of the map.

Read more
If you live in zone 10a, here’s what you need to know about what you can plant
Zone 10a plants and their growing schedules
Person holding aloe vera in garden

Consisting of the southernmost parts of the United States, zone 10a is a rich region for a wide range of plants. While you might need to keep an eye out for tender herbs and cold-hardy plants, many flowers, succulents, and plants can thrive in zone 10a's warm temperature outdoors. Below, we've put together a zone 10a planting guide to break down all that you need to know about this welcoming environment for nourishing foliage life.

What is a climate zone? 
With the Plant Hardiness Zone Map, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has divided the country into 13 different climate zones based on average annual minimum temperature ranges. Zone 1 has the coolest temperatures, while zone 13 has the warmest ones.

Read more