Growing new plants from cuttings is a smart way to get more of the plants, perennials, shrubs, and vines you love. This seasonal calendar shows some of the plants you can propagate by softwood, semi-ripe, and hardwood cuttings throughout the year.
If you are interested in sowing seeds, also see Seed Starting 101 which shares how I start many plants from seed indoors under an inexpensive homemade grow light setup.
The Secret to Free Plants
Would you like to grow more / new / free plants from the ones you have?
One of the easiest methods is to take cuttings and root them for new plants. Not only is it faster than sowing from seed, but there are opportunities to take cuttings from spring to fall. Sowing from seed or growing from starter plants is great for annuals like veggies and single-season flowers. Growing from cuttings is smart for many of our perennial plants, shrubs, and vines, as you’ll see in the lists below.
Once you try rooting plants from cuttings, you may realize a few things like I did. First, I suddenly wondered why I ever paid for young starter plants, since they are one snip away in the garden. Next, I realized that plant propagation opens up a whole other dimension of gardening, nature, plant observations (seeing how they grow and change), and being outside. It’s a ticket to indulging more in a great love.
The free plant cutting calendar I’ve provided here is a starting point. There’s no way I can list all the plant choices you can grow this way—there’s oodles—but I have listed some common ones to give you ideas. And, because methods can vary depending on the plant species, I suggest you find tutorials specific to your plants.
Related: 5 Basic Plant Propagation Methods
Recommended Books
  |
  |
| See it Here | See it Here |
My favourite resource book is Grow Your Own Garden: How to Propagate All Your Own Plants by Carol Klein. (2010). It has step-by-step photos for every propagation method and a huge amount of useful plant info.
If you have access to used books, also look for The Plant Propagator’s Bible by Miranda Smith (Reader’s Digest). It’s a small book and packed with great info.
How to Take Clematis Cuttings
Work with Nature
I must also say that while proper methods can yield good results, nature is very forgiving. Years before we made gardening such a silly, formal procedure, gardeners knew to simply take cuttings from plants they like and stick them in the ground. That was early cutting propagation and it worked well enough. So, don’t think it’s a big deal. Sometimes simple is best.
Plant Cuttings in Each Season
Spring is the time for softwood cuttings from many plants, perennials, shrubs, and vines. These young cuttings are eager to root but also at high-risk for drying out without proper care. See How to Take Softwood Cuttings for step-by-step instructions.
Summer is the time for semi-ripe cuttings, where the base of the shoots are hardening up (maturing) but the tips are still nimble.
By autumn, the plant growth is mature. Fall and winter hardwood cuttings can be slow to root but more stable than tender young cuttings, allowing over-wintering in a cool greenhouse or under some protection outdoors. See How to Take Hardwood Cuttings for step-by-step instructions.
Other propagation methods include:
- Starting from seed
- Division
- Cuttings
- Layering
- Grafting
You can find instructions for all of these in Grow Your Own Garden: How to Propagate All Your Own Plants by Carol Klein.
Free Printable
This free two-page document is in PDF format and you can download it to your device and print it out if desired. If you are new to downloading files or ebooks, this provides a free ebook and instructions.
When to Take Plant Cuttings
Mid-Spring to Early Summer | After Last Frost
Take cuttings from new growth.
How to Take Softwood Cuttings tutorial
Here’s some suggestions. Some plants can be rooted at various stages of growth and appear on more than one list.
| Coleus Soenostemon Clematis Clematis Dogwood Cornus Elderberry Sambucus Forsythia Forsythia Fuchsia Fuchsia Gardenia Gardenia Geranium Pelagonium Hibiscus, Chinese Hibiscus rosa-sinensis Hydrangea Hydrangea See tutorial here |
Lilac Syringa Mock orange Philadelphus Mock strawberry Potentilla Rose of Sharon Hibiscus syriacus Rose Rosa Sage Salvia Viburnum Viburnum Weigela Weigela Wisteria Wisteria |
Summer Semi-Ripe Cuttings
Take cuttings on maturing stems (base is hard, tip is soft) in late summer.
Here’s some suggestions:
| Boxwood Buxus Butterfly bush Buddleia Cherry laurel Lauraceae Coleus Soenostemon Escallonia Escallonia Evergreen shrubs Geranium Pelargonium Dead-nettles Lamium Herbs: bay, hyssop, lavender, rosemary, rue, sage, thyme Holly Ilex Honeysuckle Lonicera |
Ivy Lavender Lavandula Mallows Lavatera Mock orange Philadelphus Passion flower Passifloraceae Privet Ligustrum Firethorn Pyracantha Solanum Solanum Spirea Caryopteris Star Jasmine Trachelospermum Viburnum Viburnum |
How to Take Hardwood Cuttings
Fall & Winter Hardwood Cuttings
Take cuttings from mature stems in autumn after leaf drop but before ground is frozen or late winter just before bud-burst.
You can see my tutorial and step-by-step video on taking hardwood cuttings here.
Here’s some suggestions:
| Abelia Abelia Anemone Anemone Bittersweet Celastrus Blueberry Vaccinium Broom Cytisus Butterfly Bush Buddeja Currants Dogwood Cornus Deutzia Deutzia Elder Sambucus Euonymus Euonymus Fig Ficus Flowering currant Ribes Forsythia Forsythia Gooseberries Ribes Grape Vitis Honey locust Gleditsia triacanthos Honeysuckle Lonicera Hydrangea Hydrangea Ivy (various) Jasmine Jasminum |
Laburnum Laburnum Mock Orange Philadelphus Mulberry Morus Ninebark Physocarpus Plane Platanus Poplars Populus Privet Ligustrum Pussywillow Salix Quince Chaenomeles Rose of Sharon Hibiscus syriacus Rose Rosa Russian olive Elaeagnus angustifolia Sand cherry Prunus Spiraea Spiraea Snowberry bush Symphoricarpos Trumpet creeper Campsis Virburnum Virburnum Virginia Creeper Parthenocissus Weigela Weigela Willow Salix |
Free Grow-From-Cuttings Printable Garden Calendar
This free two-page document is in PDF format and you can download it to your device and print it out if desired. If you are new to downloading files or ebooks, this provides a free ebook and instructions.
How Do I Take Cuttings?
Very generally, taking cuttings involves identifying a suitable plant shoot, cutting it off with a sharp, clean knife or pruner, at a specific location near a leaf node, and placing it in growing medium. Use of rooting hormone is sometimes recommended.
  See Rooting Hormone here |
  See Fiskars Snips here |
This article on How to Grow Shrubs and Vines from Hardwood Cuttings has a step-by-step video if you would like an example to follow.
Specific instructions depend on the plant species and the time of year. Methods and opinions vary. Fortunately, gardeners with different approaches often both get good results. It is best to look up the plant you want to propagate and follow specific instructions for that species and method.
Recommended Resources
These are two of my favourite books on plant propagation. They have photo tutorials for growing plants from a variety of methods.
Once you know the basics, it’s super fun and addictive.
Grow Your Own Garden by Carol Klein was the first one I bought and still the one I refer to most.
|
|
| See it Here | See it Here |
If you have access to used books, also look for The Plant Propagator’s Bible by Miranda Smith (Reader’s Digest). It’s a small book and packed with great info.
For example, try searching (in Google or Bing), ‘How to propagate lilac from cuttings’, and see your options.
Depending on whether it’s a softwood, ripe-wood, or hardwood cutting, there are a few different things to know. Alternately, plants like begonias propagate nicely from leaf cuttings, so a specific tutorial is best.
Nature is a survivor. In the old days, gardeners propagated favourite shrubs by taking cuttings and sticking them in the ground. Done! Be willing to experiment and have fun with it.
~Melissa the Empress of Dirt ♛
Next
- Succulents | Propagate leaf cuttings
- How to grow shrubs and vines from hardwood cuttings
- How to grow new plants from softwood cuttings
Seed Starting for Beginners | Ebook
$7.99 US | Instant Download
Add to CartComplete guide to indoor seed starting. Grow your own garden!
See contents ->
Elaine says
August 4, 2017 at 1:10 pmI see geranium on the list of plants that can be grown from cuttings. Does this include perennial geraniums?
Melissa J. Will says
August 4, 2017 at 2:27 pmHi Elaine,
Excellent question! You can. There’s instructions here (scroll down a bit to see video on growing from cuttings):
https://empressofdirt.net/overwintering-geraniums/
Shelley says
July 3, 2017 at 7:26 pmThank you for this information. Just took my first cuttings, clematis from the vacant house next door.
Melissa J. Will says
July 4, 2017 at 11:09 amGreat! I’d love to hear how it goes. They can be fussy so try several times just in case. 🙂
Marnie says
June 13, 2017 at 10:01 pmHi, Melissa
Love your blog & often share your posts on our Master Gardener twitter feed.
However, there seems to be a problem posting your stuff to twitter.
When I hit the share button w the twitter icon, it takes me to twitter but the post never loads.
Can you pls check this out, tks
Melissa J. Will says
June 13, 2017 at 11:59 pmHi Marnie, I appreciate you sharing the posts – or trying to. Do you have a pop-up blocker on your browser? I can’t replicate the problem at this end. Also, what browser are you using? Any info would be helpful so I can try and track down the problem. Thanks!