I have an elderly friend who still lives in the house that his parents built a few years after immigrating here from Italy. One day I admired the camellia bush he has growing outside his kitchen door. "My mother planted that bush," he said. "She could grow anything - fruit trees, bushes, anything. She would take cuttings, stick 'em in the ground, put a jar over 'em, and bodda-bing! - a new plant." He urged me to cut a couple branches off the bush. "I'm tellin' ya, when ya go home, stick 'em in the ground right away, cover 'em with a jar, and when ya see new growth on the branch, you'll know it worked. Ya gotta try a couple, 'cause some of 'em won't take, but at least one will. Try it."
He sent me home with a couple of blossoms, too, for encouragment.
I was skeptical. It seemed too easy. But I tried it. He was right. Two of the three I "stuck in the ground" died. But the third one...
Bodda-bing!
Moral of the story: listen to your elders. They know stuff. Thanks, Carlo.
He sent me home with a couple of blossoms, too, for encouragment.
I was skeptical. It seemed too easy. But I tried it. He was right. Two of the three I "stuck in the ground" died. But the third one... 
Bodda-bing! 
Moral of the story: listen to your elders. They know stuff. Thanks, Carlo.
10 comments:
AHHH! That's so cool.
Camilla, are those smelly (like in a good way?) because if they are I like them, I've only seen white though.
I'm doing a happy dance in my chair, because now I can sneak out at night and take clippings from my neighbor's plants. Is that allowed? does it work for everything shrub-ish?
I'm going to try this. I think it could totally work for me because it's not a vegetable.
I love how you wrote out what your friend told you. I could almost hear him speaking!
"bodda-bing"
I must try this. I have two lovely camellias that I would love to propagate but didn't know how. I'll sing "bodda-bing" if it works!
Oh, I've so got to try this. I've put cuttings of blackcurrants straight in the ground before and it has worked fine, but I've not tried it with jar over the top.
I can see my garden turning into a jam jar garden!
Bodda-bing! :D
Oh, I love the idea of a "jam jar garden"! What a super cool idea! If I ever grow any plants on purpose (I'm sticking to wild blackberries and long established pecans right now) I'll so put a jar over the baby plant just to see if a mini-greenhouse makes my growing a bit more successful...plus I need to learn to grow things successfully just as a general skill since grocery stores may not be around for ever.
And I didn't know that his parents built that house...I loved-loved their kitchen sink. I told Zac after I saw it that when we build a house, we are having a 1940's bathtub-huge sink.
Thanks for the comments, everyone! I hope
you'll have the same success. I was amazed.
JoAnn, I don't think camellia have a scent, not that I noticed anyway. And I'm not sure it will work for any shrub, but it's worth a try. P.S. Don't get caught ;)
so true ... how many times i have wasted life asking Google a question that my elderly neighbor next door could answer in a flash ...
Congrats on your green thumb!
I just tried this with two lavendar bushes. I did dip the stems in rooting powder, however. It's working great for one of the bushes (I took ten starts) and I'm not sure about the other one--a different variety. Some of starts have already died but I'm hopeful a couple will take. This my first try at stem-in-the-ground propagation (I'm sure it has a proper-horticulturish name).
My oldest sil (who will be 84 this August) propagates own root roses this way.......Thanks for reminding me!
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