Alexander Pensky wrote:
(snip)
My "lazy man's gardening" experiment for this year is: for any of
my perennials which look like they might propagate OK from stem
or softwood cuttings, I am taking some cuttings and just jamming
them into the ground in a flower bed. I want to see which ones
are so easy-to-grow that I can succeed this way without rooting
hormone or plastic baggies or misting or any of that nonsense.

So far the herbs have been the most promising. Common thyme,
in particular, grows like wildfire if you just rip out a handful,
toss it on the ground somewhere else, and bury it under good
soil with a few shoots sticking out. (As long as there are some
roots on the handful.)

Anyone else admit to doing this?
(snip)

You mean this is not the way everyone does it? :-)

Being more than just a little tight on the wallet with a lot of
potential garden opportunities this strategy is a must. I've been
moderately successful with Loropetalum. Having purchased five original
plants I now have five more that have made it for most or all of a full
season. I did exactly what you said, took a cutting and stuck it in the
ground with nothing on it. I do seem to have more success if I gently
scrape the outer bark layer off to get to the green inner layer. I have
not specially watered or pampered them.

I'm also encouraged by the progress on two of five cuttings from two
contorted filberts. I tried one crepe myrtle, but it doesn't look good.
Next I may try a burning bush and my Trident maples.

I'm still trying it with Japanese Maples. In previous years this has
been a bust, but this year I have three or four that put out small
leaves and are still growing. I cut them originally in March or so just
as the buds were barely beginning to swell. I am keeping them shaded to
avoid too much stress from the north Atlanta sun in between torrents of
rain.