newbie
 

hi. i am a gardener who has been without a garden for 10 years. now i
have some small beds in less than ideal conditions but i am thrilled
to be digging and planting.
in a field near my apt. i saw a beautiful low lying lilac. probably no
taller than 4 feet but well developed, very wide (perhaps 12 feet)
with quite pale purple flowers and this lovely silvery furry sort of
halo throughout the whole bush. two questions...
can anyone recommend a site that will show pics of the full shrub, not
just the blossoms?
and
is there a way to snip a small shoot from this plant with any hope of
it surviving?
what i have read about propagating lilacs says i would have to dig
into the root structure and remove a section. i am not going to do
this for fear of sickening the plant and besides, it is just so
perfect sitting in a field as if it were left behind by some outer
space gardener.

anyway, any help would be hugely appreciated.

betsy

newbie
 

If you can't dig up a sucker your next best bet might be air layering. It's
pretty simple. First you need to pick the part of the plant that you would
like. Then cut a slit at an angle 1/3 of the way through the stem just below
good, healthy leaf growth. Hold this slit open with a toothpick and dust
the cut with a rooting hormone. Take a length of plastic wrap and secure
with a twist tie or string around the stem below the cut you have just made.
Fill this pocket with a big handful of moistened peat moss and wrap the rest
of the plastic around it making sure to over lap, and seal it to the stem
above the cut with another tie. Use waterproof tape to seal the over-lapped
edges of the plastic. Make sure the peat moss is in good tight contact with
the cut you have made. Keep the peat moss moist during the rooting process
by opening the pocket at the top and adding water when required. When roots
are visible in the peat moss, cut the stem off below the root mass and pot
up.

Val



"cometz" wrote in message
...
hi. i am a gardener who has been without a garden for 10 years. now i
have some small beds in less than ideal conditions but i am thrilled
to be digging and planting.
in a field near my apt. i saw a beautiful low lying lilac. probably no
taller than 4 feet but well developed, very wide (perhaps 12 feet)
with quite pale purple flowers and this lovely silvery furry sort of
halo throughout the whole bush. two questions...
can anyone recommend a site that will show pics of the full shrub, not
just the blossoms?
and
is there a way to snip a small shoot from this plant with any hope of
it surviving?
what i have read about propagating lilacs says i would have to dig
into the root structure and remove a section. i am not going to do
this for fear of sickening the plant and besides, it is just so
perfect sitting in a field as if it were left behind by some outer
space gardener.

anyway, any help would be hugely appreciated.

betsy

newbie
 

On Apr 18, 11:28 pm, "Val" wrote:
If you can't dig up a sucker your next best bet might be air layering. It's
pretty simple. First you need to pick the part of the plant that you would
like. Then cut a slit at an angle 1/3 of the way through the stem just below
good, healthy leaf growth. Hold this slit open with a toothpick and dust
the cut with a rooting hormone. Take a length of plastic wrap and secure
with a twist tie or string around the stem below the cut you have just made.
Fill this pocket with a big handful of moistened peat moss and wrap the rest
of the plastic around it making sure to over lap, and seal it to the stem
above the cut with another tie. Use waterproof tape to seal the over-lapped
edges of the plastic. Make sure the peat moss is in good tight contact with
the cut you have made. Keep the peat moss moist during the rooting process
by opening the pocket at the top and adding water when required. When roots
are visible in the peat moss, cut the stem off below the root mass and pot
up.

Val

"cometz" wrote in message

...

hi. i am a gardener who has been without a garden for 10 years. now i
have some small beds in less than ideal conditions but i am thrilled
to be digging and planting.
in a field near my apt. i saw a beautiful low lying lilac. probably no
taller than 4 feet but well developed, very wide (perhaps 12 feet)
with quite pale purple flowers and this lovely silvery furry sort of
halo throughout the whole bush. two questions...
can anyone recommend a site that will show pics of the full shrub, not
just the blossoms?
and
is there a way to snip a small shoot from this plant with any hope of
it surviving?
what i have read about propagating lilacs says i would have to dig
into the root structure and remove a section. i am not going to do
this for fear of sickening the plant and besides, it is just so
perfect sitting in a field as if it were left behind by some outer
space gardener.

anyway, any help would be hugely appreciated.

betsy

thanks so much. i can manage this. i hope the plant does. it's a
beauty. very very lovely plant.

betsy