In a Vase on Monday – Propavasing

Here’s a new word for you. Propavasing. This occurs when taking cuttings to root in water, followed by finding a few clean vases around the kitchen sink, plonking and fluffing the cuttings – voila!

The cuttings:

I left some chartreuse coleus in a few pots to dress up later for winter container plantings. Not a good idea – especially when combined with leftover moldy zinnias I let go to seed, hoping for some more hot pink/orange flowers next year. The seeds aren’t quite made yet, but the chartreuse coleus is definitely done. Hence the cuttings.

The vining plants are Turkeytangle Frogfruit (Phyla nodiflora). I have been propagating these and creating a lawn of curated weeds in the front garden. I am very happy with my ‘lawn’ and the butterflies are loving it. TTFF hosts three different types of local butterflies.

The flowers:

Orange tubular flowers are Firebush (Hamelia patens); red and yellow flowers are ‘Lady Di’ Heliconias (Heliconia psittacorum); white flowers are Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea).

It’s still summer here. The fall colors are not making me feel cooler.

Visit Cathy at RamblingintheGarden for a whirlwind garden tour via vases.

25 comments on “In a Vase on Monday – Propavasing

  1. tracy's avatar tracy says:

    Beautiful bold colors, your arrangements are always so vibrant I love it! The firebush is fantastic.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Are you rooting the salvia? One of my favorite things to do is propagate plants. Not always a good thing as I usually don’t need more.

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Cathy's avatar Cathy says:

    Turkeytangle Frogfruit has such an intriguing name – I googled it and it is available in the UK although it doesn’t seem to look quite the same as yours. It certainly sounds great for wildlife, and groundcover is always useful. Your selection of cuttings look really effective together, and the middle picture somehow looks rather like a salad crop and herbs. Thanks giving us somethng rather different today, Amelia 😉

    Liked by 1 person

    • There are three varieties here that I am aware of..one is used in hanging baskets. An aquatic plant dealer a bit north of me pulled this out of his field and shipped it to me. It is difficult to find for sale. It’s a salad crop for the local tortoise, who loves TTFF and coleus. I put the cuttings where he can find them.

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  4. Beth Stetenfeld's avatar Beth Stetenfeld says:

    Love the Hamelia and Heliconia blooms, along with the framing foliage…very nice! And “propavasing” … I will have to use that word. 🙂

    Beth @ PlantPostings.com

    Liked by 1 person

  5. Eliza Waters's avatar Eliza Waters says:

    Great new word, I like it! I think I waited too long to take cuttings as the cool weather starts to harden the plants off and they aren’t as eager to root. Oh, well.
    Love the bold colors in your vase, warm for us in the chilly north!

    Liked by 1 person

  6. pbmgarden's avatar pbmgarden says:

    Oh I like these vases so much! Beautiful reds. I successfully rooted some coleus a few weeks ago and have used it to rejuvenate the pots near my front steps.

    Liked by 1 person

  7. krispeterson100's avatar krispeterson100 says:

    Like “cramscaping,” I think “propavasing” is an excellent addition to every gardener’s vocabulary, Amelia! I’ve got a few coleus I’m hoping to coddle through what passes for winter in my area this year so I may be following your example 😉

    https://krispgarden.blogspot.com/

    Liked by 1 person

  8. Cathy's avatar Cathy says:

    My comment just got lost I think, so once again- love the new word, although I probably won’t be able to use it myself as I am not very good with cuttings. Yours all look wonderful together – great colours. Will you share a photo of your TTFF lawn one day?

    Liked by 1 person

  9. Gorgeous display of propavasing! Lime green and vibrant red are hard to beat in any display – this one with the extra vessels is lovely. Stunning.

    https://zonethreegardenlife.blog/2024/09/23/in-a-vaseseptember-23/

    Liked by 1 person

  10. tonytomeo's avatar tonytomeo says:

    Oh, I have done that! That is how I started the pineapple sage. They were big cuttings because they were not originally intended to be cuttings. I took cuttings off their tops after they rooted.

    Liked by 1 person

  11. Maria I's avatar Maria I says:

    Do they take long to root?

    Liked by 1 person

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