Fall-Finally!

Here in New Mexico we were all beginning to get a little uneasy as the warm weather lingered, and lingered.  Would it ever turn cool enough to wear our fall clothing?  Should we keep watering the tomatoes?  A couple of  nights ago many parts of New Mexico had a freeze warning, and I dutifully hauled in all the potted plants, harvested my tomatoes and began to gather seeds for next year's garden.

Hollyhock seeds drying in a bowl

 Since I have no where to hang baskets inside, I will take cuttings of this coleus and then store the basket for the coming winter.  Below are steps to do so.  If you already know how, you may wish to skip the rest of this post.

 1.  Cut the large stems away from the main plant.

I like to cut them at an angle to give extra space for the stem to draw up water.

2.  Trim off the lower leaves so that you have a bare stem to go into the water.  any leaves left on below the water level will rot and make your jar of cuttings smell terrible!

3.  Fill clear jars, glasses, vases, etc. with water and add your cuttings.  Why clear?  So you can check on the progress of the roots without pulling the plant out of its container.

4.  Add water as needed for several weeks.  When the stem has formed roots...

Cutting that was taken several weeks ago with its roots.

Gently pot up your cutting in your favorite potting soil.  While you are waiting for the roots to form, your cuttings make lovely little bouquets to have for your fall entertaining.  Just don't put them where they don't get any light for long.

 What about all those little leaves you trimmed off?  Well if you are super careful, you can put them into tiny glass container and at least half of them will sprouts roots as well.  I just throw mine away.

My friends, Maren and Christopher McLaren share the bounty from their garden as they rushed to save things from the freeze...

My tomato plant on the wood stove and basil from the McLaren garden in front.  The cat is wondering why are these inside?

Head on over to Jane's "Flowers in the House Party" to see more flowers from all over the world.