Detailed Guide to September Courtyard Flower Propagation Methods and Techniques
Early Chrysanthemum
In September, temperatures gradually decline across most of China, with monthly average temperatures between 20°C and 24°C. This month is suitable for displaying a wide variety of potted ornamental plants in courtyards. Among the woody ornamental plants are: Norfolk Island pine, five-needle pine, golden larch, Japanese umbrella pine, lacebark pine, Japanese fir, Buddhist pine, nagi, sago palm, Canary Island date palm, Australian tree fern, Chinese jasmine orange, cinnamon species, osmanthus, pomegranate, rubber tree, variegated ficus, Chinese hibiscus, cotton rose, Dutch iron plant, croton, Brazilian wood, money tree, umbrella tree, bamboo palm, frangipani, bottle palm, leatherleaf mahonia, Japanese aralia, spotted laurel, ginkgo, crape myrtle, jasmine, palm tree, Chinese rose, fishtail palm, areca palm, queen palm, ti plant, beautiful date palm, fiddle-leaf fig, red maple, South American cycad, spruce species, dwarf umbrella tree, Garcinia, Buddha belly bamboo, silver birch, orchid tree, white magnolia, orange jessamine, Chinese fan palm, heavenly bamboo, etc. Herbaceous flowers include: large-flowered canna, scarlet sage, early chrysanthemum, bamboo begonia, marigold, five-color pepper, spider lily, periwinkle, globe amaranth, dahlia, snapdragon, etc.
Propagation of Courtyard Flowers
1. Sowing
Woody flowers that can be sown include: tree peony, red camellia, Michelia species, Magnolia species, Manglietia species, buckeye species, summersweet, Canary Island date palm, etc. Among these, buckeye seeds can be sown in furrows, with the hilum facing downward, and the covering soil should not be too deep, preferably 2 to 2.5 cm, then covered with plastic film or straw to retain moisture. Summersweet seeds can be soaked in cold water for 24 to 36 hours before sowing, and seedlings will emerge about 2 weeks after sowing. Except for summersweet, which can be dry-stored until spring sowing, all the above seeds must be stored in moist sand. September is a great time for autumn sowing of herbaceous flowers. Herbaceous flowers that can be sown include: hollyhock, dianthus, tall catchfly, dwarf catchfly, pansy, snapdragon, petunia, California poppy, daisy, corn poppy, pot marigold, black-eyed Susan, iris, verbena, etc. In addition, greenhouse flowers such as cyclamen, primrose, globeflower, cineraria, wax begonia, gerbera, and pocketbook plant can also be sown at this time, but they need to overwinter in plastic tunnels.
2. Cuttings
Using a medium of half sand and half rice husk ash, woody plants that can be propagated by cuttings in the courtyard with moisture retention include: firethorn, mahonia, Michelia, bougainvillea, Weigela florida, spotted laurel, fuchsia, Japanese snowball, snowball viburnum, weigela, Brunfelsia, jasmine, chloranthus, golden vein justicia, coral flower, rubber tree, dwarf umbrella tree, ti plant, etc. Using ordinary sandy soil as a seedbed, woody flowers that can be propagated by cuttings include: boxwood species, purple magnolia, hypericum, spiraea, pomegranate, rose of Sharon, crape myrtle, bridal wreath spiraea, hydrangea, French holly, golden-edged privet, red-leaf barberry, heavenly bamboo, fig, oleander, serissa, gardenia, Japanese aralia, flowering quince, tree peony, etc. Some herbaceous flowers can also be propagated by cuttings, such as scarlet sage, globe amaranth, marigold, sulfur cosmos, cold chrysanthemum, etc.
3. Grafting
The following flowers and trees can be grafted: using peony root sections as rootstock, graft superior varieties of tree peony; using peach, apricot and other seedling rootstocks, bud-graft flowering almond, ornamental peach, longevity peach, red-leaf peach, plum blossom, etc.; using green maple seedlings as rootstock, bag and moisture-retain to cleft-graft red maple, feather maple, etc.; using white magnolia seedlings as rootstock, bud-graft superior varieties of white magnolia and Yulan magnolia; using potted purple magnolia as rootstock, approach-graft white orchid; using citrus seedlings as rootstock, bud-graft kumquat, etc.; using fringe tree as rootstock, approach-graft osmanthus; using potted seedling wintersweet as rootstock, approach-graft superior varieties of wintersweet.
4. Layering
Ornamental flowers and trees that can be propagated by layering include: flowering quince, weigela, hydrangea, gardenia, oleander, winter jasmine, Forsythia, osmanthus, purple magnolia, jasmine, Michelia, camellia, chloranthus, French holly, snowball viburnum, Japanese snowball, bridal wreath spiraea, spiraea, etc.
5. Division
Ornamental plants that can be propagated by division include: spring orchid, cymbidium, sword-leaf orchid, peony, tree peony, Guangdong evergreen, purple triangular oxalis, black-eyed Susan, snake plant, dwarf sansevieria, multi-head green aglaonema, silver queen aglaonema, sword fern, heavenly bamboo, flowering quince, purple magnolia, silver-veined lilyturf, cast iron plant, large-leaf lilyturf, etc. In addition, hyacinth, tulip, freesia, calla lily, spider lily, Mediterranean bellflower, etc. can also have their offset bulbs separated at this time to cultivate large flowering bulbs.