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Propagation Propagation is exceedingly
simple. Seed can be used but, because of the possibilities of hybridization,
you need to either obtain the seed from a known wild source or hand pollinate
plants in the garden whilst using some method of excluding pollinating insects
from the flowers. Of course, this is only important if you want to breed a
species true to type. The seed of cultivars will not usually breed true to
type, the seedlings displaying a mixture of characteristics from the parents of
the cultivar. Hybridization has been widely used in order to produce new
ornamental cultivars and it does also present the opportunity to start breeding
for superior edibility. Seed is best sown in early to
mid spring in a greenhouse. Use a freely draining
compost and cover the seeds to twice their diameter. Germination is usually
good, taking place in about 3 weeks from sowing. Prick out the seedlings into
individual 3 inch pots in a fairly rich compost as
soon as they are large enough to handle and then grow them on in the greenhouse
for the rest of the growing season. It is often possible to plant out these
seedlings in late spring of the following year but, if the plants still look
small or you have a slug or snail problem in your garden, then pot them into larger
pots and grow them on for another year before planting out in the late spring
of the following year. Division is very easy, and
this is the only way of ensuring that named cultivars remain true. Most plants
come into growth very early in the year, some species will actually start
growing in the previous autumn and will already be an inch or two tall by
January. I have found late winter to early spring to be the best time for
dividing the clumps, though other growers will also do this in late summer once
the plants have finished flowering, or in the autumn once growth has died down.
For maximum increase, simply
dig up a clump and break off individual new shoots together with some root.
These are probably best potted up so that they can be easily protected from
slugs until they are growing away strongly, though you can also plant them out
into the open garden. If you do not need such a rapid increase, but want to
obtain large clumps quite quickly, then divide the plants into 2 - 4 pieces and
replant straight away into the garden. If the clump is so tight that it is
difficult to divide, then you can cut your way through with a sharp knife or
even chop the root with a garden spade. Another method is to insert two forks
back-to-back into the clump with the rear of their prongs touching and the
handles about 1 - 2ft apart. You then bring the handles together and these
levers the clump apart. Plants can be a bit slow to
settle down after division and it can be a year or more before they really get
going again, though they will soon make up for the lost time. One way of
dividing a clump without the need to dig it up is to gently tease away young
shoots from the outside of the clump. You will normally have to excavate a
small amount of soil to make sure that you get some roots with the shoots. Pot
them up and then plant them out when well established, usually in mid summer.
This form of division is especially easy with those species that have running
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