greenhouse adventures

The greenhouse is usually a welcome respite in the gardening adventures of winter. But this mild winter it hasn't been nearly as necessary. Regardless, I'm trying my hand at growing indoor plants and rooting shrubs. The top image is of an asparagus fern (Asparagus densiflorus) flowering! The images below are of my dogwood rooting project.

Asparagus fern is a fantastic warm season container plant which will do well in partial shade to full sun situations. It is related to the favorite spring time vegetable and prefers moist, well-drained, fertile soil. This is a great plant for indoor and outdoor applications, serving as a wonderful foil to a variety of summer annuals, or stealing the show in a pot by itself.

During the holidays, part of an indoor flower arrangement placed near a window began to sprout. I removed the sprouting twigs from the floral foam, removed any flowers and reduced them to 5” cuttings, dipped them in rooting powder, and placed them in potting soil in the greenhouse. After a few weeks, two of the cuttings are not only alive, but pushing new growth!

I’m fairly certain this is Redosier Dogwood (Cornus sericea). Which is a native large shrub/small tree whose red stems are used in the floral industry. Cuttings of this plant will flower in water and root well with a hormone treatment, though best success is generally achieved in warmer months.