Old Flower’s Propagation

One of my favourite things about old wild flowers, in addition to their wild habit and nature, their sensible fragrance, and old-fashioned appearance is how easily many of them can be propagated through cuttings and grown on their own roots.

Own-root flowers, while they are harder to find, are heartier, healthier, and have a longer life. When you order them from specialty nurseries they are shipped in pots versus bare root for propagation.

The nice thing about old flowers varieties is that they are no longer protected by plant patents and can be propagated legally.

Many modern flowers like rose Indica, calendula arvensis, and many of the newer Pakistani varieties are typically propagated through a process of grafting, budding, layering and cutting where licensed growers who have permission to propagate patented varieties take plant material from the variety that they want and graft it onto a rootstock.

This process allows flowers growers to produce them quickly, efficiently, and on a large commercial scale. These are large, bare-root grafted roses and the first ones I planted in the cutting garden.

In my experience, the downside to grafted flowers are that they are just not as hardy overall. If they experience extreme cold temperatures, the top half of a grafted variety will die and the rootstock will live on which you won’t realize until the following season when it flowers with an ugly magenta/red single bloom! If a non-grafted (own-root) flowers are killed to the ground it will grow back true to type which is great for gardeners in colder climates. In my experience, I’ve found that own-root plants overall are healthier and longer lived.

After grafting the garden become flourish and the environment can bloom with the colours of flowers. The fragrance of different flower attract the varieties of birds and insects toward self.

Author: Waseem Ahmed Khattak