5 + 2 free fresh unrooted cuttings of stunning Vanilla Strawberry Hydrangea bush tree
“Cutting length: 4-7". Will be cut the day of shipping. Easy to root.” no leaves in winter
Will produce very large flower cones - initially white, and then white-and-pink.
It is really stunning to see a small or moderate - size bush with gigantic 9-10 inch long flower cones.
These can be as thick as a fat marker (it can be hardwood).
the cuttings will be ~1/8" or thinner (like 2 mm in diameter). The thin cuttings are semi-hardwood as shown in the photos.
The goal is to provide you with a nice variety of diameters of hardwood and semi-hardwood cuttings, for your rooting experiments.
This plant is easy to root. Hydrangeas love water.
Like most hydrangeas, 'Vanilla Strawberry' does best in full sun.
Its mature height is 6-7 feet, with a spread of 4-5 feet.
This summer-flowering shrub is hardy in Zones 4-8.
Produces absolutely stunning blossom - a beautiful/value addition to your home.
In July - they are pure white (see photos). In August they turn red-and-white.
The cuttings will be wrapped in moist paper.
Our garden is 100% organic.
just keeping thin cuttings in a cup of shallow water. It takes 30-50 days to root.
for rooting involves a clear plastic container (Like a shoe box from Lowes or a clear-plastic container for cakes) and live moss from the nearby woods. There is an opinion that live moss has anti-mold properties. Also, it is easy to place layers of moss - like clumps or "shelves" with plenty of humid air in between - and then to place cuttings. It is easier and safer to lift the clumps of moss without damaging fragile young roots - when you inspect the cuttings periodically.
Horizontal placement of the cuttings often leads to several roots growing at the cutting ends and in the middle, potentially producing 2-3 plants from one cutting. I keep the box at the room temperature, 5-6 ft away from windows. Last several photos illustrate the moss, and roots growing at one end or both ends, and even in the middle. Some people call this horizontal+live moss method "simplified" aeroponics (Wikipedia: aeroponics is the process of growing plants in an air or mist environment without the use of soil or an aggregate medium). Recently I decided to use very short, 3-3.5" long, cuttings. My experiments with short fig cuttings were surprisingly successful: those short 3-3.5" cuttings produced roots at the ends and even in the middle! I did not use any rooting hormone, and based on what I have read, rooting hormone may or may not contribute to the success.
When I see approx. 1” long white roots, I gently move the cutting to a “pot” made of a clear plastic water bottle with 3-4 holes on the bottom. Clear plastic allows me to see the growing roots. I use regular potting soil, used coffee grounds and even used leaves of mint after drinking mint tea, offering overall loose soil for the roots to propagate. I can see air gaps in the soil (avocado roots seem to like these cavities), and the roots rapidly growing in this porous light-weight “soil”. Normally I place those plastic bottles with rooted cuttings in larger clear plastic containers like Sterlite 55 - 65" storage totes. I spray some water on my plants and keep these large containers closed. This creates a nice, warm humid environment, so I do not have to worry about watering my young plants too often.
see pictures