My neighbor has a beautiful single pink althea that has been dying for the past few years. Now the only section that is still alive is cascading over my fence. I would like to take a cutting but I have never propagated a plant from cuttings. Can anyone talk me through the process step-by-step?
Thanks! Laura

Is this the plant you call althea?

http://plantsdatabase.com/go/788/

If so, these sites should be helpful. Do it with air layering or you could always gather seeds.

http://muextension.missouri.edu/xplor/a ... g06970.htm

Newt

Laura, I wouldn' t even bother with trying a cutting. They grow SO easy from seeds. Just wait til you see some dried pods and crack them open. The seeds are hairy and kinda funky looking.

Well, funny you ask this question. I bought a Rose of Sharon this year and it was starting to form some flower buds. I didn't want to transplant when it was about to flower because I wanted the plant to expend more energy on getting established before it flowered. I nipped off four tips that had small buds, and stuck them in a two gallon container of potting soil just for the heck of it, and kept it moist. I now have four small plants that are rooting quite well, and will transplant them this Fall. It was really just for the heck of it that I tried this, but it seems to be working. One of the flowers even went ahead and bloomed.

Thanks for all the replies. I did go ahead and take a couple of cuttings to root in vermiculite, I will also gather some seeds and plant some of those out this fall. I don't know about air layering but will read up on it.
Newt, those sites were helpful, thanks. Do you think it is dying because it hasn't been cut back? One of the sites mentioned that it blooms only on new growth and should be cut back each year.
Laura

Hi Laura,
Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner, but I've been out of town. Not cutting it back wouldn't make it die. It would just bloom on the new wood and the flowers would be at the tips. Cutting it back will help to make it fuller.

Newt

Altheas or Rose of Sharons are subject to cotton root rot. Are you growing it in old farming land? Or in alkaline clay soil? That gets 'em around Corsicana sometimes. QMJ

Altheas or Rose of Sharons are subject to cotton root rot. Are you growing it in old farming land? Or in alkaline clay soil? That gets 'em around Corsicana sometimes. QMJ