Softwood Cutting Propagation Demo and Walk

Saturday, June 19, 2021   10 AM-11:30 AM

Participants will tour the Native Plant Collection with Arboretum Assistant Director Maggie Redfern, and learn techniques of how to collect, stick and successfully root softwood cuttings and how to apply these practices at home.  Connecticut College Arboretum, Native Plant Collection

Native shrubs for June cuttings

For this method to be successful, green twigs should be collected from plants in active growth. Species that lend themselves to propagation from cuttings at this time of year include the following:

Clethra alnifolia – summersweet

Salix species – willow shrubs, any species

Prunus pumila – sand cherry

Sambucus canadensis – elderberry

Ilex verticillate -winterberry

Diervilla lonicera – dwarf bush honeysuckle

Swida spp. — shrub dogwoods (S. sericea – red twig, S. amomum – silky, S. racemosa – gray)

Fothergilla gardenii or F. major – dwarf or standard fothergilla 

Rosa virginiana –  pasture rose

Rubus odoratus – purple-flowering raspberry

Parthenocissus quinquefolia – Virginia creeper

Viburnum acerfolium – maple-leaved viburnum (also V cassinoides – withered viburnum)

Lindera benzoin – spicebush

Lonicera sempervirens – trumpet honeysuckle (vine)

Euonymous atropurpurea – Eastern Wahoo

Vaccinium corymbosium- highbush blueberry

Hydrangea arborascens – smooth hydrangea

Rhododendron/native deciduous azalea (stoloniferous species easier: R. atlanticum, R. arborescens, R. periclymenoides, R. viscosum)

Helpful video from Arnold Arboretum