Lemon Verbena Cuttings

Lemon Verbena has been with us for many years.  It is perhaps the most aromatic plant grown in gardens.  Becky uses finely chopped fresh leaves in fruit salads instead of sugar.  Add the leaves and allow time for the flavors to meld.  The taste of these salads is delicious beyond description.  Sharing with gardening friends made the plant impossible to find in local nurseries as a result of its new found fame.  We now rely on cuttings to keep this tender perennial in our garden.

Grown in climate zone 8 or higher, this plant will reach a height of six feet and display beautiful flowers.  Here in zone four each plant is limited to two seasons of growth before reaching its ultimate destination of the compost pile.  As amazing as it may sound, the scent of this plant will announce its presence when several year old compost containing it is screened in preparation for adding it to the garden.  These four plants spent the winter on a basement window sill and will be allowed to enjoy the rest of their time time in the sunny garden.  With this year's heat we may have a chance of flowers.

These two cuttings were taken much later than usual.  Falling behind is what we now do.  Heel cuttings are taken when new growth appears early in the growing year.  That bit of bark cut from the branch anchors the cutting in place and is the location of new root growth.  When roots appear in numbers and put on some growth, these new plants will be singly placed in one gallon pots and set out in the garden.  When cooler weather approaches the pots will be pulled from the ground and moved into the basement.  The important thing these new plants do is provide fresh cuttings in the spring.  During their second year they will also provide leaves for fruit salads.

This is our system for rooting cuttings.  Old plastic juice bottles with their bottoms cut off provide a moist environment for the leaves.  After some time has passed, the cap will be removed to allow limited air circulation.  Then the bottle will be removed.  If the timing is right, the cutting will continue holding its leaves upright.  If they droop a spray bath will be followed by a return of the bottle.

Lemon verbena is the most sensitive plant with regard to disturbance of its roots that we have ever encountered.  Early on we tried to dig up plants to take inside for the winter.  Total leaf droop followed.  It persisted for days and on occasion proved fatal.  If the plant did recover it held only a few leaves and sometimes did not last until spring.  Keeping the plants potted solved that problem.  These plants are widely available using mail order.  They are well worth the effort of keeping them in the garden this far out of their native climate.

Zone 8 Perennial

Lemon verbena has maintained a hold on us for several years.  In zones 8 to 10 it grows into a large bush that is annually covered with incredibly sweet smelling flowers.  Here in zone 4 it must be wintered over inside of the house with only a single year's growth.  At first glance that does not sound like a big deal, but this plant resists removal from the ground like no other.  Almost with the first insertion of the spade, the leaves go into serious wilt.  No amount of shade and water can move the plant away from its pout.  At times all of the dried leaves fall away from the plant.  Some plants never recover and we wind up watering dead sticks for much of the winter.  Finally the obvious became visible.  Now we plant out the young plants in three gallon pots.  These potted plants are pulled from the ground at the end of the growing season and placed on a south facing windowsill with no problems.

Recently, one of these plants was given a severe pruning to encourage the appearance of new growth.  Soon the tiny beginnings of new branches began to appear.  We believe that tender new growth will assume new roles as crowns and roots.  A sharp thin blade was used to cut away a new growth and a section of the old woody branch.

A dip in rooting compound preceded careful insertion into potting soil.  The bottomless juice jar fits over the pot and into the plastic pot saucer.  High humidity is needed while the new cutting starts to send out roots.  We will water these new plants from the bottom for some time.  The jar cap can be removed to allow for some air movement and then the entire bottle will be removed.

Last year all of the cuttings rooted.  We now have four cuttings in pots.  The plant in the picture has turned toward the light.  We see that as a sign of life.  If we need to start over, there are three more year old plants to prune.  The wintered over plants get a nice place in the garden to grow large and lend their sweet scent to the garden for their last summer here. 

Winter Weeding

Normal winter weather held for the first week of the new year.  Frost coated everything this morning as a crescent moon rested on the horizon at wake up time.  White flies and weeds are taking hold on the plants being over wintered in the basement.  Today the weeds were pulled.  Tomorrow the pots will be carried upstairs for a shower and an insecticidal soap treatment.  Any gardening activity is a treat this time of year.

This pot of lemon verbena displays a good growth of both weeds and white flies.  Most years the white flies win and we are left with pots of dead sticks come spring.  Last winter we managed to successfully carry three pots of lemon verbena through till spring.  The pictured plants are from cuttings that were taken late last winter.  Our plan is to try this again.  Overwintered plants grow to giants during their second year.  Only first year plants are small enough to pot up for an indoor winter.

This rosemary is also a first year cutting.  The parent plant was well on its way to a certain demise when the cuttings were taken.  The new plant looks healthy although its companion chickweed remains small.  These plants are on the landing of the stairs from the basement.  The mostly glass door provides a generous amount of sunlight.  Two floor level radiators supply the heat while the open stairway generates air currents.  This combination of light, heat and moving air makes this area the best location we have to keep these outdoor plants alive during winter.

The first phase of the job is done.  Weeds are gone and I have soil under my fingernails.  The plants have been turned to force new growth on the sunny side of the plant.  This brush with the promise of spring has me wondering how soon seeds can be put to soil under indoor light.  The urge to garden seems to be stirring.