Hi everyone! :-D I'm excited to find this forum! I love gardening and I'm also an oil painter. I have 2 lilac branches (3'long) that I saved from a pile of brush and am praying to save. I have them in a vase of water and I know I'm not doing something right because it's been four days and one of them is wilty and they aren't seeming to show any signs of roots, though their budded leaves are still green. Should I stick them in a pot of soil and put a garbage bag around them to trap in the moisture??? Is this a lost cause? :'( Any advice is greatly appreciated. malamik
Oh, you've chosen a bit of a tough project :-? Lilacs are not the easiest of plants to root from cuttings. As I understand it, the timing is quite critical. Softwood cuttings should be made before end leaves mature, but, ideally, when the new growth has just begun to form woody tissue. I would not expect them to root in water, rather, remove most of the lower leaves, allowing a few small ones to remain at the growing tip. Use a rooting hormone and put the cuttings into a well drained medium. You will need to mist them several times a day to prevent wilting, placing the entire pot into a baggie to contain moisture might work. Good luck, I hope this helps. It's worth a try, nothing to loose, and bragging rights if you succeed.
Zuzu's Petals thank you! I had a feeling that this may take some work, well then I'm off to find some rooting hormone! I simply cannot let them die, I'd rather save these than buy one to replace them. Wish me luck!
Good luck malamik. I am currently trying to grow some lilacs myself. Mine were some shoots that my sister in law gave us so they are already rooted. Now if I can just keep them alive and my husband away from them with the weed trimmer.
