University of Georgia
In his last "Gardening in Georgia" show of the season, host Walter Reeves looks at propagating houseplants over the winter Oct. 29 on Georgia Public Broadcasting."Gardening in Georgia" is produced by GPB and the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. It's televised each Saturday at 12:30 and 7 p.m.
On this week's show, Reeves shows how to build a wooden box containing a small light bulb to keep the rooting soil warm, a key to successful propagating. He covers the box with a metal cookie sheet and fills the makeshift propagation tray with leaf cuttings from favorite houseplants.
Reeves visits Callaway Gardens with Hank Bruno, who shows him some American beautyberry varieties, including an eye-popping white-berried form.
He takes a look at bromeliads, too. These holiday delights have centers filled with water but roots that like to be dry. The flowers are unlike those on any other plant. Reeves shows how to use an apple to force a bromeliad to bloom. He shows how to break off a "pup" from a mature plant, too, and plant it in loose potting soil.
Finally, Bob Westerfield of the UGA Center for Urban Agriculture tells about the free publication, "Flowering Bulbs for Georgia Gardeners." Get a copy from your UGA Cooperative Extension county office, or download one from the Web at http://pubs.caes.uga.edu/caespubs/pubcd/B918.htm.
