Tricyrtis propagation

Spring is always an exciting time when fresh plant shoots emerge and the garden springs back to life. Spring is also a very good time to propagate your favourite plants. Not only germinate lots of seeds, softwood and basal cuttings also root easily and quickly from late March onwards as temperatures warm up and daylight hours lengthen.

In my horticultural career I have been propagating many plants. Mostly by cuttings and seed, but I have also done grafting of fruit trees and roses in the summer. However, so far I have only propagated Tricyrtis by division.

Division is one of the easiest propagation methods. It basically splits an existing clump into smaller chunks which then bulk up over the growing season to the same size as the stock plant once was, meaning they most likely will flower in that same season too. In other ways: clones are produced as the genetic material is 100% identical. Quite often this is the most reliable way of propagation, especially when cultivars need to stay true and potential reversions need to be avoided. Taking cuttings achieves this equally by multiplying the same genetic material.

Tricyrtis hirta 'Taiwan Atrianne'

As I visited the RHS garden at Wisley today, I walked through the garden centre on my way out. Their offer of Tricyrtis is rather limited and those that were for sale were only a common selection. Nonetheless I was tempted enough and bought a pot of each cultivar Tricyrtis hirta 'Taiwan Atrianne' and Tricyrtis 'Tojen'.

Generally I refrain from buying plants targeted at the middle class, as the RHS tends to be pricey. On the other hand, customers not only then expect five star quality but also that names and cultivars can absolutely be trusted. The plant quality was indeed superb. Each 2l pot was filled out completely with a very healthy specimen.

Although a pot did cost £8.99, I was able to divide each plant into three clumps so that I ended up with a total bargain. Having bought two pots paying £17.98 at the garden centre, I have now six strong specimen added to my collection. Effectively each pot now only cost me around £3.00 plus a bit of compost for the division.

pot as purchased Tricyrtis 'Tojen'

same plant after dividing Tricyrtis 'Tojen'

And there we are, another addition to my growing collection!