Edna lorri shipp

A branch that snaps off a willow tree in a storm can become a new tree in two weeks — no nursery, no root ball, no hundred-dollar price tag. Dozens of trees and shrubs grow from nothing but a cutting dropped in water on a windowsill.

- Willow — one of the fastest tree rooters, visible roots in five to seven days, and the cutting releases a natural rooting hormone into the water that helps other plants root faster too
- Elderberry — cut a twelve-inch dormant stem in late winter, strip the lower buds, roots appear in three to four weeks
- Forsythia — snip a six-inch stem of new green growth in spring, roots form in two to three weeks
- Rose — cut an eight-inch stem from a healthy cane, strip the lower leaves and thorns, roots develop in four to six weeks
- Currant — take a ten-inch hardwood cutting in late fall, roots form slowly over winter in water, ready to plant by spring

Honeysuckle, mulberry, privet, dogwood, and crepe myrtle all root the same way — a healthy cutting, a tall glass, and patience measured in weeks instead of dollars.

The most expensive thing at the nursery started out as a stick in someone's glass of water.

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