I have rooted caryopteris by two methods, layering and cuttings. The layering, I admit, has been done by the shrub itself. As I was pruning last fall, several of the lower hanging limbs had rooted, so I pulled them up and plopped them into pots with garden soil for growing on. Some cuttings I made earlier in the summer I simply put in a glass of water and they rooted as well. I've also done pieris japonica this way with good results.

Thanks Angie. I could use some more Caryopteris, so I will give it a try. I didn't realize they rooted so easily. I love the shrub, but here it's only hardy to the snowline, which luckily is about 4 ft., LOL.

Polly: it's one of my favorite fall shrubs and the bees and butterflies love it as well, as you know. I observed more butterflies and bees on my shrub this fall than I could count and it was gratifying to watch them as they busily searched and stored the nectar. Love it! I have Dark Knight and Blue Mist, both wonderful IMO.

I love Blue Mist. I'll go check out Black Night. Thank you. And I will try propagating Blue Mist this year.

Any other plants you have luck propagating please let us know how you do it. Very informative.

I don't have a pieris, as they are only marginally hardy here, but that's good information for a lot of folks.

I started some Caryopteris from seed using the wintersowing method, it was purely experimental but worked great. Now, if any survived the winter....

I don't know what my problem is with Caryopteris, but I can't seem to keep one alive. I see them in the area, so I know they'll grow here. I love them, and will keep trying!

Keep it up, Neal, and you'll get it. If not, I'll be happy to send you some rootings. I have Dark Knight and Worcester Gold; both root well by stem layering as I've found purely by accident when pruning. I love Caryopteris, too!

Ooohhh, I have drooled over both of those varieties in catalogs!

So I'll check and see what I have left and if I can find more of both, I'll get them in the mail to you. I'll let you know before getting addy.

Awesome! Thank you so much! Would you be interested in any Louisiana Irises, Black Gamecock, and/or Sinfonietta, or tall phlox 'Orange Perfection'? I'm fixin' to thin out a mess of those in the next week or so.

Neal, you're so generous! I have Black Gamecock, but would love the Sinfonietta as well as the tall phlox. I won't have time to get those caryopteris(es) (ii?) in the mail to you until later in the week. I'll check with you on Thurs. and we'll square things then. Okay? Fixin' to, I love it! Only us southerners use that term!

Angie, how about just wait till next week (or later), certainly no rush, and I'll be heading out of town Thursday through the weekend. It's funny, when I was young I was embarrassed by my country heritage, but nowadays I embrace it. I find myself fascinated by various dialects from different parts of the country, it's part of the richly diverse cultural heritage that is uniquely American

to everything you said!

Angie, I've finally been thinning those Louisiana Irises, and kept thinking there was someone else I was going to send some to. Just realized it was you! Send me your addy, and I'll get those in the mail this week for you

Neal: Thanks for remembering me! I haven't forgotten about the caryopteris I promised you. The Dark Knight is growing well and mine is already starting to bloom! But I have to say that my efforts at rooting the cuttings of Worcester Gold that I took earlier this spring weren't successful. I'll grab some fresh cuttings from it while we're in Asheville this weekend and get both those to you as well. Of course, I'll need your addy for that.

Hope your garden is growing well and that you have not suffered from the floods out your way. I can't imagine what the people of Joplin, MO, must be enduring.

Hi Polly
What do you mean by
'here it's only hardy to the snowline, which luckily is about 4 ft., '?
Does is die back if it's covered with snow, or die completely?
I just bought a tray of c. Snow Fairy and Hint of Gold. Now I'm wondering
if I can use them where I wanted.
Pam

Heya Pam! How are you doing? I think Polly meant the part that wasn't covered with snow died back. I believe Caryopteris is considered zone 6 hardy. You're in zone 6 aren't you?

Hi Neil, I'm still kickin' - lol
I'm zone 4/5 - I usually cover the questionable with a lot of leaves for the winter.
We don't always have temps below -10 in the winter, but I like to prepare for
those deep freezes in January that we see every few years.

Do you typically have snow cover in winter? That would probably be the deciding factor without the leaves.

Yes, plenty of snow cover. But these are liners. Do you think I should keep them potted and in an unheated greenhouse for the first winter?

I think that would be a good idea. I started some from seed last year and set them out in the garden, but they didn't survive the winter. That gives me the impression they're more susceptible to cold damage while young. We had more snow than we have for several years this past winter, but it was on and off.