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May 16, 2012

Vintage Caddies - Perfect for Cuttings

I like growing a plant from a cutting.  There's something very satisfying about seeing a pretty plant or bush and knowing you nurtured it along til it was well established.  I haven't rooted anything in a while - not since my rose bushes, which are huge and beautiful now.  This year, I decided to get back into it, mostly because I came across 3 wonderful vintage caddies over the last month.

The first caddy came with 4 pint sized milk bottles.  I couldn't bear to sell it.  To justify keeping it, I had to use it.  Use it or lose it.  A friend gave me some mint cuttings - more than I could possibly use in my tea. They were perfect to stick in those milk bottles.  I left the mint in the bottles til all the cuttings had a few roots and now they  have all been moved to a nice big pot where they will hopefully keep me supplied with fresh mint for a long, long time. There's also one sprig of rosemary in there.  I've never tried rooting rosemary. I have no idea if it will work or not.



About a week after I found the first caddy, I found another.  Also with cute little bottles.  Amazing.  This time, I stuck gardenia bush cuttings in it.  With buds.  Some have already flowered and gone.  Some of the buds are just beginning to open.  I put them on the windowsill in my entry room.  The smell all around them is fantastic.



After I planted the mint, the first caddy needed more cuttings.  My kitchen windowsill seemed lost without it.  So today I snipped some hydrangea cuttings.  I really should cut off the blooms to promote better root growth, but there's no way I'm going to do that right now.  When the cuttings are planted in the dirt, I'll do it, but for now, they are meant to be enjoyed.



Unbelievably, I found a third caddy.  This one came without bottles, but the sections are just perfect for mason jars.  Be still, my heart.  I plan to use my favorites - old blue mason jars.  I haven't decided what cuttings I'll put in them.  I really should sell this caddy.  I even went so far as to put a price tag on it.  After all, does a person really need three caddies?  For me,  the answer is YES!  I NEED them!!!!!!!!  Really I do!  (Am I going to end up on an episode of Hoarders?)