By Nancy Brachey
McClatchy Newspapers

Many broad leaf evergreens and deciduous plants, including camellias, abelias, boxwoods, daphne, gardenias, shrub roses and azaleas, are amenable to this type of propagation at this time because the wood is maturing, but not so tough that it inhibits rooting.

Take cuttings, 4 to 6 inches long, in early morning because the stems and leaves will be less dehydrated. Take off any flowers or flower buds, so energy will be directed toward producing new roots instead of to these flowers. Make your choices also from healthy, vigorous looking parts of the plant.

Where possible, take cuttings from side shoots instead of terminal ones. If you are traveling and the cuttings won't be planted immediately, wrap them in a damp paper towel and store in a plastic bag kept in a cool spot.

Make cuttings 4 to 6 inches long, take off any leaves from the lower third of the stem and dip the cut end in rooting hormone powder. If your plant has large leaves, such as a camellia, cut the leaves in half to reduce the amount of transpiration.

Then set the cuttings in a rooting medium such as coarse sand, a mix of peat and perlite or a packaged rooting mix. You can use individual small pots or a larger pot that can hold several cuttings. Keep this mix damp during rooting and cover the planted cuttings with a plastic bag. Mist occasionally to improve humidity.

Once the cuttings root, which will take some weeks and varies with the species, set each one in an individual small pot and take care of it with regular watering and dilute applications of liquid fertilizer. Keep the pots in a protected spot through the winter.

The young plants should be ready to plant in the landscape next spring.