Saving seeds from your garden is easy. With very little time and effort you can save yourself much time and money. I've been collecting seeds in my gardens for years and consider it one of the most important aspects of gardening.

Saving plant seeds can reduce some gardening costs dramatically. Last year I spent over $100 on seeds for my vegetable garden. This year I spent nothing. Granted, last year was the first major planting of my new, big, vegetable garden. And this year I sowed many of the seeds left over from last year's big purchase.  But sowing seeds that I collected enabled me to continue growing plants that do well in my garden, at no additional cost.

I've grown green pole beans in my garden for about 12 years. The only time I bought green pole bean seeds was about 12 years ago. At the end of each summer I save some of the bean seeds and the next year I plant them. I foresee repeating this process until I'm no longer able to stick my finger in the soil. One purchase of green pole bean seeds over a decade ago has produced a legacy of innumerable plants and dozens of jars of pickled green beans.

Vegetables, fruits, herbs, and flowers all produce seeds that can be saved and sown. If you discover a plant that you like, that performs well in your garden, or that has expensive seeds, you may be able to continue growing it at no additional cost.

At this point it's important to discuss important concerns about saving and sowing garden seeds. First, some plants are patented. A plant patent protects the rights of its inventor and prohibits reproducing the plant asexually. That means you aren't legally authorized to propagate such a plant from cuttings, divisions, grafts, buds, and all other asexual propagation methods. However, seeds are a sexual form of propagation and aren't covered under patent protection. Therefore, some gardeners hope to reproduce patented plants from seeds.

This raises an important second concern of collecting seeds. Seeds from hybrid plants will not grow true to the parent plant. A hybrid plant is almost every one with a fancy, copyrighted name. Virtually every patented plant is a hybrid. Plants with extraordinary color, shape, size, and growth characteristics are often hybrids.
 
Hybrid plants are created by cross pollinating two parent plants. The resulting hybrid offspring may have characteristics of the parents or may have completely different attributes. Because of genetic variation, the seeds of these hybrids will produce a mix of offspring that may not resemble the hybrid parent at all. To produce an exact reproduction of a hybrid plant, asexual reproduction is necessary; hence, the legal limitations of patent protection.

The only way to be ensure the seed you collect will grow into the plant you're trying to reproduce is to collect seeds from "open-pollinated" or "heirloom" plants.

Open-pollinated plants are the ones you see all around you in nature. The flowers bloom, insects and wind transfer the pollen to other flowers, seeds develop, and those seeds grow into the same kind of plants to start the process all over again. Collecting and sowing open-pollinated seeds will usually produce replicas of the parent plant.
 
"Heirloom" is the name that the gardening industry has given to these kind of plants. Many plant growers and nurseries recognized long ago the value in producing seeds and plants with consistent characteristics. Seeds from heirloom plants can be saved and when sown will grow into the same plant. Thankfully, heirloom plants aren't patented.

It's also important to recognize the biggest limitation with collecting seeds from open-pollinated plants: they open pollinate.  That means that if you're growing one heirloom tomato next to another heirloom tomato, they will cross pollinate. The seeds will produce hybrid plants and may not resemble either of the parent heirloom plants. If you want to collect true seeds from open-pollinated plants you need to be sure they haven't been compromised or contaminated by another, similar plant.

With a focus on collecting open-pollinated plant seeds, the next thing to know is how the plant produces seeds. Annual, biennial, and perennial plants will all provide seeds, but not all in the same way.

Annual plants complete their life cycles in one year. They grow from seed, mature, flower, set seed, and die. Many of our garden plants fall into this category: tomatoes, peppers, squash, peas, beans, cucumbers, lettuce, basil, dill, cilantro. You'll be able to collect these seeds the same year you plant.

Biennial plants have a two-year life cycle. They grow from seed, mature, lie dormant in winter, grow, flower, set seed, and die. Many of the biennial plants we grow in the vegetable garden are harvested before they produce seeds:  parsley, carrots, beets, onions, and parsnips will only seed when left in the ground for a full year. Flowering plants like Black-eyed Susan, Foxglove, Forget-Me-Nots, Sweet William, and some Hollyhocks are biennials. You have to wait a year to harvest seeds from these plants

Perennial plants live longer than two years. They grow from seed and mature, but may take a few years before they flower and set seeds. Once they do, they can be expected to flower virtually every year. In the vegetable garden, asparagus, artichoke, and rhubarb are the ones most gardeners know (I treat horseradish as a perennial too, leaving it to return each year and harvesting as needed). The number of perennial flowering plants is too numerous to list.

Plants flower and produce fruit after pollination. The fruit may be large and edible or small and almost imperceptible. In many perennial flowers the fruit isn't much more than an enlargement at the base of the flower where the ovary is. Some fruit may be pods with the seeds inside. Some may be husks. Some may connect to feathers or parachutes. Most of the fruit we eat has seeds inside (with the exception of strawberries); in some the seeds are edible (pomegranate) and in others they may be toxic (peaches).
 
Regardless of how big the fruit or how big the seed, the process of saving seeds is basic. You remove the seeds from the fruit, allow them to dry, place them in a clean container, label them, and store them in a cool, dry location. Some seeds will only remain viable for one year while others remain viable for centuries; it all depends on the plant.

Many seeds need exposure to cold temperatures before germination, also known as vernalization. If the seed you're saving is from a perennial that can handle cold, hard winters, it probably needs to be stored in temperatures below 50F degrees (10C) for a period of time. Usually, four to six weeks in a refrigerator is enough. I store my seeds in an unheated garage or shed through the winter.

I'll cover the procedures of how to collect and save specific seeds from a variety of plants in my next article.
 
While I save many seeds and grow much of my garden from them, I'm not advocating that you take business away from nurseries and seed companies.

In exchange for the opportunity to begin growing a new heirloom plant from a seed that a seed company provides, I'm more than willing to let them sell me hybrid seeds that I can't reproduce. There are also many heirloom plants that don't do well in my garden, but I don't know that until I've tried. The price of that seed is written off as a failed experiment.
 
If I can save seeds from a plant I've grown successfully and reproduce it in the future at no additional cost, I will. But this represents just one aspect of gardening costs. I'm continually on the lookout for new plants to try in my garden. Some are heirlooms and some are hybrids. Some are seeds and some are plants. Each year I try new things. While I didn't buy any seeds this year, I did buy a number of plants.

Saving seeds spotlights the ability of the gardener to find a specific plant that can be grown year after year with continued success in an individual garden. In my garden, only dill, cilantro, beans, and pumpkins are plants that I grow every year from saved seeds. This year I've also collected seeds from cucumbers, radishes, leeks, parsnips, shallots, beets, peas, vetch, and spinach. Some of those may return for years to come and some may fade away.

I'll continue saving seeds and sowing them in an effort to find plants that provide me what I want, whether it be fruit, flowers, or some other result. It would be great to find another plant like the green beans that I've come to love so much for the many years of pickled green beans they produced.

Saving plant seeds doesn't take much effort, but can pay huge dividends. Join me in my next article to find out more about it.

Daylilies are a rugged perennial that can endure sustained neglect and still grace the gardenscape with beautiful strokes of color. I know because I've been a daylily abuser. They do so well in poor soil, harsh weather, bad light, and bone-dry conditions that it's easy to forget that they can thrive with a little help. With just moderate maintenance the plants will prosper and you'll realize you want more in your garden. That's no problem because daylilies are very easy to propagate.

Daylily flowers provide a rainbow spectrum of color that bloom over a long period and the plants offer sizes that vary from small feathery clumps to large, fans of green foliage. Because of these differences in color and size, I've found that I occasionally plant with an aesthetic vision in mind but when the plants mature I want to adjust their positions and multiply the plants I especially like. Easy propagation is a godsend in those situations.

There are only two primary forms of propagating daylilies. The first is by seed. After blooming and pollination, the flowers dry and a small, green seed pod develops at their base. The seed pod will grow over the course of a few months and the seed pods will turn brown as they mature. The brown pods will eventually crack open. Inside will be glossy black seeds. These young seeds need cold exposure to germinate so they should be planted in the fall for natural winter cold or they should be stored in the refrigerator in a plastic bag for about a month. After this cooling period they're ready to sow outside in spring.

Collecting and sowing seeds from daylilies in your garden is a crapshoot. The daylilies you grow are probably hybrids. They won't grow true to the parent plant when grown from seed because it is a cross of other varieties. If you have multiple varieties of daylilies in your bed, there is no telling which flower pollinated another. With varied hybrid parents or different hybrid cultivars involved with pollination, the resulting seed will grow into an unknown, future plant.
 
It can take three years for a seed to germinate and grow into a plant that flowers. After all that time, be ready for a surprise when the plant produces that first bloom. There's no way to tell what color or size it will be ahead of time, but with so many positive attributes that daylilies offer, it will probably be a nice surprise.

If you don't plan to save the seeds, remove the seed pods. Plants that produce seeds will usually have fewer flowers the next year. Since one of the reasons you grow daylilies is for the flowers, there's no reason to intentionally restrict future flowers.

The second form of daylily propagation is division. Large clumps of daylilies can be divided easily and this is the preferred method of propagation when you want your plant to have the same size and color as the parent. It also will produce flowers faster. Each plant grows into a clump that will be ready for division about every three or four years. Undivided plants will begin to produce fewer flowers so you're doing yourself and the plant a favor by dividing regularly.

Daylilies can be divided in spring or fall. The plants that are divided in spring grow quickly afterward, but they seldom bloom in that first year. Primarily for that reason, I prefer to propagate in the fall. Fall propagated plants will almost always bloom the next year. You should wait until after the plant flowers, but dividing and transplanting the divisions should happen at least six weeks before the ground freezes.

Start by digging up the entire plant. Beginning about six to eight inches away from the plant, push your spade as deep as you can in a circle around the plant. Lift out the plant with the spade, trying to keep the rootball intact. This shouldn't be too difficult but larger plants may have roots deeper than the hole and can be torn in the process; that's okay, but try to avoid it.
 
Brush or wash away the soil attached to the roots to expose them. Many daylily roots are enlarged and tuberous. This is where the plant stores food and water and enables the divisions to grow well after transplanting. The more roots in the division, the better chance for survival of the transplant.

You'll be able to see how the fans form distinctive and individual sections where they attach to the roots. Each of these sections can be pulled apart from the others. I find it easiest to begin by lightly shaking the plant and seeing where it begins to separate naturally. Then I gently pull apart the plant into two divisions. Often each of those divisions can be pulled into two or three additional divisions.

With larger plants and clumps, they may not separate with gentle pulling. You may need to slide two garden forks, back to back, in the middle of the clump and pry it apart. You can do the same with two spades but that causes more damage; garden forks reduce root damage. As soon as the divisions are smaller, they can usually be further divided by hand.
 
Divisions should have three or four fans with stout roots attached. These will establish more quickly, grow into good clumps, and flower within a year. You can also divide to the point where you have individual fans with just five or six slender leaves. These individual fans can be transplanted with no problems but may take a few seasons before they reach a size where they will begin flowering.
 
Some old, large clumps may have roots that are so extensive in the center that it is virtually a solid mass. These clumps may need to be cut apart with a garden knife or sharp spade. Try to cut in such a way that you keep the integrity of the individual fans intact.

The divisions should be transplanted soon after digging up so the roots don't dry out. On each division, cut the leaves so that only five or six inches remain above the crown. This reduces water loss and stress. The crown is the part where the leaves and roots meet and is usually cream colored. Place the plant in the hole with the crown about one inch below the surface level.

Daylilies do best in full sun in moist soil with organic matter added. If you can prepare the transplant area ahead of time with organic matter, do it. Adding a high phosphorus fertilizer will help stimulate root growth. If you're transplanting divisions among other, established plants, as I often do, at least add a handful of compost and fertilizer to the soil in the hole for each plant. Firm the soil around the roots and fill the hole.

After the divisions are in the ground, water thoroughly. Keep the soil moist until the ground freezes. Use a few inches of mulch to moderate soil moisture and temperature levels. Mulch also reduces weeds and highlights the beauty of the plants.

There is a third propagation method that is available for some varieties of daylily. Miniature plants may grow along the stem, or scape, of some daylilies. This miniature plant will form leaves, a crown, and even roots if left on the plant long enough. These miniature daylilies are called proliferations and are clones of the parent. The proliferations can be potted up or transplanted. Cut the scape above and below the proliferation. If roots haven't developed, dipping the crown in rooting hormone helps initiate root growth. None of the daylily varieties I grow form proliferations, so I don't have personal experience with this method.

In time daylilies will form dense mats of plants. By dividing them you can keep the plants under control and looking their best. Propagation is a great way to expand their wonder to other areas. And don't forget that you may have many gardener friends who would love to have some of your extra divisions.

Shasta Daisies are wonderful garden flowers that deserve a primary spot in most gardens. They grow well in many different regions and are even hardy in my Zone 4 garden. They prefer well-drained soil but are resilient enough to handle most soil conditions. They require very little maintenance, produce beautiful flowers, and return bigger and better every year. And they are very easy to propagate.

Propagating Shasta Daisies follows the same typical processes as many other perennial plants. You can use any of the three primary methods: saving and sowing seeds; rooting stem cuttings; or dividing the adult plant into new divisions. Each of these methods is easy and effective.

Daisies will readily grow from seed. Let your flowers stay on the plant and seed heads will develop after the petals dry. I like to deadhead the spent flowers in early fall and collect them in a paper bag. After a week the flower heads are completely dry and ready for seed collection. Simply squeezing the dried heads with your fingers will release seeds. If you do this in or over the paper bag the seeds collect at the bottom, along with the seeds that fell out during the drying process.

The seeds can be sown in fall or spring. I prefer to distribute the seeds widely over the planting bed in the fall. This allows for the natural cycle of the seed to play out. They settle over the soil and will be pressed in by autumn leaves and winter snow. They'll get a good cold soaking during the winter months before snow melt and spring rains awaken them. When the spring sun warms the soil they'll begin to sprout and new growth becomes evident by early summer.

You can prepare your bed and sow in spring and achieve the same results as well. Either way, don't expect flowers in the first year. It will probably be the second year before you see blooms on the young plants. You can easily dig up and transplant the small plants to new garden beds if too many of the seeds sprout or if they pop up in areas you don't want them.
 
Always remember that hybrid seeds don't produce true to the plant you're propagating and most Shasta Daisies in the garden are hybrids. "Becky" is a very popular hybrid variety. If you have one of the hybrid daisies and save the seeds hoping to grow many more of the same, you may be disappointed. It's worth a try because you may be pleased with the outcome, but the other two propagation methods will ensure you get the same plant and flowers as the parent.

Dipping a five- or six-inch long stem cutting in rooting hormone, or just placing it in damp sand or potting soil, will produce a new plant that is a clone of the original. Remove flowers and leaves from the lower half of the stem and place the cuttings in a spot with indirect sunlight. Keep the soil lightly moist and in a few weeks to a month roots will develop along the cutting and the new plant is ready for transplanting. The plant and flowers will be exactly like the parent from which you took the cutting, but like with seeds you may not get many flowers in the first year of planting.

The method I prefer is division. This propagation method results in an exact duplicate of the plant and will flower in the first year. The roots are already established and take hold well when transplanted. Division can be done in fall or spring. I prefer early fall so the plants can continue to put out new roots while the soil is still warm. In spring the transplanted plants are already in place for a full season of growth.
 
When I've divided Shasta Daisies in spring, I've noticed that the separated plant sections don't always produce as many flowers in that first season; possibly because of the stress on the plant. Also, the divisions aren't always even and same-sized and that disparity remains evident during the first year. With fall-divided plants, the garden tends to look more symmetrical as the plants grow the following season. In the second year these visual discrepancies fade and all of the plants tend to grow similarly, regardless of the initial time of division.
 
Shasta Daisies can grow quite large into big clumps and may take over a garden bed. The center of big plants will often die as the edges grow and spread out. Eventually the clumps should to be thinned, for the plant’s health and for garden aesthetics. I take advantage of this normal garden maintenance and use the opportunity to expand daisies to new areas.

Begin to divide a Shasta Daisy by digging up the entire plant, digging as deeply as possible and retaining the entire root ball if possible. In spring, wait until you see new green growth; in fall, wait until after the flowers have faded. The plant is pretty tough so you don't need to be too gentle with it. There are many potential transplants in that clump so decide how many you want. My winters are harsh and I want the new plants to have a good chance at survival so I keep the separated divisions relatively large with lots of roots in place.

To start dividing, simply press a spade through the middle of the root ball. You can also use a garden knife. The center of the mass may be thick so using a sharp tool helps separate it.

Grabbing each of the two halves, simply pull them apart. You now have two plants. Often I'll stop the division at this point and plant just two divisions, effectively doubling my plants. Depending how big the clumps are, you can further divide the halves into four, eight, or more sections. If the center of the clump is dead or dying, this is the time to cut it out and throw it in the compost pile.

Dig a new hole in a spot with full sun, amend with compost, and place the division in. Firm the soil around the roots and water well. Space plants at least a foot apart. Each division will grow into a new large clump of daisies and in a few years will be ready to divide again.

For the maximum number of divisions look closely at the clump you dug up. Particularly around the edges you'll be able to see where individual stems are growing up from the root base. This is how the plant naturally propagates by enlarging its base. You can easily pull apart these individual stem sections with roots attached. Each of these sections can be potted up or transplanted. It will take longer for these smaller divisions to grow into full size plants, but it allows you the opportunity to fill in a large garden area with just one or two parent plants.

After the divisions are planted, deadheading and pruning any damaged stems or leaves will focus the plant's energy on developing more roots. Daisies will stay green through most of the year and until the ground freezes roots will continue to grow even when the weather is cold above ground.

If left alone, natural propagation by seed and plant expansion will allow daisies to readily take over many garden beds, but the results can look ragged and uneven. With a little effort you can have Shasta Daisies under control and looking good for years to come.

Growing groundcovers adds color and texture to your garden, at foot level. Propagating groundcovers is an easy way to increase their coverage. While I have some groundcovers interspersed among my flowers and will plant some as green manure in my vergetable beds, my favorite location for the versatile plants is in and among the paths and stone walkways in my landscape and as accent borders. Being a frugal gardener, I take advantage of their easy-going, easy-growing nature to add them to new areas at no additional cost.

A groundcover is a plant that grows close to the ground en masse. They can be grown as an erosion control, as a mulch to help shade soil for other plants, or purely for their aesthetic value. I parlay those benefits into a perfect carpet to walk upon in garden pathways and at the edge of small slopes. Some of my garden paths are better suited for pine needles, or bark, or gravel, but for grand appearance few of those options match the appeal of groundcovers. They provide a wonderful visual and physical transition between different yard and garden spots.

Some of my favorite groundcovers are periwinkle, thyme, sedum, and veronica. I know that sounds quite broad, particularly when veronica offers almost 500 species alone, but it's intended to suggest that there are groundcovers for all landscapes and regions in all sizes, shapes, and colors. I use periwinkle, or vinca minor, to smother weeds at the base of my irises; I love the little violet flowers and almost evergreen foliage. Thymus lanuginosus, or woolly thyme, and sedum anglicum surround the flagstones leading into my backyard; they help keep the slight slope from eroding, require little water, and look spectacular, especially when their little flowers bloom. Veronica pectinata, or blue woolly speedwell, is a new addition along the sloped edges of my stone patio.

All of these groundcovers are very easy to grow and propagate. In most cases a simple cutting is all that's needed to start a plant growing in a new location. I prefer to get a jumpstart on the process by transplanting larger pieces of plants.

As most of these groundcovers grow, they'll add little roots along their expanding branches. Where a small stem, branch, or leaf touches the soil a root may develop. This helps the plant gain a larger foothold for increased growth and nutrient absorption.

By lifting up on the edge of an established plant and pulling back the branches and leaves you'll get to the spot where young roots have started anchoring new growth to the soil. With very little effort you can dig up a section of the plant and transplant it to a new location. The mother plant will continue to grow and send out new branches to cover the bare spot. The transplanted piece will begin growing soon because it already has roots in place. This saves time from taking a clipping and waiting for roots to develop.

I begin by determining what plant should be added to which new spot. In my stone walkway I intersperse thyme and sedum, but along the edge of my patio I'm focusing on Veronica pectinata, a plant first given me by my good friend Della. She has it covering a large, steep slope in her landscape where it presents a beautiful sea of green. The section I'm planting is smaller and not as steep, but I want the same seemless coverage the plant provides.

A mother plant is selected, one that is healthy and large enough to handle losing some of its growth. I lift up on the edges until I find a spot that is full of healthy, young growth and abundant roots.

With a trowel I'll dig under the plant to access some of the older roots too and lift out a section of the plant, with soil included. With my other hand I'll gently separate the main plant from the removed piece. The branches and leaves of groundcovers often intertwine and you have to be careful not to crudely rip apart tender foliage.

The whole section is now ready for transplant to a new hole. Setting the piece into the ground and covering the roots with soil gets it ready for new growth. I'll also add extra soil on top of some of the branches near their tips. The increased soil contact should stimulate root growth in those areas, improving the plant's development. I'll also add soil back to the base of the mother plant to cover any exposed roots. A thorough watering of both plants completes the procedure.

By selectively removing pieces of strong plants and moving them to new spots, an even larger area can be covered. Both old plants and new plants will grow and spread and will eventually meet. The process can be continued indefinitely. I'm patiently waiting for my patio border to fill in and expect the entire area to be covered within two years.

Groundcovers are so easy to propagate that you may not need to buy any and still fill your landscape. Many of my gardener friends have cuttings and whole plants ready to give away in the spring when they clean their beds for the new season. It only takes one plant to lay the foundation for a much larger population of groundcover and you can probably find someone to give you that gift.

I tend to do much of my propagating in late summer. The heat and stress of the summer peak is over and the mother plants are as strong as they'll be. I can also see the bare spots that still need to be filled. Setting new transplants in place gives all of them opportunity to grow roots before winter sets in. Depending on their hardiness, I know I'll lose some over the cold months but when spring comes I'll have an increased number of plants beginning to grow. By the end of next summer, some of the transplants will be big enough to offer themselves for more propagation.

As with all plants, groundcovers do best when planted in the proper location. Once the right plant is in the right spot it will grow strong. Take advantage of that and let it spread with a little of your propagating knowledge.

Propagating lilies is easy. Though the image of an eccentric English lord patiently growing rare jungle lilies in a Victorian greenhouse may be intimidating, the reality is that garden lilies can be propagated with very little fuss. Asian lilies, Oriental Lilies, Tiger Lilies, and American hybrids all can be propagated in the garden.

When cared for and left to themselves, lilies will quickly spread out and can fill a garden bed over the period of a few seasons. When a gardener intervenes to propagate them, the process is accelerated and new plants can be strategically and deliberately placed. Early fall is a good time to propagate lilies.

By their basic nature, lilies want to multiply and have evolved to do so in a number of different ways. Many plants will multiply through just a couple processes, but lilies offer no less than six methods of propagation. All are easy enough for any amateur gardener to undertake.

Propagating lilies by seed is an obvious method, but takes longer than the others. Letting the flowers go to seed and then collecting it is simple, but the plants require more time to fully develop from seed. It may be a few years before you see flowers. Professional growers and dedicated amateurs will cross pollinate different species to collect seed and develop new hybrids. While this may be a fun way to propagate lilies, it isn't something most gardeners need to do, especially since their are better and faster methods.

Division is a propagation method most gardeners are familiar with and perfectly suited for lilies. Lilies grow from bulbs. As the plant matures, the bulb grows to a certain size and naturally splits to create a clone. It divides into two bulbs with the divisions called offsets. Each offset will grow into a separate lily plant. If left alone in the garden, each of the offsets will eventually split into new bulbs. This process eventually results in a clump of lily plants.
 
Propagating from the first division is easy. You can see this in your garden by looking for two plants emerging from the soil very close to each other. Carefully digging up the plant reveals the two bulbs. They're still connected but are easily separated by hand or with a sharp knife. Each of the individual plants with bulb attached can be planted and will continue to grow. It's best to do this after the plant has flowered so all of the plant's energy will be focused on root development.

Separating just two offsets works well, but you can also dig up a clump of lilies and carefully separate each bulb for planting. Clumps may not come apart as easily as just two bulbs and often requires cutting apart the thickest sections. To keep your lily bed balanced and healthy, you should divide clumps periodically.
 
Some species of lilies, particularly Tiger Lilies, offer propagation with bulbils. Bulbils are small, round, dark-colored, mini bulbs that grow on the plant at the junction of leaves and stems. Each bulbil can be pulled from the plant and planted in the ground. If left in place long enough they may even begin to grow roots and sprout right on the plant. In a natural setting, they fall to the ground and grow where they land. Bulbils will grow faster than seeds. I don't grow Tiger Lilies and haven't tried planting bulbils, but it's about as easy as it gets.
 
You can also lay a lily stalk with bulbils horizontally on the ground and cover it with soil. A new plant will grow from each bulbil. Remember that not all lily species develop bulbils so if you don't see them don't be upset.

A method I like is propagating with bulblets. Bulblets are young bulbs that develop underground along the stem root between the primary bulb and the soil surface. Though smaller than mature bulbs, they'll grow into full plants. Dig up the lily, snap off each of the small bulblets growing along the roots, and place the main plant back in the ground. Or you can leave the plant in place and carefully remove the soil below it, digging down to the bulb. Along the way you'll see the little, light bulblets.

The bulblets can be planted pointy end up anywhere you want another plant. Wait until a few weeks after flowering before collecting them; this allows the bulblets to develop and increase in size. Ideally you should have at least two months of temperatures above freezing for the bulblets to begin growing in the soil. You probably won't see any growth above the surface in the fall, but in the spring a new plant should emerge where each bulblet is planted.

In cold regions you can harvest the bulblets and grow them over the winter for transplanting in spring. Most lily bulbs require between three and six weeks of cold temperatures before they'll grow leaves. They'll get that naturally outside, but for bulblets that you want to grow inside, place them in a plastic bag and put it in the refrigerator for at least a month before potting them up. Then you can grow them like any household plant before transplanting later.

The fifth method of propagation is with scales. This method requires a little more effort but is the one that can produce the most new plants from a single parent. Lily bulbs consist of overlapping scales and each scale has the potential of developing into a new plant. Wait until after the plant has flowered to collect scales. Like with bulblets, you can either dig up the plant or carefully remove soil down to the primary bulb. Carefully remove the scales from the outer layer of the main bulb. Removing eight or ten scales from the bulb shouldn't harm a mature lily. When you break off the scale try to ensure you have a section of the bulb base, the basal plate, attached to each scale. This is where the roots form.

Bulblets also consist of scales. You can collect the bulblets and then separate them into the individual scales but they may not be as developed as scales from the main bulb.

After collecting the scales, wash them and place them in a plastic bag filled with moist vermiculite, peat, or potting soil. Place them in a warm, lighted area and in a month or two little bulblets will begin forming along the basal plate. Like with bulblets from along the stem root, cold soaking is needed before leaves and a plant will grow, so after this period of development put the bag in the refrigerator.

You can also put the scales directly into a moist growing medium with about a third of the pointy end above the surface. Over the course of the same period, bulblets will begin to form. After another month in the cold they'll be ready for potting.

After either of these preparation methods, these new bulblets can be separated from the scale and planted in individual pots. Over the winter the plants will begin growing and should be ready to place in the ground in the spring. Don't expect flowers from these plants in the first year but after a few seasons you won't know which lilies came from scales or bulblets, or full-size bulbs.

The final propagation method is common to many other garden plants. You can propagate using the stems or leaves too. Pull off a leaf with a little stem tissue attached, dip it in rooting hormone, and put in in wet sand or a moist potting soil. Or take a stem piece and do the same. After about a month a little bulb and roots will form. The little bulb can be transplanted and treated as a new plant.

With any propagation method you should start with healthy, disease-free plants. If your lily is infected with a virus, each of the offsets, bulbils, bulblets, or scales will be infected too; viruses are not spread in seed. If you have a diseased plant it's best that you discard it rather than try to propagate it. You can also coat the bulbils, bulblets, and scales with a fungicide before planting if you have a problem with fungus.

For an orderly planting it helps to label the result of the propagation so you know which plant is where. Or you can do as I often do and randomly pick spots for random bulbs, letting chance select the best location. That results in different colors spattered throughout the bed. Either way you'll have ample new plants to fill in bare spots by using any of the easy lily propagation methods.