UC ANR is committed to providing an accessible and inclusive web experience for all users. If you encounter an accessibility barrier or need content in an alternative or remediated accessible format, please contact anraccessibility@ucanr.edu.
Year-round food and water are essential for habitat gardens. Photo: Bridget Ahearn "The birds and the bees" is a sweet expression, but the work of pollinators is a serious business. Without pollination, life on Earth would cease.
Bees are our most important pollinators. Most are solitary bees that live independently, not the bumble bees or honey bees we are more familiar with. Bees visit flowers for the pollen or nectar, which supply the nutrients they need.
Division benefits plants and allows you to share with others. Photo: Courtesy UC Regents Use division techniques for plants with runners, bulbs, tubers, or rhizomes. These plants produce multiple stems above the ground. You cannot use division techniques for plants with a single stem.
Gary Barnes, Pexels Propagation through cuttings is the process of using a piece of an existing plant and encouraging it to grow into a new plant. Stems, leaves, and roots can all be used for cuttings. This is a good method for woody and herbaceous plants.
Corrine Kutx, Unsplash Succulents are among the easiest plants to propagate. Snap off baby succulents (pups) growing right off the parent plant or make a cutting of a stem. You can take succulent cuttings in the fall, spring, or summer. Pruning/cutting tools.
Whip graft tied with string. Photo: Piqsels Grafting involves joining two genetically distinct plants to unite and continue growth as a single, compound plant.
Planting in containers opens up a whole new range of possibilities whether growing plants indoors or out, ornamental, or edible, from tiny succulents or large shrubs.
You can get a jump start on new plants by growing them from seeds indoors. This is a good way to grow edible plants, because there are many more varieties available from seed. Learn more about growing edibles from seed.
Bulbs are great to plant then forget about. Often planted in fall (some in spring), theyre not visible during winter. Come spring or summer, depending on the bulb, voila! A beautiful plant! Theres a wide variety of types of things called bulbs, including rhizomes, tubers, corms, and true bulbs.
Texas A&M University During the winter months, bare root (aka no soil) ornamental trees, shrubs and roses, vines, and many edibles are available at nurseries. Bare root plants are dug from the field when dormant and separated from the soil.
