How to Propagate Phlomis

Commonly called Jerusalem sage, Phlomis fruticosa has long been cultivated in gardens for its fragrant, fuzzy foliage and showy yellow flowers. Growing to 4 feet in height, it is a large species featuring 2- to 4-inch-long ovate leaves with a grayish-green coloring and slightly wrinkled texture. Phlomis fruticosa propagates reliably from seeds and cuttings, but vegetative methods produce a faster-maturing plant, and the new plants will more reliably express all the favorable traits of the parent plant. Propagating Phlomis fruticosa works best when done outdoors, since the young plants will be less likely to rot, but it also works in a greenhouse environment, if one is available to you.

Things You'll Need

• Seedling flat
• Soil
• Garden hose with mist nozzle
• 4-inch pots
• 0.3-percent IBA (indole butyric acid) rooting hormone
• Coarse river sand

Instructions

Propagating Phlomis from Seeds

1. Gather seeds from an established Phlomis plant in late summer once the seed heads dry out and appear beige in color. Collect as many seeds as are needed for the number of Phlomis plants desired. Snip off the seed heads from the top of the plant. Place the seed heads inside a small bag. Shake them until the seeds fall out of the honeycomb-like seed head structure. Store the seeds in the bag until spring.

2. Sow the Phlomis seeds in a seedling flat filled with garden or potting soil in spring once temperatures top 68 degrees F. Sprinkle the seeds on the soil, press them slightly to anchor them, and cover them with a scant layer of soil.

3. Place the seedling flat in a cold frame or outdoors under high, light shade, according to what is available to you. Avoid direct sun, which dries out the soil too quickly.

4. Mist the soil daily with a garden hose fitted with a mist nozzle. Maintain moisture in the soil to a depth of 1/2 inch.

5. Watch for germination in seven to 10 days. Transplant the Phlomis seedlings into individual 4-inch pots filled with soil once they reach 2 inches in height.

6. Grow the Phlomis seedlings in their individual pots until the following spring. Plant them in a sunny bed with at least 3 feet of space between each plant.

Propagating Phlomis from Cuttings

1. Pinch off a 4-inch-long tip cutting from an established Phlomis plant in mid- to late summer. Choose a cutting with several mature leaves and no flowers or buds. Sever the cutting just below a set of leaves.

2. Strip away and discard the two lowest leaves on the Phlomis cutting. Treat the end with 0.3-percent IBA rooting hormone powder. Dip the end of the cutting directly into the container of hormone to coat it.

3. Pot the Phlomis cutting in a 4-inch pot filled with a mix of equal measures coarse river sand and soil. Press it into the soil up to the leaves.

4. Place the potted Phlomis cutting outdoors under very light shade or in bright, indirect sunlight. Choose a spot with excellent air circulation.

5. Water the Phlomis cutting to a depth of 2 inches once potted. Water again once the soil dries out in the top inch or so. Maintain this level of moisture for the duration of the rooting process.

6. Check for roots starting in three weeks. Keep the rooted Phlomis cutting in its pot until the following spring. Plant it in a sunny bed with good drainage once soil temperatures warm to 65 degrees F.

Tips & Warnings

• Phlomis fruticosa is hardy to United States Department of Agriculture zone 7.

References

• University of Arizona Cooperative Extension; Plant Index; Phlomis fruticosa
• Plants for a Future: Phlomis fruticosa