Some plants can be propagated using leaf cuttings

In the middle of September the nights get particularly cold in England, and further north in Scotland it is not unusual to experience the first frosts. Already in Manchester the colder nights result in the gradual change in the colour of deciduous trees as they prepare themselves for winter and their resting period when they shed their leaves. At this time of the year the supermarket shelves are filling with the kind of goods which are needed only for Christmas.

The beginning of October is normally the time that we begin to hear Christmas carols in Georgetown.

Begonia rex are propagated by means of leaf cuttings. In particular the use of an entire stem of healthy leaves is taken off the plant and the healthiest leaves selected and laid down on fine sandy compost or pure sand. Cuts are made across the main veins on the underside of the leaf with a very sharp knife or razor blade, after which the leaf is placed the right way up and pegged down using fine hairpins, or by just placing stones over the surface of the leaf so that the cut areas are in close contact with the sand or sandy compost. The leaf is then watered and covered with fine paper. After a few weeks little plants will be produced from the cuts and eventually potted up into small pots.

Just continuing with propagation using leaf parts, another interesting method can he used in increasing the numbers of a particularly good form of Ficus elastica − especially the variegated form. They can be increased in the traditional manner or you can use leaf-bud cuttings. In this method a single healthy stem can be detached from your plant after which you just make very small cuttings just below and above each leaf. You end up with a very small cutting comprising a bud with a leaf. You might end up with plenty of cuttings using this method. You then just insert the leaf-buds into a light compost (one containing about 50% sand) and press the compost firmly around them. Rooting should take place in a few weeks. For a short time weeks ago I had returned home from England, and found things just the same as when I left. The gardener had ignored the instructions I given her and had done just what she thought was best, but no great damage had been done.

September is the month when the flowers of Euphorbia are initiated. In Georgetown at Christmas red poinsettias are to he seen all over the place growing in pots, having been imported from the USA or Trinidad. In Barbados at Christmastime the island is covered with the flowers of red and white Euphorbia. The white one is called Snow on the Mountain (correctly called Euphorbia leucocephala). It is rarely seen in Guyana, I suspect because it prefers a Mediterranean climate rather than ours. The seed is very fertile and a few years ago I collected some seedlings to bring home for myself and for friends. Like many seedlings they didn’t behave exactly alike − I suspect because they were affected by the bright security lights as well as our climate. Some flowered as late as March but never a one at Christmas. Well that’s gardening for you, but we are never disappointed and just press on and try again.

Don’t forget to keep a sharp look-out for pests that you can just rub off you plants with your fingers to avoid chemicals. Remember plants sometime get as thirsty as we do, so take especial care of them and may you God go with you wherever you are in Guyana.