Good morning!

Are you looking for the best way to propagate them? Via seed or cuttings? If you choose one of the methods below they will be much smaller than if you purchase them from a nursery.

Rabbitbrush

- Seed: they will start pretty easily from seed. You can wild collect seed in the fall or purchase it. 

- Vegetative: If you have an existing plant you can layer it! Here is a information sheet on how to layer from NC State. This method will provide you with a larger plant and faster than growing from seed. This is the way I would suggest if you have an existing plant. 

Russian Sage

- Seed: can be grown by seed; if you wild collect the seed they need to be stratified (put in the fridge for 30 days to stimulate winter) They can be directly sowed or started inside. The last section on this reference has more information on seeding them. 

- Vegetative: Russian sage has two methods of vegetative propagation. if you have a huge existing plant they can be divided. Here is some great information on how to divide a perennial. You can also take cuttings in the summer from Russian Sage. You want to take cuttings off the new growth of the plant (softwood cuttings) and have 3-4 nodes. You can put the cuttings in water or in soil - once they have a strong root system you can plant them outside. Here is some more information on taking a cutting from a plant.

Thanks for reaching out and let me know if you have any more questions!

Rachel          

Dear Rachel,

A quick note of thanks~

I was able to take many new cuttings from my old Russian sage; they're
in their mini greenhouses looking happy!  Thanks a bunch!

How will I know it's time to remove them from their green houses? I
started them all yesterday.

Best,
Charlotte

On Tue, Mar 26, 2024 at 2:42 PM Ask Extension <ask> wrote:
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That is awesome! What type of containers are they in? I like to wait till I see roots before transplanting any cuttings. This ensures that they have a strong root system to get started in the ground.

Feel free to send photos!

Rachel