I do not know if they propagate well by rooting the cuttings. They seem like they would. They do propagate well by reseeding themselves.
I have them sprouting every year. They attract bees and butterflies and hummingbirds. They are easy to care for them.
They are one of my favorites.

I've rooted them from cuttings. I usually make a mini green house by putting them in a plastic bag. I do use rooting hormone (dip and grow).
Laura

I'd try to grow cuttings and then try and transplant the mother plant. They do get huge, don't they?

I don't think you can kill them that easily (transplanting them that is)I moved one and it looked dead for several weeks now it is taking over my garden again! They will take hard pruning well. Prune it back before you move it. I haven't ever rooted them from cuttings because they will sucker enough that I can divide them. Good luck!
Kat

We have a friend in PSL who simply takes a blossom and pushes it into the dirt wherever she wants a plant to grow. She says its 'foolproof'. One of my favorites, also.. I love the blue, but have only had the huge coral one. "Lotsa" butterflies

i'm bringing a couple dozen of the blue-bloomed seedlings to the orlando swap in october. they reseed everywhere in my yard, almost to the point of weediness. i wish all weeds, tho, were as pretty as porterweed.

they are tremendously difficult to kill.

I've never tried rooting them, either, but I HAVE moved them with no problem. So if you plan to move your plant, you might as well take cuttings first, prune it down to size, move it, and root the cuttings. It's worth a try. You could have a whole bed full of porterweed, if you have the room, and it would draw butterflies from everywhere. Plus you'd have lots to share.

Ill, the blue one you gave me looks fantastic now, and I also bought a red-violet one that is getting very large. I love them both.

Marcia

Hey, I just trimmed a bunch of brown flower stems off my red porter weed. Are there seeds in there? I rubbed the dried stems but didn't really notice any seeds. I need to go dig them outta the yard trash trailer! Someone asked for a cutting from me last weekend, so I am guessing they are easy to start new plants.

BTW Ill-Man, your blue porterweed is doing just great in a pot with my red/pink aptenia. And your gold aptenia is blooming for me now.

Holy cow! I had no idea about any of this! I bought it precisely to attract hummers (well, my one...) and butterflies and planted it with no research. I just think it's a neat looking plant and love the indigo colored flowers.

I did not know about the re-seeding issue...I will have to watch that so I don't end up with 1002 of them. My guess is that it probably makes a nice flowering shrub. I am thinking about moving it to my front yard to plant in place of the podacarpus I dug up and to use it as a shrub.

My front yard is not as sunny as my backyard due to the large oaks. How does it do in partial sun/semi-shade? My guess is not very well?

Now, one thing I have noticed, is that the "arms" which have the flowers-- on my plant -- do not flower on the entire "arm". It reminds me of an arm, okay? "Octopus plant" could have been it's other name...LOL...
So, why is it not flowering on the whole thingie - branch, stem...whatever it is. I have few blooms.

Thanks for all of the advice everyone!

saintp-my blue, indigo and red porter weed all only bloom at the very tips, too. They do look like octopus!

ah -- if your flower is a dark blue, you have Stachytarpheta jamaicensis. the only porterweed i have is the lighter-blue one, S. cayennensis. so you may not have the reseeding "problems" i do.

S. cayennensis is pretty shade tolerant -- i had it growing at the base of a privacy fence -- it got, maybe, an hour a day of direct sun, a lot of indirect sun. i'd say it would grow well in the filtered sun of live oaks. if you're coming to the orlando swap, i'll have a ton of them to give away...

Ill Man, I love the color of your blue one. It is so much lighter than my indigo. It really compliments the blue pea in the companion container. It is so clear blue colored.

cindee -- i'm glad those plants are doing well for you. your vanilla orchid has grown some, but i need to repot & fertilize it. the aptenia you sent me hasn't grown much, but it blooms every day!

Ill-Man, if you figure out how to get the vanilla to bloom, please clue me in! Mine is getting pretty big with 2 4 foot branches off the main plant. It bloomed once when it was just a squirt with only 2 leaves and maybe 3 inches long! The fragrance was heavenly vanilla.

I do love the blue porter. Very bright and cheerful like plant.

Saintpfla, not all of the porterweeds available seed so freely, and frankly, even the one that does doesn't do so in every location. I've had the blue one (that they try to tell you is native, but which isn't) in partial shade and it did just fine, and reseeding was not a problem in that spot.

I would wait to see what yours does, and then if it gives you any problems, yank it out. It isn't hard to pull up at all, and I think you can control it. And yours might not even be the one that seeds like that.

A lot of the ones for sale in HD, etc, are violet rather than blue, or coral, and I don't believe those are a problem in most places. At least, that's been my experience.

Porterweed is too good a butterfly/hummer plant NOT to grow. Good luck with yours.

Marcia

Thanks, Marcia! Yes - it is really closer to a violet-blue color. I have it next to my Duranta and the two colors look so nice together....as long as you pretend not to notice the weeds, that is!

So, no one has told me yet, where are the seeds? Dennis already dumped the yard waste wagon, so those brown flower stalks I cut are long gone. Sure would like to know if that was seeds I threw out.

Does anyone know if the porter weed is poisonous to dogs? I have the Purple Porter Weed and Red Porter weed. I heard they were poisonous to dogs and I need to find out before I plant the ones I bought for the back yard.

It's not on this list:

Aconitum

• Amaryllis bulbs
• Asparagus fern
• Azalea
• Bluebells
• Cyclamen
• Daffodil bulbs
• Day lilies
• Delphiniums
• Dog's Mercury (Mercurialis perennis)
• Foxgloves
• Hemlock
• Hyacinth
• Hydrangea
• Ivy
• Laburnum
• Lily of the valley
• Lupins
• Morning glory
• Nightshade
• Oleander
• Rhododendron
• Rhubarb leaves
• Sweet pea
• Tulip bulbs
• Umbrella plant
• Wisteria
• Yew

If your dog chews or eats any of these, seek veterinary help immediately.

Carol, does your dog eat plants? I'm a cat person, so I don't know about dogs. My cats would chew on any greenery brought into the house, but my outdoor cats seemed to be selective.

I have had the blue porterweed in my yard for years. It's in a mostly shady location but gets some afternoon sun. this is one of my favorite planets. It reseeds all over and I've just stuck a stem in the ground and it has grown. I've also found it in the grass where I guess seeds have fallen. As someone else mentioned, it is great for butterflies and in the winter I see hummers on it as well. By far one of my best, easiest growing and prettiest plants. Good luck.

My favorite too! I guess the blue & purple weed is the same. When you say you reseeded a stem...was it the green stem or the brown (I guess the brown is dead)? Do you just cut off a green stem & plant it in the flower bed?

Yes, the green stem. It's very easy to propagate.

Thank you!