What are good species for cuttings right now.

[mountain troll]

Ok, so I haven't tried propagation from cuttings before and I am keen to give it a go.
What are some easy species to try around this time of year for someone without any experience.

Peter.

[NAHamilton]

I've recently taken fig (tiger bark, PJ, willow leaf, QLD small leaf, benjimina shorty), melaleuca, callistemon, clerodendrum, swamp cypress and crepe myrtle.

Swamp Cypress were a bit hit and miss for me last time but the others I've had good success with. This is the first time I have done crepe myrtle but from what I've heard they are easy and quick.

Cheers,
Nigel

[kcpoole]

Just about to go and put in some azaleas and Pomegranate.
Did some Quince a few months ago too

[bonborn]

I've done PJ ficus, ficus nerifolia and crepe myrtle.

[mountain troll]

Thanks for those tips, I'll keep an eye out for those.
Peter.

[shibui]

What are some easy species to try around this time of year for someone without any experience.

Easy to strike species? - willow, pelargonium, portulaca.

Any species will root at any time of year provided you can maintain desirable conditions. Softwood cuttings - soft, sappy, new growth roots quite quickly but is difficult to maintain because it dries out quickly. Misting or some other high humidity setup is required.
Semi hardwood (slightly older growth where stems are partly woody) cuttings are a bit more resilient and give better success. Most native plants are grown from semi hardwood cuttings (try ficus, callistemon, leptospermum, banksia, melaleuca, etc) but most exotics can also be grown from semi hardwood cuttings - junipers, elms, hornbeam, etc.
Hardwood cuttings are slower to root but usually offer better results with less equipment. hardwood is firm stems usually 6 months or older. Deciduous plants are often struck from hardwood cuttings in winter when there are no leaves to dehydrate the cutting before it grows roots. Try plums, wisteria, grapes, elms, as winter hardwood cuttings. Some evergreen species will also root from older, hardwood cuttings - junipers, many aussie natives, etc but you will need to maintain humidity to stop the cuttings dehydrating before roots can form.