propagation

If you grow strawberries and have ever wished your ever-bearing variety would also send out enoug...

Peatlands lock away more carbon than all the world's forests and living matter combined, and ever...

Fumeworts are increasingly coveted spring ephemerals for shade gardens, and cracking their germin...

Every cutting you press into damp soil is racing to rebuild an egg-shaped cellular command center...

That lush, multi-stemmed bouquet flower you love at the farmers market — lisianthus — could soon ...

Hobbyist orchid growers who've struggled to reroot a leafy cutting now have a scientific clue: ro...

Picking flower colours for your beds isn't just about looks; it's a way to actually tune the mood...

Mango trees spread viruses invisibly through grafting, meaning a single infected rootstock or sci...

When your tomatoes stretch toward the window or your tree sends up a new shoot after pruning, aux...

Every strawberry runner your plants send out this summer — those arching stems that root and make...

If you've ever planted paperwhite narcissus bulbs and gotten disappointing blooms or no flowers a...

The cutting you stuck in water last spring that never rooted may have been sabotaged by its own h...

That sassafras thicket at the edge of the woods you walk past — the one that smells like root bee...

If you're growing alpine or rock-garden species from seed, this explains why identical sowing con...

Finger millet is one of the most resilient grains on Earth, thriving where other crops fail, and ...

Fruit you eat could one day grow in a facility instead of a field, meaning drought, frost, and so...

If you've ever donated to or volunteered with a coastal marsh restoration project, this explains ...

The towering tulip poplar lighting up eastern forests with orange-and-green blooms each spring co...

When you're tucking a young tree into dappled shade beneath older trees, the difference between 5...

Cuttings from your favorite ornamental tree sometimes refuse to root no matter what rooting hormo...

The stubborn weed seeds that keep resprouting in your garden despite years of pulling aren't bein...

Every cutting you've ever failed to root — from a stubborn fig branch to a temperamental olive — ...

Rare tropical plants that can't be frozen or seed-banked — the ones quietly holding rainforest ec...

The tide pools and reefs you might explore on a coastal trip rely on unassuming red seaweeds that...

Every time you pinch back a leggy seedling or stake a climbing vine, auxin is the signal your pla...

Coastal restoration crews plant millions of eelgrass seeds each year to rebuild underwater meadow...

If you've ever donated to or volunteered with a native plant restoration, this study is proof tha...

If you've ever bought a store strawberry transplant that struggled to take root, this research ex...

The apple, olive, or almond tree in your yard carries genetic clues about whether it can handle t...

If you've ever planted a young conifer or shrub and watched it struggle to leaf out after a stran...

Tomato breeders working to create cuttings that root faster — or backyard gardeners frustrated by...

The way your houseplant leans toward a sunny window or how a pruned stem decides to branch out is...

Every time you watch a seedling push through soil, a fruit soften on the vine, or a stressed hous...

If you've ever soaked seeds before sowing to give them a head start, this research shows that tri...

If you've ever wondered why nursery-grown trees can seem genetically uniform, this shows how a co...

The red-leaved shiso in your herb garden, prized for cooking and traditional remedies, could soon...

If you're restoring native habitat or saving seed from wild trees, knowing a species tolerates a ...

If you grow cucumbers in containers or a greenhouse, swapping potting soil for a vermiculite-coco...

Restoration nurseries growing native trees for reforestation projects can cut fertilizer use and ...

If you've ever lost a peach tree to weak, stunted roots, the culprit might be root-knot nematodes...

The same growth-control switch found in a humble moss also shapes root and shoot growth in flower...

If you've battled caterpillars stripping your vegetable beds, this points toward a plant-based sp...

Every seed, fruit, and vegetable you grow starts with successful pollen formation, and this resea...

The difference between a tree that grows narrow and upright versus one that spreads wide comes do...

If you grow peaches in a small backyard, the rootstock grafted underneath your tree, not the vari...

Every time a stem cutting roots in a jar of water on your windowsill, or a pruned hedge sends out...

The next time you pinch back a leggy tomato or wonder why one branch on your rosebush suddenly to...

The reason a maple in your yard sends up multiple trunks instead of one straight one, or why a st...

The flowering tobacco you plant for its evening fragrance and hummingbird visits just got its gen...

The disease-resistant tomato variety at your garden center or the drought-tolerant grass seed at ...

If you're restoring a native prairie or meadow, picking grass species that actually match your so...

The variegated leaf pattern or flower color quirk you've noticed pop up in a clone or seedling fr...

The desert ocotillo you've seen fencing off yards across the Southwest turns out to grow new tiss...

The velvety purple 'Sunset Velvet' oxalis on windowsills everywhere could soon come in new colors...

The leggy, pale seedlings that stretch too much on a shady windowsill are showing you this exact ...

If you've ever bought a bunch of lavender at a farmers market only to watch it wilt within days, ...

The sweet corn in your garden and the field corn feeding livestock down the road both depend on b...

If you've ever staked a tomato plant to keep sprawling branches under control, this gene is part ...

Every time you replant a fallen seedling or watch a toppled houseplant right itself within days, ...

The apple varieties you plant in your yard or find at a farmers market take decades to breed, and...

The pelleted seeds sold at garden centers for easier handling often carry synthetic polymer coati...

Shea trees anchor food and income across West African farms through shea butter, but they're noto...

Your morning cup depends on coffee plants that take years to breed for disease resistance or bett...

If you've ever waited a full year for a garden variety to produce enough seed to share, this show...

The sugar in your kitchen and the ethanol in some biofuel blends both trace back to a plant so ge...

That callus that forms over a snapped stem or a scraped tree trunk isn't just scar tissue, it's t...

That Weigela shrub blooming pink and white in your front yard is almost certainly a genetic mashu...

The reason your tomato plant suddenly throws out flowers after a growth spurt, or your houseplant...

If you've ever judged a plant's toughness or drought-readiness by its leaves, this study shows yo...

The peas in your garden or on your plate have been notoriously hard to genetically improve, but t...

The poplar, pine, or eucalyptus stands you hike through could someday be bred for drought resista...

The showy lily bulbs sold at garden centers are almost all hybrids, and this research explains th...

If you've ever wondered why a soil inoculant worked wonders in one garden bed and did nothing in ...

If you've ever struggled to start pepper seeds in soil near a coastal garden or one that's been o...

If you've ever grown China asters from seed, this explains why plant breeders can't use a one-siz...

The potatoes in your garden bed could one day come from a variety bred faster this way, since che...

The yellow roses lining garden beds and flower shops get their color from a genetic program that ...

If you're planting a specimen tree in rocky or thin soil, matching the species to the parent rock...

The waxy bloom on a plum, the piney scent of a crushed conifer needle, and the flowers your tomat...

The next time you wonder how a root tip actually builds and moves material inside its cells, this...

The moss carpeting the shady side of your garden path and the oak towering above it both move wat...

The way a leaf curls, a bud swells, or a stem thickens after you stake it isn't random; cells are...

The pollen tube that fertilizes a flower in your garden grows by pulsing forward in rhythmic burs...

The tree in your backyard is already broadcasting stress signals about drought, heat, and soil co...

The next breakthrough in drought-tolerant crops or disease-resistant trees may hinge on lab techn...

If you've ever tried to plant something in compacted rubble or poor construction fill, this shows...

Every genetically improved crop or lab-grown plant tissue starts with getting new material past a...

The waxy, jigsaw-patterned surface on every leaf in your garden isn't random: it's built cell by ...

The algae growing in hot springs and shallow tide pools you might pass on a hike belong to the sa...