1.   Because almost all my Mexican sage stems are in flower by late autumn, I am often forced to propagate from a flowering stem, and it works.

2.   But because the plant is always covered with vigorous new flowering stems, it never looks ragged.

3.   In summer, propagate by cutting flowering stems straight across in two-inch lengths, just above a leaf at top and below a leaf at bottom.

4.   These varieties produce a single flowering stem, without branching, but the dark-centered flower can be eight inches across.

5.   The flowering stems arise directly from the tree trunk and never from the branches or amongst the leaves like other flowering trees.

6.   These flowering stems are much sought after in flower arrangements.

7.   This is because the old flowering stems have not been pruned back and therefore new regrowth of fresh shoots gets less, and flowering capacity is reduced accordingly.