Today, I suppose the more commonly used term for slips is "cuttings." But even though the miracle of growing a whole new plant from a tiny piece of the original is new to some, the practice of taking slips as a method of plant propagation is a very old one.
In Victorian times, taking slips of plants like roses, hydrangea, begonias, and geraniums was a favorite way to share the favorite and most popular varieties with friends and neighbors. And it still ought to be a favorite way of creating more plants to share!
Through the years, plant propagation has become an extensive science. We have specially formulated rooting hormones, rooting media, propagation houses and chambers in which we can control temperature and humidity... the list goes on. But for centuries, plant enthusiasts have been propagating plants using much simpler methods.
Slips or cuttings can be rooted in a few different medias, such as moist sand, soil, or just plain water. I usually use a mixture of perlite and peat moss, to provide a sterile balance of water retention and drainage. (But plenty of times have I come home with a bag full of slips and simply stuck them in a jar of water on the windowsill... and been very successful!)
To begin, select donor plants that are healthy, free of pests and disease, and have been well-watered. Also, do a little research on the specific type of plant to determine the best time of year to take cuttings (often when the plant is actively growing, in the spring and summer), if they should be softwood, semi-hardwood, or hardwood cuttings, and what type of cuttings to take (stem, leave, root, etc.). Stem cuttings are the most common, and what I will be demonstrating.
When cutting material from the plants, keep in mind that it's helpful to do a little shaping and pruning while you're at it. Avoid taking cuttings in the heat of the day, and make sure to keep them moist!
Individual slips should be between three and six inches long, with at least two nodes (the swollen parts along the stem where leaves are attached) - one at the bottom and at least one at the top. (The exception in length is if you're taking slips from a plant with very long internodes, or the spaces between two nodes. In this case, just be sure to include two nodes, and rooting media that is deep enough to support the extra-tall cutting.) Remove the leaves from the bottom node, and make sure that no leaves will touch the rooting media. Leave the leaves growing from the top node(s) to photosynthesize and provide energy for the developing roots; if the leaves are very large (like hydrangea leaves) you can trim them back slightly.
From left to right: Feverfew, Autumn Sage, Hydrangea, Lavender
Before inserting your slips into rooting media (other than water), you may want to dip the bottom node in a rooting hormone. I use a general powdered hormone, indole-3-butyric acid, that works for most types of cuttings to speed root development.
Any type of container can be used for starting cuttings, as long as it will provide drainage. I like to recycle, so I use whatever little nursery pots I have around... Just be sure you clean and disinfect whatever you use to as not to spread disease to your new little plants.
Stick your cuttings into moist rooting media, and mist with water. Again, preventing them from drying out is very important! To raise the humidity around the cuttings, you can make a mini-greenhouse by placing a plastic Ziploc-type bag over the pot and placing it on a windowsill out of direct sunlight. I also put cuttings in a cold frame, which keeps the environment warm, humid, and out of direct sunlight.
After a few weeks of keeping your slips warm and well-watered, test for root development by tugging gently on the tops: if they pull out easily, the roots are still forming; if they resist when tugged, you should have roots! Gently remove one of your slips and check!
Now, your new plants can be planted in the garden, or potted up and shared with friends or neighbors over the garden gate, in true Victorian fashion.
Cornflowers, officially known as Centaurea cyanus and sometimes better known as bachelors buttons, are one of my very favorite wildflowers - there's nothing else quite like cornflower blue!
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Well, every day is a work day, I guess, but yesterday was an especially big day, as Eric was able to help me finish laying drip tape in the second half of my flower patch. 
Borage is an excellent
companion plant for vegetable gardens, especially planted with tomatoes as it
is supposed to repel tomato hornworm, and with strawberries and squash. It reseeds quite freely, (which I think is
great, but those who like more formal garden beds may find annoying) and was a common
kitchen garden herb in the 1800's. The
flowers are edible and make lovely garnishes, plus they're just pretty! 
Growing under the
toughest conditions - rocky crevices, bone-dry sand, bogs, alpine slopes - where
none but the most daring gardener would ever dream of planting a flower garden, wildflowers seem to defy all
odds, and everything every gardening book tells us about "moist, fertile,
well-drained loamy soil." And yet, each plant is perfectly suited to its environment.
Butterflies are, in my opinion, probably the most beautiful group of insects. They flit and flutter gracefully from flower to flower, the embodiment of a lazy summer afternoon. And one of the most widely recognized butterfly is the monarch.
A combination of habitat loss due to the use of herbicides across expanding areas of farmland, and the use of pesticides, has had a direct and drastic effect on butterfly populations. But by farming or gardening pieces of land organically, without the use of chemicals, and by growing a food source for monarch caterpillars, milkweed plants, we can help provide protected islands (or "waystations") for monarch and other butterfly species populations to recover.
Born in 1774 in
Massachusetts (around the time of the Battle of Bunker Hill; his father,
Nathaniel Chapman, served in the Continental Army under George Washington in
the Revolutionary War), John Chapman went west at the age of 18. As a boy, he was started on his career as an
orchardist through an apprenticeship to a Mr. Crawford, who had apple orchards. There are many tales about the path Johnny's
life took, where exactly he lived and traveled, and the popular image is of
Johnny scattering apple seeds randomly as he walked. But in truth, he planted nurseries along his
way, leaving them in the care of a neighbor who then sold the trees for him on
shares, and returning every few years to tend his trees. In this way, Johnny introduced apple trees to
large parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. 
The only surviving
tree, according to the American Forests' Historic Trees program,
is located on a farm in Nova, Ohio. Most
agree that the tree is a Rambo variety, introduced to American in the
1640's. The fruit ripens in September
and is a cider or baking/applesauce variety of apple. Cuttings of the "Johnny Appleseed
Tree" are grafted onto rootstock and young saplings are available through
nurseries, such as Raintree Nursery. 
In perhaps the strictest sense, by
the laws of botany, an heirloom variety of a plant is one that is produced by
open pollination; that is to say, the seed from which it came developed naturally,
having been pollinated by another genetically similar plant with the help of
natural mechanisms such as insects, birds, and wind. The seed resulting from these plants can be
collected and will grow true to form the following year, passing on the parent
plants' characteristics to the following generation. In most cases, heirloom varieties of flowers
have brighter colors and stronger fragrance.
They also tend to be better suited for their surrounding environment and
ecosystem, as they have been allowed to adapt over time to the area's specific
conditions. Because the pollen source,
or male parent, is unknown in open pollination, it does allow for the
possibility of naturally occurring hybrids or offspring that vary widely in
genetic traits, which increases the gene pool and biodiversity (which, from an
ecological standpoint, is always a good thing!).
