I am very intrested in the answer to your question...can I tag along on this one too :)

It depends on the kind of plant or shrub, Kevin.

me too...I would like to tag along on this... but I think, as Tug says, there isn't a definitive one stop answer to this...

My reply to this would be to try things when you get the opportunity of getting the material. But I generally take root cuttings of perennials in early spring, just when they are coming into growth. Perennial stem tip cuttings I take before they have started to make flower buds. But I must admit, with perennials, I prefer to collect the seed. I usually wait until the seed is ripe and sow when Mother nature reckons it's time to propagate them. I very rarely collect and save seeds.
Shrub cuttings, I take mostly in Spring and early summer. Always using shoots that have no flowers. But I will try most things through the growing season. I find I have more success with evergreens taking the cuttings in mid - late summer. I prefer to use soft tip cuttings, as opposed to hardwood cuttings. I try to use more than one cuttig of each plant. that way there is more chance of success.
But I will try most things through out the year from march to sept, If they work = brilliant. Quite a lot of my garden has come about by cuttings or seed. I just love propagating and will have a go at most things anytime.
I never use rooting powder, as I find honey does the same job.

thanks 2ndHand...I certainly feel the way you do...try it all....and many thanks for this..just a couple of questions re: the cuttings themselves

1. Soft as opposed to hard...does this mean you take a leafy stems opposed to the hard stems that emerge from the ground ?
2. You don't use hormone/rooting powder...but honey...do you add a teaspoon or so to water and then immerse the cutting in it and wait until roots emerge ?

So this is what I'll do. I have a cutting of an Ivy leafed geranium in water alongside my trusty mint cutting that always works this way...but no additives..must check it's progress

This gives me hope...as I was coming to the conclusion that taking cuttings was a state secret...but now I realise that it really is trial and error

Kind Rgds

one other question please...how do you take a root cutting ?

Softwood cuttings are the soft, growing tips of the new stems.
Hardwood cuttings are pencil-thick to finger-thick pieces of mature, hard wood, often two years old.
Semi-soft cuttings are from new stems that have just started to form woody tissue. Usually, you grab the end of the growing stem, and start curling it back towards its base sharply--Semi-soft wood starts where the stem stops bending, and starts breaking.

Rooting hormones come in two forms: powder or liquid. With the powders, you dip the freshly cut lower end in the powder, and the sap causes just enough powder to do the job to stick to the end. You then plant the cuttings in a fast-draining, moisture holding, often inorganic rooting mix, and wait for new growth to signal the formation of roots. With the liquid forms, you mix them with water according to the package directions, soak the freshly cut ends of the cuttings in the mixture for a time specified on the package, and plant in rooting medium, or set them in water. Note that many of the easier to root plants, don't really need rooting hormone to make good starts, though it can reduce the mortality rate some.

Root cuttings are pencil-thick to finger-thick pieces of root from plants that can form stems directly from their roots, such as raspberries, horseradish, or Acanthus. Some species prefer to be planted upright, and some prefer to be laid on their sides. They are buried a cm or two in a well drained potting compost, and eventually the sprouts will show. No rooting hormone needed.

Hi Giroffle,
I mix a teaspoon of honey with about a tablespoon of boiling water. I let it cool then dip the cuttings into the mix. I then put them into compost.
TB answered the rest of your queries and very well too.

Tug...thanks so much for this...and thanks also 2ndHand....it has already been spirited away to my desktop

I'll be on this today....as I have already taken some Valerian white and pink (you see...I can now say...soft cuttings) this morning...I have also taken another cutting of a Plant I would like ID'd..could even be a weed...but I am going to try a few methods and especially the honey 2ndhand

Kind Rgds

Thank you, 2ndhand, and I've got to try that honey mixture!
Your quite welcome, Giroffle.