You can take softwood cuttings in spring, or semi hardwood cuttings in early summer, so now is the right time for one or the other, depending on how well developed your plant is this year. derek.

Thank you Derek for your reply. As I have not one clue about gardening, please can you tell me what is softwood cuttings, and semi hardwood cuttings? My plant is really well developed just now (beautiful in fact). Can you also please tell me if I just put the cutting straight into the earth or what??? Sorry to be so naive!
Alena

another thing you could try is layering which is you take stem still growing cut into the leaf joint just damage it a bit for a root to start growing out of it then place it on the soil pin it down cover with a little soil....bec this is still attached to the plant its sometimes an easier way of doing it ........leave it until next spring then dig it up and you should have some roots growing out of the damaged joints cut them off and plant them in pots of free draining soil ..........or just go out and buy another plant its easier hehe!

Hi Alena, softwood cuttings are the soft and pliable shoots of this years growth, at the end of the stems and branches, cut those without flower buds if possible, if you haven,t got any without buds pinch them out, you need to have about 3-5 pairs of leaves on each cutting, trim to 3-4 inches long, and remove the leaves from the bottom third, put the cuttings in a pot of cutting compost, give them a good soak, and when all the water has drained out of the pot, place the whole lot into a polythene bag, with some sort of support to stop the plastic coming into contact with the cuttings, seal the bag and put it somewhere bright but not in direct sunshine, they should not need any more water, but check periodically, you should see signs of new growth in 4-6 weeks maybe sooner.
I should have said semi-ripe, not semi hardwood, this is just the same material only a little older and firmer, but the treatment is exactly the same. I should have said to cut the cutting just below a node,{leaf joint} hope this helps. Derek.

Hi Folks,
A big thank you for helping me. I will try following your instructions carefully, but please be warned, I'll probably be back to ask more questions. I hope you will forgive a VERY inexperienced (gardener?) and perhaps help me through what I'm sure will be a trying time for you with all my questions.
Thank you
Alena