Question
I have huge (15+feet) birds of paradise and would like to propagete them by taking off some of the off shoots at the base of the plants.  The shoots are very well attached to the base and I have had to actually saw off the shoots to separate them from the base plant.  I am left with an intact, separate plant, but no root system. Sometimes the plants survive after I put them in soil and some times not.  Any suggestions on how to propagate this plant?

Answer
Marilyn, Birds are like banana plants, they have whats called an underground "corm" (root system); you really need to cut a section of the corm containing the part of the crown you want to relocate. This is done by getting a long blade spade, (rectangular blade) and slicing down into the ground between the parent plant and the pup; this is assuming there are pups available;  by doing this you end up with a section of the corm with roots attached; this is really the only reliable way of propagating them. Feel free to follow up if needed...Nick