There's an easy way to get many new plants from the ones you already have. You can propegate ( make new plants) from the ones you already have. For instance, you might have some English Ivy inside or outside your home that you would like to have more of for yourself or to give as a gift. You can clip a piece off and root it in water. Be sure that you take off a long enought stem that it will fit inside a vase. Before you insert the stems into the vase of water, you want to pull off, from the bottom portion, about two to four leaves so that there will not be any leaves submerged into the glass/vase under water. Cut the stem at an angle and replace with fresh water every few days. It will take a few weeks before roots begin the form and become strong enough for you to transplant into soil. It's very easy to do, but patience is the key. Many times, people make the mistake of transplanting the stem out of the water too soon. It would be a good idea to leave a stem in the water and change the water often for at least a couple months so the roots will be strong.

Same thing goes for any houseplant, such as African Violets. These plants are very easy to root and propegate. You can cut one or two stems and root them and before you know it you will have several plants from just a couple stems. Cut the stem down as far as you can and place in a shallow dish to root. ( a shot-glass is great for this). Wait several weeks for the roots to get established then transplant into a new pot. These make wonderful gifts, especially for a house-warming. Put a wide ribbon around the pot that matches the color of the petals. Beautiful! (Oh, one more thing.....) After you transplant the African Violet plant, you can gently cut off the original stem and leave the new baby stems. It just looks better.