Relieved!

I just went out to see what, if anything I could do for my Bletilla orchid, and when I dumped out the container, the bulbs are still locked into the soil at the bottom, just fine and dandy, even appearing to be reblooming.  BAD TIMING!  But I'll bring them in when I bring the other plants in Wednesday.  It's going to get very cold Thursday night and I don't want to lose the rest of the garden because of it.  I covered the orchid with leaves for mulch and will bring it in later.

Weeds

I've been lazy about weeding the garden lately, mostly because a lot of the weeds flower and the butterflies have been having a ball on them.  Today, however, I pulled many away from the "tree" that houses Elizabeth and Anne  (begonia) and Joni (mini yellow rose) because I moved Joni to a higher level, I think she needs the sun more.  She's still blooming, such a pretty little thing.

I lit my first autumnal fire, that was neat, although it wasn't dark.  I just couldn't wait.  More to come!  It's still very warm here so standing close to a fire isn't pleasant other than the view and the scent.

I'm looking at my datura and wondering if they are going to bloom for me next year.  They have been growing many months now with only leaves, and something is eating them.  I've used insecticide on it but still something is eating it.  We'll see when next spring gets here.  I have some repotting to do next week, one of my plants is getting too big for her pot.  Problem is I have a right depth pot but not right width. We'll see, there must be something round here that can be repurposed.

2012 Fall Survivors

Fall Harvest

The jalapenos are merrily nubbing so are the banana peppers.  Joni is blooming still, though she has ants, not sure what to do about them.  Blackcurrant swirl datura still alive but droopy due to overwater from the rain, everything else doing well.  I have a variegated ivy that is trailing I badly need to fix the trails into pots and begin plants anew with them, they are about 4' long, three trails of them.  I need soil though and pots.  My  Nephthytis   is rootbound I have a pot to put it in just not up to it right now.  I don't want to expend my energy on the garden today when the kitchen is so close to done.  I am though going to get my camera and take it out for pictures.  So on that more later, I'll post em.

Serious Renovations

I'm getting ready to seriously renovate the garden area.  I want a serene, lush, flowered place to go and read, listen to music, or just sit and drink in the air.  Shaded, of course.  I love my garden area but it's time to make it more usable, more attractive, more peaceful . . . more ME!  So I'll get started on that when the weather cools, that way when spring comes all I need is plants!  I have such wonderful ideas but must get organized and plan!  So off I go to get inspired!

Still Kickin'

Just went out to water the garden.  It's rained today, but not heavily and I can't trust that it will.  There are a couple of banana peppers that have gone red, but I've not harvested them yet, one more is green and the jalapeno has buds so there will be more jalapeno before frost.  That's good I have plans for the jalapeno.  The banana pepper as well if I can get the ingredients before they are too ripe.  Several plants I've given names to are thriving:

Mina, my confederate rose
Lucy, my duranta
Joni, my yellow mini rose
Belinda, my bletilla orchid
Emily, my bottlebrush.

I need to tend Emily this fall, perhaps when she sheds her leaves for winter.  I need to mulch her surviving part, and I need to cut off her dead branches so she may branch out anew in the spring.

Neville, my Norfolk pine has fallen again, I need to get more soil onto him but you know what?  I'm going to dig up some dark earth and scratchings and put him in that.  Perhaps the weight will keep him from toppling so badly!

Over all, this summer has been less cruel.  I've not lost a single plant!  Penny, my prayer plant, isn't doing well but isn't dead, I need to see what to do for her.  Chloe, my closet plant, is faring well.  I feel Emily will have a brother soon to come.  His name will be Arthur and he will protect his sister loyally!  I must figure out now what to do with my little plant family when frost comes.  I'll not lose another garden to the cold clutches of winter I simply won't!  But I'll figure something out, I know there is a solution!

Rain Didn't Help

Went out to check on the garden, glad I did.  The rain we got didn't help much.  Had a pepper plant half dead, Lucy was drooping, everything else looked ok.  My damned jalapeno is blooming, can you believe that??? I'll have jalapenos by October!  That's good because I have a use for them :)  Some other peppers are reddening as well, banana peppers.  But I got everything watered and life is good.  I'll snap some piccys tomorrow sometime, I have things to do first.

Summer's Killing Me, AND My Plants . . .

Mina, my confederate rose, and Lucy, my duranta, were drooping the other day due to lack of water and rainfall, they are looking better now but I have to stay on top of them or they'll die.  Joni, my mini yellow rose is way thin but still living I hope she survives to spring.  Everything else seems to be still alive, either doing well or hanging on.  That's good anyway.  Still can't wait till winter.

New Arrivals

Today marks the arrival of a new Confederate Rose and a new Sapphire Showers to the fold!  They look like good viable babies and I can't wait to get them into bigger pots so they can grow and grow and grow!  They are in 4 in pots right now but they are big strong saplings.  I'm so happy!

Sapphire Showers

Confederate Rose

Summer Has Arrived . . .

Unfortunately.  It's very hot now, by noon in the 80s, it's 82 now and feels REALLY hotter than that.  I'm watering every other day, I have two peppers I need to harvest but I'll give them another day or two.  Haven't lost anything, my roses are still blooming brown, that must be either overwatering or not enough sun, I moved it to a hook that will get more sun, so hopefully it will be better.  Though it's pretty as is, it's really growing.  Going to go take some piccies.  Back later.  I'll publish em.

All's Well!

Everything is doing well, there are many seedlings in the blackcurrant swirl datura.  Lots of peppers on the banana pepper plants, the jalapenos are just now getting little peppers.  I should have bought more than one tree of jalapeno, I'm not going to get many peppers.  BUT I'll take seeds from the ones I do get and make more!  My miniature rose is blooming profusely but I don't know if it's going to live or not.  Some days it looks full and some days it looks like it's thinning, and the blooms are beginning to brown before they open, don't know what's up with that, maybe not enough sun but I know I don't want to put it in full sun it'll burn up, the last two did.  I'll figure it out.  My hawarthia has about a half dozen bloom stems I've never seen anything like it, it's awesome.  I need to repot it to a larger pot so it can spread.  My bottlebrush is blooming but something appears to be eating the blooms, they don't bloom as round and pretty as they used to.  There are so many sunflowers coming up they are so pretty but there too, something keeps eating the blooms!  Squirrels I think, could be them eating the bottlebrush blooms, don't know why.  Persimmon is doing well too, though no persimmons this year.  It'll be a while before fruit bears on that tree.  I'm giving up on Mom's pear tree too, though it survived the frost and drought, it's not bearing for the second year.  I think it needs to be pollinated.  The green pepper seed I planted didn't sprout so I guess they were too old.  I'll buy fresh next spring, I'm going to plant many veggies in my container garden.  Melon seed too if I can get my hands on some and plant them by the north fence.  Mmmmm our own watermelons.  Excellent.

So Cool!

There is a tiny pepper on one of my pepper plants and LOTS of blooms!  My jalapeno has little either blooms or peppers on it as well!  Also I have one blackcurrant swirl datura seedling up, hoping more follow in the next few days.  Going to do them like I'm doing the Ballerina mix, just let em grow and not bother them other than to water them, I know they like moist soil.  My miniature rose is blooming it's butt off as well. Life is good in the garden!

Still Great!

The garden is doing so well.  The ballerina mix datura are really growing.  The blackcurrant swirl datura have yet to make an appearance but it's early yet.  Same for the bell pepper.  All the other pepper plants are bearing, I'm in for a bountiful harvest.  My miniature yellow rose is blooming all over the place and appears to be doing well with new growth.  My ivy, prayer plant, closet plant and other survivors are growing in leaps and bounds, the hosta has doubled in size already.  I have such a pretty garden!

Great!

Everything is looking great today.  It will be some time before the seed I planted come up, if they do.  I do have hope for the green pepper, those looked viable.  That would be great, jalapeno pepper, banana pepper, and green pepper.  We could stuff the green pepper.  I love stuffed bell pepper.  We'll see.  Payday I'll get some more seed and begin breaking ground for inground gardens.  I'm ready to do that.

Addition to the Pepper Garden

I planted some bell pepper (green pepper) seed, the seed looked viable, so we'll see but they are old and had gotten soaked in the last rain.  I found some moldy Zinnia seed and put them in the ground and some cactus seed I put in the large round terracotta pot.  We'll see if anything develops.  I have 9 datura seedlings from the Ballerina mix so I lucked out there, now to get them to live long enough to make plants!

All's Fine . . .

All is going well.  I planted the blackcurrant swirl datura seed that came late.  There is a 7th datura seedling in the first pot I planted.  I so hope they thrive.  I want my datura blooms!  If they make viable plants I will transplant each to an individual pot because I have all the seeds in one container, they will choke each other out if they stay in one container.  I have no hope for the bleeding heart I planted, nor the lily of the valley.  I'm done with the bare root I'm going to try to find them in plant form.  I'm ready now to start breaking ground for a bulb garden.  Crocus, iris, Hyacinth, amaryllis.  I'll have to water tomorrow.  Hate that.

Thrill!!

My hosta is coming back!  I'm so happy I love my lil hosta I've had it for 3 years now :).  My datura are up, six out of 10 lil seedlings thus far.  I planted a bleeding heart but of course nothing is coming of it.  My garden is really shaping up!  Unfortunately I forgot and left a plastic glass of seed packets outside, they got soaked in the rain last night and I fear they are lost.  We'll see.

Watering Day . . .

Everything that has come up is doing well.  Better every day.  It's not going to rain again till Friday so I went ahead and watered.  My miniature rose is doing amazingly well, blooming a pretty bloom.  I hope it thrives.  It does look healthy although two small sections have succumbed to a fungus.  But it's still full and blooming.  I am still going to plant all that I planned to, as soon as I find all the seed if they still exist.  I've not come across the hen and chicks but hopefully I'll find them soon.  Still going to plant the shasta daisies and forget me not around the bottlebrush.  It's hot outside though.  Going to be upper 80s today and the heat is heavy already.  We'll see though I am trying not to be such a wimp this summer.

Half Productive Afternoon

I was able to plant my Datura, those that arrived, that is.  I planted all 10 seed in one large container.  That's what the instructions said.  I got 3 of my sweet banana pepper in pots and my  jalapeno before I ran out of soil.  I thought of and am still thinking of planting my forget me not around my bottlebrush, I think that would be lovely.  And they'd likely come up there every year.  And spread I'd hope.  I have some hen and chick seed somewhere I'm going to try to find them and get them planted in a terracotta planter I have out there, and I want to plant my bellpepper now, I just need to find soil for them.  I think I can salvage some out of pots that are out there.  Little later though, I'm tired now.

I'm Encouraged!

I'm pretty sure I'm recouping two closet plants that I figured perished, both are releafing beautifully, my ivy is leafing out I'm doubly pleased with that, my begonia is doing really well, though one pot of it never came back out.  Still could though.  My pink arrowhead ivy I THINK is coming out I'm pretty sure it is just needs time to come up and be properly identified.  But I'm so thrilled for the closet plants coming out, one of them I tossed the roots because I was sure they had died, then they starting leafing out on the ground.  I put them back in the pot and they have made a little plant.  Neat!  Going out now to get pictures!

I've Got A Garden!

Assessing what I have left I have:
Three pots of Begonia
A pot of Hawarthia
I think my Norfolk Pine may survive
My Bletilla Orchid is AWESOME
Mother's Christmas Cacti
I bought a yellow miniature rose
My Bottlebrush is doing great
My Persimmon is doing great
Mother's pear and peach trees are faring
Fig tree is leafed and already bearing


(sigh)


So I have things to care for and of course will get more stuff as time goes on I just can't help myself.  Hopefully this year I'll get that greenhouse.  We'll see.  I'll think of something in the meantime :)

Winter Sucks.

Lost everything in the freeze this year.  Well I have my one container of hawarthia left and I think MAYBE my norfolk pine fared, I need to repot it.  I also had to dig up my bottlebrush the people that moved in this trailer was trampling it, I just pray it survives.  I'll have to wait now until the mud dries to put it out again, meantime it's safe in a pot.