Lettuce Alone without Dressing

The title is an old pun first published in the 1930s, called Honeymoon Salad.

I'm hoping for lettuce with dressing soon before my romaine plants bolt. The plants in the tan containers will be snipped when they're big enough to eat and then a few plants left to grow on. The six plants above on the right almost went limp in the heat today before I moved them to shade outside. I trundle them back inside at night so they won't be squirrel fodder, which is what happened to my Mesclun back in the winter. All was not lost; they didn't care for Arugula, which adorned our pizzas for several meals.

Container tomatoes are not quite ready to pot up to a small pot. Peppers and Eggplants finally have true leaves. I get excited about every little sprout.

Over among the tropicals I was surprised to see Esperanza Tecoma stans sprouts already and a first purple Datura. Pride of Barbados Caesalpinia pulcherrima seeds take longer to sprout.


Flowers and text are from the garden of Nell Jean blogged on Dotty Plants Journal in warm, humid Southwest Georgia.

Purple Foliage Followup in and out of the Greenhouse

Purple Heart Setcreasea pallida. Syn:Setcreasea purpurea and Persian Shield Strobilanthes dyerianus are two of my favorite garden purples. Persian Shield will bloom in February and March in the greenhouse, never in the garden when days are longer and it can be planted in the open.

Persian Shield blooms are almost gone but you can see that it does put on a substantial bloom stalk. The blooms are blue, clashing beautifully as my mother would have said. The little blue cone-shaped blooms would be spectacular on a plain green plant, almost too much to compete, the purples and silvers of Strobilanthes. This plant is greener because it was in more sun in the greenhouse.

I put this Persian Shield outside beside the cycad pups whose new growth is visibly increasing from day to day. As soon as the fronds are fully matured they go out into the garden. They are heavy and unwieldy to manage but worth the effort.

Setcreasea is a more subdued color in shade, dark purple in sun. The pot on the left was shaded by plants above during the winter. When I moved the bromeliad that hid it, I was awed by its blue-green color. The plants on the right got a little more sun.

I moved some tropicals forward to take advantage of more moisture from the fogging apparatus. I should be out planting, not inside blogging.

Persian Shield shaded by Epiphyllum leaves that have rooted.

 Both Setcreasea and Strobilanthes die back with frost and return from the roots in my zone 8b garden. I take cuttings in the fall to enjoy the plants all winter, plant them out in spring and take more cuttings the next fall. Starting out new, you could buy one plant of each and take cuttings. I did that with Persian Shield. Purple Heart is a passalong that's frequently shared at plant swaps.
Foliage Followup is hosted by Pam Penick of Digging. Please go there to see other Spring foliage ideas from garden friends and while there, vote for Pam for Best Gardening Blog.

Flowers and text are from the garden of Nell Jean blogged on Dotty Plants Journal in warm, humid Southwest Georgia.