Filling with Plants and Pots

It is not as exciting as it used to be. Am I jaded or just weary?

 I brought Amaryllis into the Mule Barn for a rest. Foliage died back and new leaves emerged, so 4 are in bright light again, hoping for buds soon. I took one out of its pot -- the roots are pretty and white. The tops of the bulbs were kind of soft but the widest part is firm. I scratched away the cedar needles and left the bulb tops exposed. Not going to repot, just give a little fertilizer later.

I have containers of Burro Tail Sedum growing from little beans that broke off. 

 Episcia, new this year. It had a little worm, I saw frass. I can't find the critter. Yet. Those little green bits are tomato cuttings, more experiments for the winter.

Amaryllis, Bilbergia and Rabbit's Foot Fern

  The two pics below show shelves on the east end of the GH.
Tomato vines are vining across the top in front of the fan.
The next shelf has mostly aqua color pots,
few are filled yet except for a couple of Christmas Cacti.

 This shelf has Christmas Cacti in square pots: one each of yellow, white, peach, pink and red. A fern planted itself in one.

Here is a broader view below of the two shelves above:

 

 Bringing the jungle cacti into the greenhouse. The old Easter Cactus that belonged to Miss Winnie is still alive, needs to be cut into pieces and new plants started, a plan for next spring because so many pots take up room. There are 3 good pots of Easter Cactus.
I'm 'bottoming' some of the Cacti with new soil in the bottom of the pot and taking off all the cedar needles that fell into pots.

Bird's Nest Fern reached enormous proportions. Nightblooming cactuses are indoors.  The cactuses are going to be underneath where the tomato plant will eventually crawl past the tin rooster and rest over on the wicker shelves. One that didn't fit is under the shelf with the Bird's Nest. One long limb I couldn't make behave I just cut off and stuck in a pot of soil that was sitting at the door.

 The tomato vine is crawling right on over past the rooster. This is my experiment for the winter, to see if the same tomato plant can continue, topped with fresh soil and fertilizer.

 These are new this year.

 Mistletoe Cactus is one of my favorites. 

I'm disappointed in the Bromeliad tree. They lost a great deal of leaves in summer heat and look sad. It stayed inside because it was so heavy to try to drag out. I have some nicer Neoregelias and some pups coming on from the potted Broms that bloomed outside. Notice the Persian Shield growing behind the 'tree.' It needs cutting back to encourage new growth which might help the looks of the 'tree' too. 

 Burro Tail. There's lots of these.

 Empty cache pots are everywhere, awaiting grouping by color and filling as needed.

Brought Staghorn Fern in last night. It rejuvenated itself out under a tree.

Blooms in the Night

Last night there were 6 Epiphyllum blossoms. I've had plants and divisions of those plants, since 2002. I gave away some pots of blooming size plants this summer just to make room.

They give a clue as to which night is the one by showing white as the tepals start to spread mid afternoon. The tight bud behind will bloom another day.

Anticipation in late afternoon

After dark they start to open.

Bedtime. Pistil appears at the partially open tip.

Reminds me of having a baby.

I went to bed before the whole flower opened up.

This morning the blooms hung limp and spent. 

Three buds remain for this cycle of bloom.

They will bloom again. Last bloom cycle is usually in October. The greenhouse will smell heavenly that night because they'll already be indoors for winter. 

2013 Photo -- they never vary.

Tonight's the Night for Night Bloomers

Epiphyllum oxypetalum will open about 4 pretty flowers tonight, among the season's last. I'll post them as they open if I can stay up that late.

The bottom flower will open tonight. Pic at 8:30 pm.

The Epiphyllum bud above it will open tomorrow night.

Update about 10 pm:

The board says "Dirt Therapy"

Four open blossoms tonight. Each looks like the other.

10:45 was as late as I could stay up:

Goodnight, Sweet Epis.

Because of the cooler weather, the blooms were still open when I went out early next morning. Pictures of wide open blossoms are HERE.

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Other greenhouse news is that today we cut cedar boards for greenhouse shelving. I knew when we bought metal frames with cheap composition board shelving that the shelving wouldn't last because of moisture -- it was temporary.

Today we cut lengths of cedar boards -- our cedar is Eastern Red Cedar, really Juniper, fragrant and long lasting. The rough boards were cut on this place more than 50 years ago. MIL intended that cedar chests be made from them but it never happened. Never planed, more than 8 feet long, 1x4s, 1x6 and 1x8s.

I saved every little fragrant scrap where he squared the ends, and end pieces that were too short to use on the shelves. The greenhouse smelled like a cedar chest when I opened the door to get Epi pics.

Every pot and object had to be moved to put in the boards, so most everything has a new place for now, subject to frequent change.

Cat and Skin and Put It All In

Mama used to say when she was sewing and had less material than the pattern called for, if she could arrange the pieces just so and maybe piece a pattern part, "Cat and skin and put it all in," meaning she'd managed to have barely enough fabric.

Yesterday's greenhouse cleaning was going great until a thunderstorm blew in and interrupted. This morning when I went out to clean some more, a keen wind was blowing. As I admired my clean shelf of yellow cache pots and thought about where Bromeliads would go, seeing the Epiphyllum at right reminded me that there were 5 more Epis to bring in, some with buds.

 Buds!

These buds had really grown since I last took a good look.

I managed to squeeze them in to display best bud effect.

As I admired four pots in place, I remembered...

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There was another small, gangly pot to place!

I squeezed in the last pot.

I climbed on a stool for an aerial view of the Bromeliad

tree and how it fits among the jungle cacti.

As I admired how I'd managed cat and skin -- I realized I'd 

put it all in -- where the cat naps in winter!

I've covered the cat walk where he walked around to go behind the east wall shelves and used to nap where the big blue and black pot sits.

The cat is adapable. When I finally clean Annie's Brass Pitcher and the junk off the potting bench, Kitty will be right at home on that surface.

As I worked, the sun came out and I realized there's still ample time to bring in all the pots that were summering outside. I brought in the Bird's Nest Fern and as I looked for scale and other critters, found a little green frog who promises to keep down the bug population.

First of May Report

Porterweeds went to Fiesta Bed today, one with a bloom.

Persian Shield has not a home as yet. It goes well with 

bright summer flowers in strong tones.

Agreeing with Alison that Graptopetalum was not a suitable companion for burro tail sedum, I took out the Ghost plant and put more burro tail from that little hanging pot in with it. It looked a lot bigger out of the tiny pot. I hated the extra-long piece so I broke it in half and stuck the cut end in the soil to root. I didn't make another pic but it looks better solo like the other pot. I thought about some of that mistletoe cactus with burro tail but decided they should all have own pots.

 As if I didn't have enough Epiphyllums, I rooted a piece last fall. It has some pretty green leaves. Some of the old ones outside look kind of rough. I cut off the very worst growth but left some shabby leaves that sometimes will throw buds better than the pretty green ones. The old bromeliads on the bottom shelf are growing pips again. None of the young ones are included to bloom yet. Most have a little green frog living in the cup.

Most everything is planted now: Porterweeds and Pineapple Sage in the Fiesta bed. Remaining is red Alternanthera. It will mostly join Brugmansias in the Upper Garden. Eventually everything will find a home outside except the purple alternanthera growing in the greenhouse floor.

I think this is Minerva, blooming in the ground. There is another potted amaryllis in the greenhouse that suddenly put up a bud after I moved them outside, so I put it back inside. It is a small bulb, either an offset or a seedling. I think an offset.

I have mixed feelings about Amaryllis. This is the time of year they bloom outside, a good time for extra blossoms when the big show of Spring is over. On the other hand, I like having them bloom in pots all through the worst of Winter. What do you think?

Moving Out

Spring is here. It's time to move big pots out of the greenhouse. Epiphyllum oxypetalum -- I have six pots -- and mixed pots of Spider Plants, Foxtail Fern and Waxleaf Begonias needed to go outside despite the offhand chance that they might have to come back for a night or two if late frost threatens.

Buffy helped load the little truck with pots of Begonias and friends.

I threw in a couple of Cane begonias for color to get them out of the way.

Some fine tuning and transplanting yet to do, but they are

safely in place under a big Red Cedar in semi shade.

 

I am contemplating painting the bench. What do you think?

 

Moving leggy Epiphyllums in wind was tricker. One bot flew off the

tailgate that I left open during loading. Two long branches had to be

secured with a bungee cord. I finally got them all in.

One of the pest control crew rode along.

Epis spend summers on a rough bench with an old headboard for support,

leaning among Philadelphus and Gardenia that shade from late evening sun.

Only two stems broke; they'll root for more plants needing homes.

I look forward to the first buds signaling big summer blossoms.

Now to find places to plant out rooted cuttings including Purple Heart.

It lives up to the name T. pallida in shade, becomes bright purple in sun.

 

According to Yang, Pennisi, Son and Kays, T. pallida has been judged exceptionally effective at improving indoor air quality by filtering out volatile organic compounds, a class of common pollutants and respiratory irritants. Maybe I'll just more the yellow pots into the house.

 

A Jungle Cactus Blooms in the Night

One bloom or 10, it is always exciting to anticipate the opening of Epiphyllum Oxypetalum. Last night was no exception. I lighted tea lights to add to the festive occasion.

These would not be nearly so dramatic if they bloomed during the day. There are 3 buds remaining.

More Jungle Beauties, Schlumbergera

Did I mention the fragrance that fills a room? 

Known by the common name Night Blooming Cereus, not really a Cereus.

The pendulous plants hang over everything.

The next Ephiphytic spectacle will be the bloom season of Christmas Cactuses. Buds are forming, repotting is done. From now on, it's like waiting for Santa Claus.

We expect near-freezing temperatures outside by the end of the week. I was not so premature in bringing in tender plants after all. There are still cuttings to take and tender plants to dig because I always want to save everything from the cold. The tea lights can be packed away making room to tuck little plants everywhere. I must remember to leave room for dozens of Hyacinth bulbs in tiny pots after Thanksgiving when their chill is finished.

Friday Addendum: Two blooms opened on Wednesday night. I though the last one would wait until Friday night, so let He-who-mows and fastens doors close the greenhouse last night. Guess what I found this morning? A wilted blossom, the very last one of the season and I missed it. The two on Thursday morning were still open when I went out fairly early.

Tonights near-freeze is upgraded to 37º which isn't so bad. I may set the Kalanchoes waiting at the door inside.

Linking to Tootsie's Fertilizer Friday at Tootsie Time. I think I'll go put a teaspoon of fertilizer beside each of my cabbages, kale and broccoli. They are growing nicely if certain pets will stop digging.