Greenhouse Update, a Sort of Peek

I rearranged the Burro Tails:

Bromeliad Tree below with a drape of Spanish Moss. I gathered more Spanish Moss yesterday that was in easy reach while I waited for the end of the chain-sawing/moving trees that He-Who-Mows and Saws was completing. I have not found a good place to hang it that doesn't look awkward. Maybe I'll just put it outside for birds to line their nests without flying nearly a mile to find some.

Schlumbergera pots below with varying stages of buds in all colors. Larger pots are on the floor in front of Bromeliad tree above.

... and bits and pieces of rooted cuttings and seedlings that almost got left outside when I was moving things around.

Looking through a mess of stems above of leggy Graptopetalum and Firecracker Fern stems into a jungle of Tomato stems and fruit. If I can remember to keep oceans of water to the Russellia it will bloom little red firecrackers all winter, below.

When cuttings like this 'take' I want to rush out ahead of the coming freeze and take more cuttings to stick. Persian Shield is tricky to root; Purple Heart will almost root without a medium.

I gave away a good pot of rooted Alternanthera 'Chartreuse' on Monday and immediately pinched two more pots full to root, and some Red. I gathered Pentas seeds yesterday. I didn't think Pentas were easy from seeds until they started coming up in the greenhouse floor.

It's a grey day outside. Maybe we'll have a little rain. There's a cold wind blowing "right out of the North" as Daddy Mack used to say, as if 'right out of the North' was somehow more disagreeable (Mama's term) than 'from' the North. How did your folks describe cold weather?

Thanksgiving Cactus?

Barely Inside the Greenhouse

Peeks into the greenhouse are of little interest these days. I mostly go in to turn on the vent fan, start or stop the mist system and do things with water.

This is my hope for tomatoes in cold weather. 

Started from a tiny sucker in the axil of a bigger tomato plant, it sat around rooted, waiting for a home. I finally put it in a big nursery bucket. Too hot now even outside for fruit to form, it should start to put on tomatoes come cooler weather.

There are a few plants left inside that never joined their friends summering outside in shade. Every little piece of succulent material is saved and set to root.  

Yesterday when I checked on the post garden, a squirrel had dug into the pot of Burro Tail on the left below. I have BIG pieces to root now.

Sedum morganum could go back inside. With ample water they can tolerate the high temperatures hovering around 100 degrees at time inside the greenhouse. 

Maybe the cat can keep squirrels out.

I keep looking at containers and wondering just how many will fit in there.

I can give the Firecracker Fern (Russelia equisetiformis) a haircut. Some years it blooms all winter. Long stems on Graptopetalum in the pot with it could stand breaking off and re-rooting with shorter stems too. On the other hand I kind of like the sinewy shape the stems take.

I made a mistake, moving Calla lilies to sunnier spots outside the greenhouse. Some leaves are sunbleached. I moved them back to shade. 

Inside the greenhouse, I pulled out a great bale of purple alternanthera that was reaching for the rafters. I pulled the front half of the south side; much more remains. I think it helped some with shade but shade was beginning to crawl to the center of the room.

While the days are so hot I tend to stay in the house, only going out to water and check on things. There's a heat advisory today. Temperatures are not predicted to get to triple digits, but the heat index may approach 109º because of the humidity.

Outside for Summer, Line Up for Haircuts

Burro Tails and Mistletoe Cactus. I saw these displayed together on Martha Stewart's blog. Of course her burros have 4 foot tails and the Rhipsalis matches that length and there was a Selloum Philodendron.

My mistletoes would be happier in bigger pots and I will oblidge.

 Last year this was a single Tillandsia cyanea, now three. The stem from the bloom of the original plant is just visible in the center. I gave it a tug; it is firmly attached. I like these Viet Nam pots. I put the Cycad seedling in one that matches this one. It is already outside with the Christmas Cactuses.

I brought over one of the pots of Chlorophytum comosum, Asparagus densiflora 'Myersii' and a white Begonia from the Front Garden. I've had this pot for more than 30 years. The patina is real.

 Purple Heart and Persian Shield have almost outgrown their planter. A haircut will do the Setcreasea good, getting those bare stems off. There are more of these in the greenhouse. Sometimes I get carried away with cuttings.

Another candidate for a haircut: Firecracker Fern. This Rusellia also has split ends. Its graptopetalum companion has some leggy stems, too. If there wasn't a water source very near, I would never have brought all these out so far from the house to seek shade. 

I've far too many plants in pots and lots of them are asking for division or haircuts and rooting the trimmings. I am afraid to pick up any pots of Christmas Cactus -- I know they have roots sticking out of their drainage holes. I bumped up a half dozen that were in really tiny pots.

My immediate goal is to get everything out of the greenhouse before the temperatures get really unbearable.   

Amaryllis, Graptopetaum and Firecracker Fern

Nymph and Appleblossom; glimpses of white kalanchoe and red begonia.

Graptopetalum and Rusellia, Firecracker Fern. I planted a small piece of Rusellia and some Ghost Plant outside in a sunken planter improvised in an Azalea bed.

 

 

 

I brought back inside the Brugmansias I set outside because of the possibility of high winds tonight. I may be sorry for leaving Pentas and other pretties on the ground.

 

Finishing up this post so I can prepare for bad weather, winds and thunder have started.

 

 

 

Bloom Day in the Greenhouse January 2013

There are too many blooms to show outside to mix them with the indoor plants, so Greenhouse blossoms are here. Outdoor blooms are on Seedscatterer blogs on Wordpress and on Blogspot.

Begonias in red and white

 

 

Benfica's second bloom, just in time.

 

Pineapple sage on the left, Rusellia on the right.

 

 

Ike inspects Salvia elegans.

 

Christmas Cacctuses are fading fast.

 

 

Just outside the greenhouse are violas

 

 

... and Pansies.

 

Happy Bloom Day!

 

Bloom Day is hosted by Carol of May Dreams Gardens. Visit there for links to other gardens around the world celebrating Bloom Day.

 

 

My Camellia Blooms are Here.

 

My other outside Blooms are Here.

 

 

Utilize Hobby Greenhouse Space for Pleasure or Growing?

I want a lovely place to have lunch at a table with a pretty cloth and centerpiece and a place to sit and read a book, warm and out of the wind .

Wait! I need spaces for cuttings to grow for delight of next summer's butterflies. Where shall all the bulbs go while they're bringing forth out of season blossoms? Where will tiny seedlings be coddled into huge plants for spring? Whose greenhouse is this?

Banner of vintage ribbons.

 

There was a recent discussion on a blog  about Graptopetalum and another about Rusellia equisetiformis, combined here. Rusellia sent up a 3-foot stalk and another is forming.

What a beautiful thug! Red blooms!

 

This tiny plant brought forth an orange pepper.  No, two!

We'll eat one soon.

 

We'll soon be eating Baby Spinach. Carrots are forming true leaves.

I find thinning the hardest task. Seeds are from Renee's Seeds.

Until a hard freeze threatens, these can sit on Ike's porch on the front.

 

Christmas Cactuses are still blooming; these are the last.

Yellow and Peach. Pretty. I want to make more grapevine

balls filled with moss and planted with rooted cuttings.

When we go to the city I'll look for Rhapsalis and Tillansias.

Plans for nest year include Begonias again.

Bromeliads behind have a spot reserved on

the grapevine balls yet to make.

 

 

 

'Nymph' Amaryllis started out in the greenhouse but is in the house

now for pleasure in watching the buds unfurl.

 

The dark red Hippeastrum rotated back to the greenhouse until the secondary

bud opens. It's still growing upward.

 

Today I pulled a rusty metal kitchen cart from the toolshed and returned it to the greenhouse just inside the door. I must decide whether to dump a Heliconia that is struggling or just cut it to the ground and stick it under a bench. Pineapple sage and Persian Shield might be happier bumped up to bigger pots. It may not matter whether there's a tea table and a comfortable chair. There may not be time for anything but catering to plants. There are seeds to plant for early starts. The list is endless.  

 

Which would you rather, a picture book space or dozens of cuttings and seedlings and bulbs?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Last Look in the Greenhouse, 2012

This will be the last peek into the greenhouse for 2012. Christmas flowers turned out differently than I had envisioned.

'Nymph' Amaryllis still has not bloomed, so it moved into the house to see if consistently warmer temps will encourage it. It has a second fat bud trying to catch the tardy one. 'Benfica' which bloomed so magnificently is fading as a second scape rushes to fill in.

Bird of Paradise foliage and fern underplanted gives the

tropical look that I love. Schlumbergera on the back wall

are fading fast. Last to bloom was a peach color, which

we'll see in a moment.

Freezing temps last night and predicted for

tonight sent my seedling veggies inside.

Spinach, carrots and lettuces.

 

Sweet William seedlings will go outside soon. The awkward

cuttings are Brugmansias and behind them, small

cuttings of Gardenias for a hedge when summer

arrives. They grow fast once planted out.

Under the bench is a huge Epiphyllum oxypetalum

peeking out. They have to be tucked somewhere

for winter protection and don't seem to mind where.

Graptophyllum and Rusellia make good companions.

The Firecracker Fern has bloomed since I brought it in.

Pentas cuttings and more Epiphyllums are behind.

 

Pineapple Sage adds more red blooms. Red is

the January color in here until hyacinths

bloom in blue and peach.

If you look closely you can see a green tomato.

Container vegetables are new this winter in

the greenhouse.

 

The last Christmas Cactus to bloom and buds

remain. We had blossoms in pink, scarlet,

white, yellow and peach.

 

I bought this Staghorn in a tiny pot last January.

More red: a Begonia that seeded itself into the floor last fall. I dug it

and planted in a pot. Surrounded by Bromeliads, it seems happy.

Viola seedlings I potted up seem happy, too in a turquoise strawberry pot.

 

I had hope for at least green leaves for Christmas

if not blooming hyacinths. They finally have

green tips. My new Tillandsia arches above.

 

A last look at the seedling Begonia and some Bromeliads.

 

 

I want to have a seating area and a tea table and more accoutrements to make my greenhouse look like those on Pinterest that are so pretty and interesting. Somehow bits of cuttings and little seedlings and emerging bulbs just take up all the room.

 

The cat demands his space and the dog really needs room to turn around to leave rather than backing out like she did today when seedling containers temporarily blocked the path. Nights will be above freezing after tonight and we can clear the path. When heaters are not needed at night, I can move them out of the way as well.

 

Tonight's low is predicted 32 degrees F. The next few nights will be above freezing. On freezing nights I have 2 electric heaters set on low.

 

 

Happy New Year from the Greenhouse.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Firecracker Fern, Russelia equisetiformis

Firecracker Fern, sometimes called Coral Plant came to me from Janie in Texas. Its Spanish name is aretes de la cocineta (cook's earrings). I thought it was tender and kept it in the greenhouse through a couple of winters.

Russellia equisetiformis with 1 inch firecracker blooms.

Last year I planted it with some Ghost Plant at the end of a flower bed. It kind of sulked there. I brought it inside again and this time I put what was left of it with more Graptopetalum in a flue tile between some Esperanza and Pride of Barbados, where it thrived.

Leftover flue tile that Gary dragged home from helping with some

Atlanta landscaping when he was in college, one of my treasures.

 

 

Potted up for winter and under mist for today.

 

Planting Graptopetalum with Firecracker Fern is not an original idea. I saw it in a blog somewhere, great wads of Russelia and Ghost Plant together on a slope. I'm putting an extra little plant in every flower pot this fall. Once I tried it, I noticed that plants seem to like companions.

 

A big piece broke off, now in a pot to root.

 

I'm not sure about rooting such a big piece. I'm curious about why instructions always say something like, 'take 3-4 inch pieces' and dust with rooting hormone before sticking. Is 3-4" the ideal size, or is it the very smallest for optimum growth when there is not an abundance of pieces to root?

 

I learned propagation from Miss Billie who always broke off huge, truly huge pieces of lush growth saying, "Here, stick this in the ground, it will root." Did Miss Billie whisper some incantation over those big limbs or was I just lucky?

 

One more thing: I read on a reliable source that cuttings of R. equisetiformis should be taken in spring. It didn't break in the spring. I take my pieces where they fall.

 

 

Linking to Flaunt Your Flowers Fertilizer Friday at Tootsie Time.

 

Bright Flowers in the Late Summer Garden

Bright summer tropicals like Pride of Barbados, Esperanza and Duranta are blooming for the delight of butterflies. They also flock to Pentas and Porterweed. You can see them Here on my Seedscatterer blog.

Firecracker Fern and Ghost Plant

Russelia equisetiformis and Graptopetalum paraguayense

The garden holds other blossoms that attract few butterflies, but are for the delight of the gardener.
Firecracker fern and graphtopetalum are a combo that I saw in a picture. I would never have thought to put them in a container together, but they worked out well.

Pale pink Pentas and Laura Bush Petunias

Pentas are a favorite of butterflies, who also sometimes visit a petunia. The tiny yellow blooms of Malampodium are never visited by butterflies but I think the bright yellow might bring them closer to the more muted pale pink Pentas.

Madagascar Periwinkles are just getting going.

They're taking the place of spent Rudbeckias and California poppies who

can't take the heat any more. These have reseeded for several seasons from

Cooler series periwinkles which seem to be more resistant to

nematodes and various diseases. They range from palest pink to

purple, all with a white eye.

Mandevilla on the grape arbor.

Scuppernong grapes on the grape arbor, just getting ripe and

oh, so sweet! They've had ample water and hot weather.

A last look at Firecracker Fern. The pea-like foliage belongs to

Pride of Barbados.