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.

New Year's Cactus

If a Schlumbergera doesn't bloom by Christmas, it magically becomes a New Year's Cactus. The peach color and the bright lavender pink are blooming now.

I brought in one of the peach color.

I thought an aqua cache pot would complement it. I see now that Navy blue would be a better choice.

This may call for a do over. I almost let these go unnoticed until I remembered they might need water.

Bloom Day Preview in the Greenhouse

Enthusiasm waned. Plants went on without me. Hyacinth bulbs are finally out of chill and in pots.

Schlumbergera:

There are other blooming plants but these are the most startling. I gave away a rooted Persian Shield, a Gerbera seedling and something else I forget to a delightful visitor named Lillie, 20 years older than me, after we toured the garden in my Mule. And seeds! We gathered seeds of everything outside that had pods.

It was wonderful encouragement, her visit. 

Spring Peek into the Greenhouse

First Day of Spring. I moved 28 pots of Schlumbergeras out yesterday to my improvised urban stone patio. They aren't very attractive out of bloom but worth keeping around for next Winter's Thanksgiving and Christmas blossoms.

Pots of Rhapsalidopsis are still indoors. Only two have buds. Other succulents yet to move are Epiphyllums and Kalanchoes. 

Note the little open hole near the bottom? That's Mr. Kitty's space. He will complain later because I set a pot of rooted Echinacea right where he jumps up on the potting bench. It may be on the floor when I go back.

Bromeliads haven't moved yet. In the foreground is Agapanthus and Lemon grass. I plan to leave the Agapanthus in a pot, just to see. Frosts knock them back here; those in the parking lots at Sams in Tallahassee were nice and green when we were last there. That Graptopetalum at right has buds.

Ghost Plant with buds

Amaryllis seedlings.

Amaryllis seedlings in bud.

This may be Spartacus, or another Apple Blossom.

White Shrimp Plant

Pentas need planting out.

Butterflies are showing up now that Azaleas are starting to bloom.

Alternanthera, some rooted in water, some in soil.

Glamour Shots: New Year's Cactus and Ugly Bulbs

This is my favorite of the Schlumbergeras that Miss Trudy gave me cuttings. Miss Trudy died in 2014 following a long and useful life. Her memory lives on.  

This particular pot took a notion to wait until after Christmas to bloom, unlike its twin that bloomed in the house all during the Holidays. 

I transferred its plastic pot into my new gold-trimmed pot.

I learned a lesson about improvised duct tape trays. The cardboard gets limp in high humidity. Greenhouse trays need to be waterproof. 

More learning experiences from the Hyacinth trial. 

Instead of chilling hyacinth bulbs first, I set the bulbs in soil and put pot and all into a refrigerator. I think I mentioned before that I forgot to check the vegetable drawers for left-over fruit and there were pears in there. Perhaps there will be no bloom. Oops.

I brought them out today, eight weeks of chill. In plastic bags against the drying effect of a frost-free refrigerator, the bulbs were covered in blue mold. Not to worry, according to Brent and Becky. It washed off easily when I watered.

Hyacinth bulbs, reset. These were a mixed bag.

2 pots of mostly blue, one of white and/or yellow.

The second lesson is that I didn't cover the bulbs with soil, just set them with most of the bulb showing. Instead of developing roots drawing down into the soil, roots pushed the bulbs upward. They were willy-nilly in the pots.

Carefully I reset the bulbs into the soil and covered those pretty white roots. I hope they are going to pull downward now. I looked for signs of sprouting.

Bulb at top has a tiny bit of sprout emerging, not yet green.

The New Year is a time of expectation. Bulbs that wait through the fall begin to sprout. Daffodil foliage is emerging outdoors. My word for the New Year is Joy. 

Holiday Cactus

Schlumbergera and its cultivars are labeled as Christmas Cactus or Thanksgiving Cactus according to who does the labeling. I decided to call them Schlumbergera or Holiday Cactus because blooms on mine coincide with no particular holiday.

Some of these are trying to open for Christmas.

Behind the Red Cactuses on the middle shelf is a tray of light colored Cactuses that may not bloom by Christmas.

Another look at my newly constructed planter on the left, the blue pot with a pale colored Cactus with very young buds. The Christmas Tomato in the corner just keeps putting on more fruit.

As I moved the pots around I found some kind of black mold on one and a tiny worm on a cutting. Inevitable broken pieces are lying on small pots where they'll be stuck after they callus a bit.

Improvisational Planter

Tiny seedlings and rooted pieces take up too much room.

I looked at vertical planters online and wondered if I could improvise some kind of planter. I was thinking of using hardware cloth but how would I hang it and what to line it so soil doesn't wash out.

Hardware cloth fashioned into a half tube and stapled to a 30" x 4" board.

A long piece of oak bark off a dead limb in the materials collection fit on one side.

The other side has pieces of lichen-crusted sticks.

Long fibered sphagnum moss lined the planter to hold soil.

Plants used include rooted Graptopetalum rosettes, Burro Tail Sedum, Mistletoe Cactus, Schlumbergera and a Kalanchoe.

It may not hang vertically, but it holds lots of little pieces whose containers took up room and were not attractive. It might look good as a long table centerpiece. This project used up materials that were taking up storage space while they awaited an inspiration and cost nothing.