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.

A Bromeliad Brightens a Blustery Day

Two years ago I bought a pitiful specimen of Bromeliad Vriesea, almost dead at a big box store, marked down from 7.98 to 2 dollars.

2014

I knew it for a bargain: notice the two pups on each side of the main plant? They've grown into a big pot full of foliage. 

Now one of the pumps has a bright orange-red bract forming. 

Never mind that I went out to take a pic and there were complications and there is no photo. Yet. It was too cold to lock up the greenhouse, come in and get batteries and a card and go back and do all that opening and closing again. I went on to where the freezers are to get supper fixings. The wind was so strong it was hard to open the door when I left the equipment barn.

We are hardly inconvenienced by the weather except that it is unpleasant to go outside as is my habit. We are in the corner of the state that escaped snow. 

We had Italian hot cocoa a little while ago. Just as I was about to prepare it, our sweet neighbor stopped by with 3 generous slices of pound cake.   

I sat by this window to rip seams in my sewing project this afternoon. The house protects Camellia 'Mathotiana' from the cold. Lights in the room and other windows are reflected but you can get an idea of the flowers.

I'll get pictures of the Bromeliad as it grows on up. It is always a thrill to have a bracts and blossoms forming on a rescued plant. 

 

What a Bargain! Bromeliad Vriesea

We went to Alabama City today and stopped at the Big Box store that is the same as our local Big Box garden center except that sometimes it has something wonderful that I've not seen at home.

I found this Vriesea splendens Red.

Oh, Snap, you say. It bloomed already. It will die. It's a pitiful specimen.

Turned around this way you see the Pups! Two of them.

... and it was only 2 dollars.

... marked down from $7.98.

Now I have to decide whether to immediately remove the pups on the chance that more pups may grow before the mother plant dies, or let them grow on. Maybe I'll just repot in a bit larger container and let the group stay together through the winter to conserve space.

I went in there hoping for a Strelitzia. They had everything but a bird. I even saw Heliotrope. Crotons and Mums were everywhere. Besides the Bromeliad, I bought some Azalea Pots and two switches for lamps that needed repair. 

I saw some pots that might be perfect for the Bromeliad tree I'm planning. This new plant will want more shade than Neoregelias and Tillandisias, so it won't join that party. 

The little pot was outgrown by another Bromeliad, 2 years ago.

We had 2.6 inches of rain last night. 

You Can't Keep a Good Neoregelia Down and other Bromeliad Excitement

When the two oldest Neoreglias gave up their pups for potting, I tossed the near-dead old plants aside and ignored them, meaning to take them to the compost bin. Today I noticed that one lying on its side on the ground had some still-pink leaves.

Further inspection revealed a pup.

Dear to a grower's heart.

I set it up and gave it a drink. I'll leave the mother plant until the pup gains size.

Some of these were repotted this week.

There are 8 smaller pups potted up and growing.

Whatever will I do with all these, come winter?

Fortunately I decided not to separate the pups on my other Bromeliads.

I repotted the cluster of 3 Guzmanias into a square pot today.

Tillandsia cyanea, also a group of 3, has bracts. As the quills 

grow, they will produce blue flowers eventually.

Thursday Throwback: Tillandsia cyanea

Tiny Tillandsia cyanea in a 3" pot, Early December, 2012

May, 2013 after the bloom bract died, tiny plants commenced to form among the leaves, unlike some bromeliads that have pups around the base next the root.

Eventual repotting gave the growing plants room. In the interest of conserving greenhouse space I left all four in a single pot after I read that was okay.

Early June, I moved them out under trees. Yesterday I was wondering if they were happy there. I looked closer and discovered a sure sign of happy, happy.

 Three of the plants have bracts forming.

Pink bracts have blue-purple blooms when they reach maturity.

 If this is an ideal spot, then of course I moved the Guzmania out there, too.

No sign of a bract here. 

Maybe I should bring Neoregelias over here, too.

The long container of Persian Shield and Purple Heart kept blowing over so they are moving elsewhere to plant in shady soil where they should be happier too.

These Bromeliads Leave Me Wordless

Neoreglia Bromeliad and Pups

Some months back, the Outlaw Gardener showed us a couple of Bromeliads that were on a sale rack that he considered buying. At the time, I thought it best that he passed up these really good buys. They looked something like this:

or maybe a little worse, like this.

Both the above are my same plants, weeks apart. One of these two is my first plant, the other was a pup. The original has continued to throw pups as it slowly declined. I went from one Neoregelia to 8, just potting Pups.

Here's what could have cinched the deal, had Peter looked underneath the leaves:

After a Bromeliad blooms, it commences to die but during the dying process, it makes Pups. This one has 5, the other has 3. The first time my original Neo had Pups, I removed them and thought the plant would die but it went on producing new plants.

 These 6 Neoregelias were in too much sun and some leaves suffered sunburn. I made them portable so they can follow the shade until we find the ideal spot.

Usually a grower takes the pups off the mother plant when they are about 1/3 the size of the parent. If they're left in place, the old plant dies off, the leaves can be pulled or cut and the Pups fill the pot.

I left the Pups when my original Guzmania died off, 3 pups filled the pot very well. I left them in a single pot because, as you can see, my house of Bromeliads commenced to fill very quickly.

The Tillandsia pot has 3 or 4 pups. They were interesting to see develop as pups started from within the thinner leaves of the Tillandia cyanea rather than beneath. My luck ran out with the Vriesia. Developing Pups declined and died from neglect and no more appeared. I like Neoregelias in separate pots, or maybe I could put 3 in a row in a long container before winter. None of these Bromeliads can winter where there is frost.

 I wish the Outlaw Gardener had thought to check under the leaves of the Neoregelias he saw on sale. There may have been a whole family of Pups under there.

Busy Work: Pots and Pups

Hot weather has arrived. It's a hundred degrees in the greenhouse in late afternoon despite an exhaust fan and a  mister. Most things are outside with more to follow. I know that alternanthera can survive these temps, the purple lives in the ground year round, climbing to the rafters.

Pots were rearranged by color. Some yellow pots with purple heart seem not to mind the heat and are directly under a mist valve.

 Nothing growing is up high. If you notice empty mugs, they are for rooting cuttings in winter. I used to use them for forcing a single hyacinth bulb before I gave up bulbs in water.

The elephant mug turned up when I was looking for something else. The greenhouse becomes a place to display empty containers and seek shelter on a rainy day.

Blues and greens are summering where jungle cacti spend the winter. A couple of blooming Rhipsalidopsis cuttings moved to the shade quickly after I took this pic. When I moved them I accidentally broke off another little piece on a bigger pot which now has its own little rooting pot. 

The more plants I root, the more turn up This container of Purple Heart and Persian Shield could be put in the ground, or not. I may just pull out the Strobilanthes and let the Purple Heart grow long hanging stems for winter display. Persian Shield can always find a good spot with something brighter. I planted a rooted one this afternoon, and some pineapple sage and 6 White Shrimp cuttings that were spectacular bloomers indoors, now looking leggy and sad but they'll put out new growth and I hope they bloom again in fall. Frost will take them out. Some Shrimps outdoors have put out new growth. A few choice clumps did not return. I think all the red Shrimps have new growth. 

Remember when I told the Outlaw Gardener that he was wise not to buy a Bromeliad on sale cheap that looked like this? These have new pups. I thought they die after one set of pups -- not so. 

Neoregelia pups around a sad looking Mother plant.

This half-dozen were all pups once. They may be relegated to the infamous back side of the greenhouse because this spot gets late afternoon hot sun.

It's the time of year when the greenhouse becomes mostly a storage spot for empty pots and a refuge on a rainy day. Maybe I can find a suitable chair or two.