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.

What Blossoms We Missed in the Last Peek

When I posted the Spring peek into the Greenhouse, I missed these beauties completely. I found them today when I moved out the Epiphyllums and relocated the Hippeastrums.

 Burro tail sedum blooms! I could hardly believe it.

How did I miss these?

They were kind of hidden and there are not many of them.

Sedum blooms were revealed when I moved these.

Once the bulky Epis moved out, there was room for all the Amaryllis pots in one place, or so I thought. I discovered another pot, the one that bloomed before Thanksgiving, when I was looking at the Bromeliads, the next project for moving.

Another Apple Blossom bloomed -- the one on the potting bench-- my favorite only because it has fragrance. I love catching that fragrance, especially on days like today when the cat barfed up on the greenhouse floor.

What I thought might be seedlings turned out to be mostly offsets of Exotica that I dug last summer. Some of these have bloomed and have another bud. One that has not bloomed finally has a bud tip showing in the dark pot with the yellow tab. I think it is Spartacus. My best intention is to have every bulb labeled soon.

Busy Work

Hippeastrum

Yesterday was sunny with some wind. I hauled out a couple of pots of seedling Amaryllis that were getting hit or miss watering behind bigger pots of something else so they can get better care.

Seedlings planted in 2012, photo from 2014.

Bulbs have doubled in size now and have new growth.

I divided another cluster of Amaryllis seedlings that were in a single pot. There are now 8 small pots; two pots have 2 small bulbs. This is the kind of busy work that I most enjoy.

Hyacinths

I brought a pot of Hyacinths into the house  -- the pot on the right. When they reach full bloom I am mostly done with them. Joy for me is in the growing. 

Likely one bulb of Woodstock and 4 of Jan Bos. 

Candytuft

Other busy work took care of Iberis. These are heirloom Candytuft that I have had for more than 40 years. They moved once again because there wasn't room for the tractor to easily come through with a scoop to move dirt from beside the new shed site without running over them. 

Note: the concrete slab for the Mule Barn is curing, forms are gone and the building is being fabricated in Doerun, GA.

I replanted Candytuft farther back in the bed and took cuttings. A dozen cuttings: some new growth pieces and some with hardened stems just to see.

Geraniums Are in my Plans

One of the Swedish bloggers that I read had photos today of her Pelargonium plants. She took 70 cuttings from 10 plants and said she had 60 more to stick. That will make 140 plants total because the 10 old plants looked great.

When I read that a local high school plans a plant sale next month, I decided to buy a flat of 15 Geraniums (Pelargoniums). Maybe I should rethink that. If they all live, imagine the cuttings I will be compelled to take late next winter.

I haven't grown Geraniums that I remember since 1975. We had a Boston Terrier who always stopped to smell the geraniums when he went outdoors. When he died an untimely death, I planted Geraniums on his little grave in the back yard and inscribed his concrete slab, "Here Lies Happy, a better man than what shot him."

Cuttings, and Shrimp Seeds, and a Question about Amaryllis

Cuttings should have been struck weeks ago. Better now than never.

Pentas, 5 colors.

Right now they are under mist on the floor. Later they'll go on a shelf. We are back in a warm spell to be followed by rain in a few days which should help.

Six cuttings each of Porterweed, blue and coral. I put 3 Duranta cuttings in a 4" pot to see if they will bloom through the winter, which they sometimes will. Four pots have two cuttings each  of Purple Heart and 5 cuttings of Persian Shield.

Pentas and Porterweed usually come back reliably in the Spring, but cuttings are nice for a head start on Butterfly nectar plants.  Persian Shield returns; cuttings will likely bloom in the greenhouse, a fun thing. Purple Heart is good to have, inside and out.

Shrimp plants are others sure to bloom in winter. I haven't taken cuttings but pots are ready to receive cuttings of both red and white Shrimps.

White Shrimp plants have formed seeds. The dry pods hold several seeds the size of the head of a pin. I've never seen these before, plan to plant a few.

Where are all these plants going for Winter? I'm beginning to wonder myself.

Remember all those little bean-like leaves of Burro-Tail Sedum that I kept putting in tiny containers? They're starting to grow and will need bigger homes than yogurt cups soon.

Amaryllis in pots will have to move inside soon. I cut back 2 at the end of August. An Appleblossom that was sitting in a dry corner started putting out new growth so I watered it and guess what? You'll see what it did, soon.

I'm trialing different ways of letting them dry off as experts direct, and some ways of growing that are not written anywhere. Amaryllis don't 'rest' in Malaysia. Amaryllis grown in the ground die back outdoors here when frost kills the tops and new growth and blooms are triggered by warm weather in Spring. Are they cut back in South Africa and Holland when they're dug because it makes shipping easier, or is it necessary? Am I the only one who questions these things?

Bloom Day, Inside and Out

Orchids from last year have come back into bloom, well, one is blooming.

The other has a bloom stalk with tiny buds if you look closely.

These, another orchid in a glass cyclinder, a Spathiphyllum and a Pothos are

my only house plants. The Peace Lily signals to water Orchids when it wilts.

Outside the greenhouse, I am trying to make a White Garden.

Candytuft is as white as it gets. I've had Iberis for 40 years, 

started as cuttings from a late friend's Garden.

I planted out white Hyacinths forced in pots of soil this year.

Miss Winnie gave me white Iris last year. We don't know where the

Purple came from, probably a seedling among the white.

Inside the greenhouse, this box of Purple Heart and Persian Shield are

cuttings that I intended to plant out. I think I'll keep them in a container.

Strobilanthese blooms in the greenhouse. Once in a while I get blooms

during the summer. They are a novelty.

Mistletoe Cactus Rhipsalis put on buds.

Rhipsalis bloom and buds.

Easter Cactus in bud. At left is a bloom of Firecracker Fern.

Rhipsalidopsis buds. Maybe they'll bloom by Easter.

Appleblossom Amaryllis are not only lovely, they have a sweet

fragrance, rare in hippeastrums. Benfica has another bud about to open.

The tall Appleblossom is in its third year of bloom. Three of the others

are new this year and I forget whether the one in bud is Appleblossom

or maybe another color, from a previous year.

Angel Wing Begonias. Several cuttings in a pot make a big show.

\

Amaryllis Benfica and Appleblossom

My favorites are always the ones in bloom. There are 4 more in bud: 3 new Appleblossom and one from a previous year that isn't labeled.

Benfica has another bud developing. Companions are Donkey Tail

Sedum and pots of white Kalanchoe.

   These are bulbs that I brought back to bloom again, third year for Appleblossom. 

Benfica was new last year, an excellent choice.

Nymph Amaryllis from last year has great foliage, no bloom has appear. 

I gave away Elvas and have not heard about its fate.

Appleblossom  showing buds yet to open on a single stem.

For those of you who like the down the throat view.

Appleblossom has a wonderful sweet fragrance.

Benfica is the truest red I've seen in Amaryllis.

I stood on a stool to give you this view.

Up close with Benfica.

Perfectly Red.

My plans for next fall's order changes daily. Will I order more and different Amaryllis? Should I get Hyacinths for forcing, how many and what color? Maybe all my bulb money needs to go towards Daffodils. I've never tried forcing minature Daffodils. What about minor bulbs like Muscari and Bluebells?  So many choices and a whole summer to plan....

Linking to Tootsie Time's Friday Flower Flaunt.

Amaryllis 'Benfica'

 Second year bloom. It grew last summer and rested in the fall before I repotted it.

The plants around it are "Appleblossom' 

The reddish bud nearest right is in its third year to bloom.

Benfica, quite a beauty even with Epi foliage hanging overhead.

Is it Benfica or Benefica? Depends on whether you are speaking in Spanish, Italian or Portuguese I think. Or maybe it's two different words and meanings. Benefica means charitable or beneficent. Benfica is the name of a sports stadium in Portugal. I can find no history on the name of this bulb. Different vendors give it different spelling.

Mors Benefica

Give me to die unwitting of the day,
And stricken in Life's brave heat, with senses clear:
Not swathed and couched until the lines appear
Of Death's wan mask upon this withering clay,
But as that old man eloquent made way
From Earth, a nation's conclave hushed anear;
Or as the chief whose fates, that he may hear
The victory, one glorious moment stay.
Or, if not thus, then with no cry in vain,
No ministrant beside to ward and weep,
Hand upon helm I would my quittance gain
In some wild turmoil of the waters deep,
And sink content into a dreamless sleep
(Spared grave and shroud) below the ancient main.

Edmund Clarence Stedman