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?

Sliced Pineapple

When cold weather was on the way, I took cuttings of Pineapple Sage Salvia elegans. They formed roots.

Recently I was opening a can of sliced pineapple and thought, 'Why not plant Pineapple Sage in these cans?' I rinsed them out, punched holes in the bottom and was careful to save the labels.

You can see a glass jar full of rooted cuttings behind the cans. I'll put them in regular pots if we don't eat more pineapple soon.

Pineapple Sage 2012 ready to plant.

All the plants will go into the garden when spring comes, so I didn't try to preserve the labels. They'll last long enough. When the sun gets hot they'll fade.

When is Spring? My Plants Are Ready

We are expecting 33º tomorrow night. I hope that is the end of near-freezing temps. My plants are ready, starting to stretch.

I've never had too many Pentas: pink, rose, red, white, lavender.

Butterfly magnets, little care except deadheading.

 

 

'Ruby' is the Pentas I've planted longest. I start some Pentas

cuttings  in August. Just before Christmas I picked a bouquet

of red and white Pentas. Toward the end of February,

I cut off the ends of the stems and stuck them to root.

 

White Pentas in yellow pots, kind of scrawny next to

Brugmansia cuttings.

 

Yesterday I saw a very frost-bitten Persian Shield plant in the garden

that managed a puny bloom, first I've ever seen outside the greenhouse.

These Strobilanthes dyeranus cuttings are ready to go outside and

get some size on them, the blooms were just a winter bonus.

 

Leggy Salvia elegans and Fern ready to summer outside.

 

Lots of plans for Begonias in shade. On the end there's a Gerbera Daisy seedling with a bud anticipating growing in the ground. Tomatoes would prefer outside air as well.

 

Tomatoes in containers are possible all winter. I had to

prove that to myself.

 

Plants that sometimes don't make the winter outside: Pentas, Porterweed, Brugmansia, Esperanza and others fared very well this year. Tiny sprouts are emerging from roots at the base of many dead stems.

 

Two of my Durantas in the ground stayed green all winter. They did stop blooming after Christmas. The gingers, except for Curcuma, did not die all the way to the ground the way they usually do.

 

It will be another while before we know how Pride of Barbados fared. They usually wait until I've despaired of ever seeing a Caesalpinia again and then Surprise! We are not yet safe from a final killing frost, but things are looking up. How many days to Spring?