Of Cabbages

Christmas Eve, 2013

Today I planted seeds for red cabbage, a type of little green head cabbage and broccoli in little trays. A flat holds 12 red, 12 green and 12 broccoli. By the time they're good size, weather outside should be cool enough for them to thrive.

I did remember to make a label for each kind.

In early 2014 Cabbage and Broccoli were successful winter crops. Black Kale was successful but we were not keen on eating an abundance of Kale, so I am not planting that this year. Kale did not stand up to light frosts as well as cabbage and broccoli. Broccoli kept bearing smaller florets after the first heads were cut. Cabbages will send up tiny heads from the cut stem that look like Brussels Sprouts.

My plan is to put cabbage and broccoli behind tomatoes that I am about to pull in the Fruit Yard. Red cabbage is going in a flower bed where Zinnias are now.

Babyland

I can't help myself. Every stem with leaves, every seed, every bulb needs sticking in some soil.

The need to plant cuttings is why I have Kalanchoes lined up on a board outside the greenhouse and three old plants with tender foliage crying out to be used in a similar way.  If I can coax them to bloom just before Christmas I can find homes for them.

Schlumbergeras and their kin the Easter Cactus have rooted themselves into dozens.

Bromeliads have a curious way of reproducing by making offsets after they bloom. The ones on the left have tiny insignificant blue blossoms in the centers. New plants are forming around them. The one on the right was in bloom when I bought it. It has all but died off and new plants are surrounding the old one. I didn't make a new photo of the tillandsia in the greenhouse that has new plants forming in the center of the plant instead of around the edges. I think they can all stay in one pot after I repot.

 

Every little bean that fell off my Burro's Tail made a new plant.

I have a plan for these, really. Martha Stewart's greenhouse has a display with Burro's Tail and Mistletoe Cactus which is another plant that I just happen to have divided....

 

I could not resist tucking a couple of seeds from a Gerbera Daisy into a yoghurt cup. These can go to live in the garden when they reach some size. It has been a good year for growing Gerberas, though they've been shy to bloom, the bigger ones.

 

Little Plants are  like kittens. finding homes is not easy. I am to a point that I rarely go into a garden center any more except to buy potting soil and more pots.

 

On the other hand, I am making lists of fall planted bulbs and will order soon.

 

I did not garden today. It rained all day, slow drizzle mostly, an inch and a half.

 

Like Transplanting in a Steam Bath

We had a half inch of rain last night. Today is alternating cloudy and sunny. The temperature and the humidity were neck and neck for a while.

Just before noon, the temp was 79 and the humidity was 81. When humidity gets that high, sweating doesn't cool you, the moisture beads on your skin and rolls off rather than evaporating.



White Shrimp Plant

I transplanted Shrimp plants and some others. Everything went into the Upper Garden in part shade. There were red Shrimps and a big Gerbera seedling.

Echinacea in the Upper Garden in shade

The red Shrimp Plants went in beside some Echinacea and the little Mariesii Hydrangeas.  I tucked the Gerbera Daisy near another one.

The greenhouse needs to be as empty as possible for summer. Ike the Cat is still going in there but he crawls under the potting bench to rest on the cool floor just out of reach of the mist.

I transplanted a half dozen Tomato seedlings today, one to replace the one the cutworm got in my Tomato Patch and more in sunny beds where I used varieties with more colorful fruits that are not red.

Christmas and Easter Cactus cuttings.

 

 

I am keeping a close eye on Cactus cuttings for viruses. They may need to move back inside this week until rain is over. I already removed some in plastic pots from cache pots that do not drain.

 

 

 



 

 

 


 

It's about Time to Empty the Greenhouse

This is the end of the Greenhouse season, more or less. Glenda in the Ozarks wants to see the hoses and mess that I'd rather hide. I'd rather show you what's growing and blooming.

This Neoregelia Bromeliad was a pup last summer. It's about to bloom, I had not expected so soon.

Here's the peek. There are two hoses, many jugs for watering the plants

I moved outside, bits and pieces that are rooting or salvaged.

 

 

I wished for years for a Burro's Tail. The small one I bought last winter, I saved the little piece that broke off and all the stray leaves. They're growing new plants.

 

I did a really dumb thing. I bought a Mistletoe Cactus at the same time as the Burro Tail. It grew fast and I divided it into three plants. Yesterday I picked up the soap/olive oil solution for spraying for pests, poured some in my watering can and started 'watering' two of my Rhipsalis with NOT water.

I soaked them good with clear water and today they look all right, but I hope I learned to label, or not leave things sitting around in milk jugs besides water, or something.

 

 

Left are pieces of Baths' Pink and right are Mexican Bush Sage that I salvaged when I dug into a bed.

I've already planted half the Pinks and gave my Daughter in Law half the Salvias.

 

Candlesticks from saved seed. I haven't grown Cassias in a while.

 

 

 

Outside, things don't always go according to plan.

I meant to have an all white bed.

 

 

 

 

So far the 3 seedling Gerbera Daisies that bloomed are all pink shades.

 

White lantana that I planned for last summer died in the greenhouse for lack of water. I have one new cutting in this bed that is about to bloom, waiting for those in the front garden to bloom so I can take more cuttings.

 

Last evening when I was watering, I said to myself, 'These Amaryllis in pots are a lot of trouble to keep watered until August.' I did a double take: Benfica who bloomed for Christmas has a

new bud!

 

Tomato seeds in compost came up. I let them grow just to see.

Looks like there are really two plants with two different 'Tommy Toes.'

 

 

 

A viola volunteer by the dog's water container.

The rest of violas have died in the heat.

 

Welcome to Summer!

 

It's That Time of Year

It's the Time of Year when there are so many chores and too little time.

Bromeliads need a summer space. I'm afraid they may be too tender to leave outside year around. This one, a pup last summer, looks as if it may be near ready to bloom.

Bromeliads are good companions. This pot eneds a choice spot outside.

The one in the grapevine sphere looks too dry. I put it under mist today.

 

Some Candytuft cuttings rooted and are ready to go outside.

The begonia is like a cute puppy -- it will find a home.

Alternanthera planted itself in the floor. It is happy to spend the summer inside

despite the great heat. It is a great companion to many of the garden plants.

Sedum acre is blooming just outside the door in a broken pot.

 

I moved jungle Cactuses and Kalanchoes outside. I think the Christmas Cactuses are in too much sun, will have to move them before they burn. Epiphyllums I check daily for buds, too soon.

Begonias are holding well. I bought four new azalea pots and two fluted pots with white trim for use in the fall for forcing bulbs. If I don't plan in advance, it will be fall and there will be no pots.

 

Bits and pieces are holding for planting and I get slower and slower as the weather gets warmer and warmer. I'm starting to urge rooted cuttings and seedlings ready to plant on visitors.

 

I did plant a rose cutting from a gallon pot.

 

He-Who-Mows promised to help me get a space ready for my heirloom Tomato seedlings that are

out-growing their starter pots. 

 

Greenhouse Notes for late April

Heirloom Tomatoes are starting to Sprout! Every one except Green Zebra has tiny cotyledons. I see signs that Cassias are sprouting, too.

I watered thirsty plants in the greenhouse. We had two tenths of an inch of rain today outside.

I planted out some Daturas, both Purple and White, together. I started both together so that the white are 'socks' for the bigger, darker Purple.  They're all together with Pink Brugmansias and purple Daylilies.

I put a soaker pipe in the Greenhouse bed. Gerberas and Pentas are blooming.

I don't know when Dianthus barbatus will bloom; biennial seed planted last fall.

View of the whole length, and a tiny green pepper if you look close.

The newly cleaned (by He-who-Mows) propane tank is so nice I had to show it. I always wanted to paint it to look like a Yellow Submarine, but white reflects more heat.

Leaving you with something pretty: the last potted Amaryllis.

Camellia Seedlings in Bloom

A member on the Camellia Group to which I belong on Facebook asked that members post not just a beautiful Camellia blossom but the bush on which it grows to give a better idea of the structure of that plant when out of bloom.

This is one of my seedlings.

The blossom above grows on this plant.

Yellow leaves are not abnormal, old leaves are shed as new growth starts.

 

The same plant again on the left.

On the right  is the shrub on which the bloom below grows.

Compare the color of the two plants. They are the same age.

This seedling is unlike either of the pod parents.

 

Greenhouse Growing in Subtropical Heat

Can I grow year around in a greenhouse? Triple digit summer temps and occasional freezing winter nights require careful planning. We've made it to July and the Greenhouse still has viable plants.

From lower left: Esperanza that just never got planted out, a

pepper that came back in to experiment with temperatures and

water. Three tomato plants rooted from suckers; a half dozen

amaryllis seedlings, and various others bits.

The difference is the Fogging Nozzles we put in after we installed an exhaust fan.

A closer look at amaryllis seedlings, four in a tray and

two larger in pots toward the back, seeds from my

Christmas amaryllis. I floated them in water until

they formed roots, then potted them.

The purple stuff is alternanthera self seeded, and the chartreuse is

alternanthera seedlings that haven't found a home. There

were a multitude of green cuttings and there are still red, too,

looking for homes as I think of it.

There's a bit of ivy that our Church Youth gave out on

Mother's Day. The bigger, paler ivy leaves are new.

Canna that was accidentally dug up.

Gerbera Daisy seedlings,

seeds from an earlier blossom

Rose cutting that has taken off.

I failed to label it, will wait for bloom.

I paid two dollars for this staghorn back

in late winter. It has grown well.

The jugs hold water for quick grabbing in

the heat of the day for plants outside.

Eventually everything will probably go outside, but they've thrived with abundant watering and mediation of temperatures.

Everything is bunched up on the floor under

where the nozzles spray on hot days.

Sometimes it is 10 degrees cooler on the floor.

Note the 'patch' where the dog tore the blue plastic.

That will have a different skirt when winter comes.

The shelves hold pots that await winter.

I made lists of cuttings to take in late summer and even wrote down things that I will not repeat this year. I can hardly wait to see what difference having the fogger makes on sunny winter days when it heats up inside. Keeping the humidity up in winter can be a problem. I think we've solved it.

Bloom Day in the Greenhouse, March

Oh, OH! I forgot to put the link to Tootsietime so you could join in the linky fun for Fertilizer Friday. Here it is: Flaunt Your Flowers at Tootsie's.

March in the Greenhouse is about to be moving day in the greenhouse, except for a few of the most tender plants. Gerbera Daisies have been outside for a while, prefering cooler temperatures.



New in the greenhouse is a fogging system built from scrap parts: some copper tubing we had, mist heads used for some other purpose at our old house, a short hose from a hose reel and some purchased fittings to put it all together.

Fogging has a twofold purpose: cooling and humidifying. Cooling is in conjuntion with the fan we put up last week.

Five rooted Marieseii varigata Hydrangeas in one gallon pots over the winter went into the ground today. The biggest number of cuttings waiting now are Pentas in all colors.

Seedlings are coming along:

Tomatoes, peppers and eggplants. One

eggplant has not yet shown himself.

Parsley and chives. Pentas blooms fell into the parsley. Seedling chives are

threadlike. Other seeds planted are flowers, not yet ready for prime time.

Cycad pups have moved outside after spending the winter in the greenhouse.

Two have new growth. I planted out the one that had a single frond and not yet any

new growth. It has good roots.

Flowers and text are from the garden of Nell Jean blogged on Dotty Plants Journal in warm, humid Southwest Georgia.