Hot Plants in and around the Greenhouse

They definitely get warm, even with mist and exhaust fanning. Many have moved out to shady spots, like the Burro Tail Sedum and Mistletoe Cactus.

Inside the greenhouse, all those little 'beans' I collected when they fell from the long tails, have turned into tiny plants, all clumped together in a yogurt container. How does one prick these babies out and plant?

Blooms in a Bromeliad

If you are not blooming, you're a prime host for a tiny frog calling for rain.

I tired of watering Calla lilies and they kind of outgrew their pots, so I planted them out along the Gardenias on the north side of the greenhouse.

Gardenia blooms are about done.

Inside, there's this:

The first tomato to start ripening on the plants I started 

early spring.

Agapanthus Advancement

Will it EVER open fully?

Outside, so far, all Calla Lilies are Yellow, seen outside the greenhouse.

It is a wonderful year for lilies of all kinds.

White LA lilies are blooming throughout the garden.

Not everything called a Lily is a lily. We know that. Lily of the Nile is in the Amaryllis family and Calla Lilies are of the Aracae subfamily Aroids. Many of us tend to call everything a Daisy or a Lily or a Rose and that about covers it. Knowing the family does help with figuring out what kind of care a plant might prefer.

Coming soon is the Porch Geranium Festival in June near Atlanta, or as some folks call them, Hyderangers. Mine are blooming.  

   

Calla Lily in Bloom

Zantedeschia hybrid.

These bulbs grew foliage but did not bloom last summer. I let them go dry in fall, kept them inside in the pots and resumed watering in late winter.

I decided they were too pot-bound and too many to keep watered, so I planted them among Gardenias on the north side of the greenhouse.

I had only grown Zantedeschia aethiopica in the past, pig lilies that love a bog. These like well-drained sandy soil, or so I read. I can provide that. I read that they form seeds too. That sounds marvelous to someone like me.

It's that time of year when we start watching for Summer Bulbs A to Z. I can hardly wait for the Agapanthus bud to open on a seedling.

A Peek into the Greenhouse as We Anticipate Freezes

I hauled the heaters back in that we'd not needed all through the Holidays. They're plugged in and ready with 6-7 gallon jugs of water in front of each one to collect heat and release more slowly. They're not pretty, so I don't show those.

The prettiest things right now are Begonias.

I kept pinching off rosettes of leaves from Kalanchoe

until I have a total of 20. These largest will bloom soon.

I tried to tie up the tomato plant. Some of it leans against the 

greenhouse wall. I'm afraid some leaves may freeze. All these projects are learning experiences. Will I do better next year? 

He who mows suggested that I use the pantyhose that got all twisted up with other clothing in the washer today and came out as long as I am tall to tie up tomatoes. 

Remember the succulent planter I improvised? Everything looks good. The Kalanchoe is too young and the Schlumbergeras are done with blooms. I don't know if I will be able to hang it as a vertical planter or not.

Claus Dalby featured Calla Lilies on his blog today. He mentioned that they need plenty of fertilizer through the winter, good tip. I hope to see foliage soon where I repotted Calla bulbs that were white and firm. I am hopeful. I've brought Calla Lilies to bloom before but it's been a while back when the greenhouse was new.

I don't know that putting jugs of water in front of my electric heaters is a helpful exercise or not but it cannot hurt. It seems reasonable to me that warm air blowing on jugs of water will heat the water a little rather than all the warm air rising immediately to the ceiling where it is not going to fall back down. When the heater cycles off, heat can slowly leave the water jugs. Or not. What a notion. When the weather warms, I use the containers of water for watering. I water plants individually, not with the hose that I use to fill water bottles. Sun warms water jugs, too. Every little bit helps, in my opinion.

Take Joy in staying warm.

Dog Days in and out of the Greenhouse

There's not a lot to peek at in the greenhouse this time of year.

Water from the misting apparatus collecting on the bench below grew some interesting fungi.

A rooting rate of 75% for Lantana cuttings taken a couple weeks ago. I had to remove 3 that never came out of a wilt. I always need a few more chartreuse alternanthera. Two of three Duranta look as if they'll root. Duranta is a good blooming greenhouse plant for winter, so one or two small are good to have.

Outside, Schlumbergera, Rhipsalidopsis, Kalanchoe and Calla Lilies are in light shade on a little patio with a little morning sun. Some are on makeshift benches.  

Cycad seedling

Epiphyllum oxypetalum has buds. There's been some bud

drop but we'll have open buds soon if I can keep the 

watering schedule. 

I potted up a single tomato plant for the greenhouse, grown from a tiny sucker off a Better Boy plant before it was planted in the garden. I didn't take a picture; maybe when it has little tomatoes I will.

We spent much time late yesterday finding tomato worms that were eating my tomatoes outside. I know they grow into a lovely large moth, but they strip the plants in a very short time and have to be removed in a no-spray patch. Some fat larvae were four inches long and very green, easily hidden by arranging themselves along stems. One that had eaten nearly half of a small tomato was a little fellow slightly more than an inch long and still brown. Imagine how many leaves and tomatoes he would eat before he reached 4 inches long.

I'm watering the beds on either side of the greenhouse. I hope by next year they'll be mature enough to show off in the manner of Claus Dalby's greenhouse beds with white flowers, my inspiration. 

Distracted by Calla Lilies

Yesterday when I read Claus Dalby's blog, he had Calla Lilies in pots. Oh, joy!
A notion was planted in my brain.

Today when we went to Florida City to the Big Box, they had calla lilies. Swoon.
I brought home a box of something I had no idea of the culture.

Pig Lilies -- I can too grow Calla Lilies.

The only Callas I've ever had were Zantedeschia aethiopica. I didn't know the difference. They never fared all that well here because of the climate but some have survived despite me with spare bloom. There are leaves on the one by the rock birdbath.

The Zantedeschia that I bought today are Hybrids. Unlike the hardy Z. aethiopica they come from the other side of Africa and have different needs. Here's what I determined:

• I'm planting them late.
• They want cooler weather than I can provide.
• They need a dormant period. (I always thought Z. aethiopica went dormant. They do die back when the weather gets really hot here and again with frost.) This is a different dormant. Deciduous dormant with dry roots. 
• Unlike Z. aethiopica, Zanthedeschia hybrids are not pig lilies and do not want to be in a bog.

Perhaps before summer is over, I'll have glorious blossoms of pink or yellow or mango or rose color, just like on the box.

My new bulbs are potted in 6" pots, watered and set outside in hopes we get a shower of rain tonight.

Have you grown Calla Lilies? Are they in bloom again?