Tropicals & Tender Perennials: 'Phoenix' bird or paradise, 1 by pk33635

pk33635 wrote:
Elaine!! Between creating my journal here, and chatting with you I feel like i'm writing a thesis for a master's degree! lol
But I love every minute of it, and so appreciate your feedback.

I'm going to try and reply to all your topics in order here:

Orchids: I've only ever really had one, and it was a part of a basket given to me when I broke my hip 3 years ago. Try as I did to make it happy, it always looked more dead than alive...but it did flower 1 time, and it was beautiful. After it flowered, it pretty much shriveled up and was never heard from again. I wish you well in your new obsession, and yes, I will stay tuned! :)

Oak trees: AKA leaf litter factories. We have a live oak in the back yard, its technically on the golf course's property but it dumps all its goodies on us. Surprises me how many leaves there are from an evergreen tree...not to mention the MOUNDS of pollen that will be coming soon. For as much good as trees do, they sure are messy buggers. The pool takes on a lovely shade of golden yellow, and the filter system constantly needs washing out.

Tomatoes: I also managed to hang onto 2 tomato plants over the winter, put them in in Nov and they are just now really starting to take off and flower/fruit. They're on the NW side of the yard, so sun was pretty limited there for a bit, and they were kinda just 'there' for most of Dec/Jan. These 2 plants are also the most resistant to any kind of tying/binding/staking i've tried. Ive used old cut panty hose, soft ties..etc. Every time I try, the tied part dies off and the plant makes a beeline in another direction. Instead of tall plants I have these wide, creeping monsters. i've let them do what they want...they aren't infringing on anything else....yet.

seeds: I gave a little mis-info here, the cupid dart and Lobelia i put in sometime back in early January. Haven't seen anything of the cupid, but the Lobelia is right up against the house on a north-east facing wall. the packet had me mix the 'seeds' with sand, and then sow them .I keep thinking they are weeds because they are sooo small, and look like a clover kind of. But i know its them, because there was nothing in that spot before, and I can still see the remnants of sand on the surface. This area only gets sun til at most 12 pm even during summer (it gets -0- right now) so i'm hoping I chose well putting them there, These stemmed from my blue bougainvillea fascination...had to have something blue!
As for the sweet peas...well, they're already in the pot...booooo! But, maybe they'll hold off til fall. If not, I'll shell out another $1.25 for a packet. I'm really hoping the rest of the pots do well!

Cannas: I can tell these things are ANXIOUS to get going! I put them in on Sat., and already 3 of the 7 bulbs have growth peaking out from the mulch. I am very much looking forward to this experience, both from what you've told me and the pictures i've found online. I need all the help 'looking like a pro' that I can get! Anddd...ain't nothing wrong with some good ol' thrifty Scottish blood! I am 1/4 Scotch myself, and love a good bargain! :) We joke with my grandfather that Geo Washington's eyes blink from the light whenever he opens his wallet.

Coleus: Thanks for the tip on easy propagation, which I'm sure I will do. We got the last 8 of these varieties from the local nursery, and the guy working there said they can barely keep them in stock. I saw many of the type you have at HD, but we were on a mission for solid green, and solid maroon. How tall/wide can I expect coleus to grow? I planted them in front of the viburnum so I'm hoping they stay under @ 2 feet.

Whewww...I think I covered it all! Oh! one more thing, I did finally buy another boug, got the 'dwarf' one on sale at HD for just $5. It's been in the ground since a few days after Xmas, and is already doing its thing. Supposedly only going to get 3 feet high...(fingers crossed)