Thank yew! We writers are asked to volunteer if we see a question we feel interested in. I am a good do bee so I try to .
What wonderful weekend weather! and we've made good use of it. A paddling outing, some gardening, washed the deck, working on re shingling the shed roof. Oh yeah and coffee and reading on the deck too!
Let's Chat, "Mid At" ! Whatever, whoever, yak away
Sounds like you had a fun and productive weekend. I was off for the last 4 days. I got a whole lot done and Ric worked like a beast. He mowed and mulch and moved about 1/2 of that huge compost pile into my flower beds.
For a few weeks now, three and sometimes four days a week has been and will be devoted to caring for my grand children while their parents work. Emily, age four and Isaac who is one sure keep a Grandma and Papa busy. Thankfully, there is usually a days break in between their visits, so I can recoup. I offered to begin doing this when my son was discussing his displeasure with the second baby sitter they have hired in the past six or so months since his wife went back to work. I hated to see my son stressed over baby sitters, so I am hoping this continues to work out for everyone.
Most of our flower beds are established and other than weeding them, I don't have too much to do with them. I have been joining John in his attempt to sell at some of local Farmers Markets. I pot up some of the plants I have gads of and send them with him. Certainly not getting rich, but every dollar counts. I have also begun potting up lots of house plants extras and they are selling slowly too.
So, I am definitely staying busy.....have a to do list a mile long, but it will get done eventually. Good to see you folks today and always enjoy hearing what everyone has going on. Enjoy your weekend folks.
Ruby
WOW Ruby, Taking on a daily babysitting job is quite a task. Really I love having the GC for a visit and I do watch them from time to time when Jen needs a sitter for the day or her and Matt take an occasional overnight trip. Or when JR wants an over night visit or Jamie and Deb are going out. But honestly I wouldn't want to do it on a daily basis. You are a great Mom and Grandmother to take that on.
I know...I know......thankfully it works out as three days a week usually, occasionally it will be four, and so I don't really think of it in terms of full time. We are here for the most part anyway....so works out for all around. I wish I didn't have to, but of course I am having them pay me what they were paying the other sitters.....and the extra cash will be nice to have also.
I may change my tune down the road, but so far, so good.
Ruby
Great Ruby enjoy the extra $$ and the extra time with your lovely Grands.
Ruby, Glad you're happy with the arrangement! And potting plants for sale sounds fun too. I love planting things- much more so than harvesting veg and like now I have lots of yellow squash I need to freeze or give away or eat.
Holly the pink octopus Campanula looks very happy!
Ruby---
IF you need more plants to sell--take a leaf off of any of your African Violets to root.
Or--snitch them at any store or nursery if they are broken off anyway.
I do the same with X-Mas Cactus as peoplehandling these pots are very careless.
In straightening the pots on the cart--I pick up any broken off pieces to root...
Just take it to propagate. I do that a lot---all the Stone Crops I had at he Swap
were from broken off pieces laying all over the tray..Just cleaning up!....ahem....
There are 2 ways you can root AV's leaves---water or rooting the leaf in soil.
I always prefer the soil way--as the roots will grow in a more "natural" environment.
Get some 3" pots (cups?)--or, any plastic container about that size. I think yogurt cups may do.
Just make sure you poke holes in the bottom for drainage.
Then--buy a tube of clear plastic cups--about the same size.
To get an idea of what I am leading up to--have you ever seen the pot and top that
Venus Fly Traps are sold in? The most perfect rooting pot combo for AV leaves.
Moisten the soil really well (NOT wet!) and insert the stem (rooting hormone is OK)
into the soil and put the clear glass on top--either TIGHTLY inside the rim of the pot--or outside.
The main thing is NOT to let the AV leaf touch the sides of the clear glass on top.
Use toothpicks to support the leaf--if you have to.
IF the seal is tight--you do not need to do anything else until the new AV is growing
baby leaves, which will come from the bottom off the stem inside the soil.
About 2-3 months....They will come in bunches---amazing thing to see!
After this happens--remove the clear glass from the pot and let it grow until you feel it
needs transplanting into a 4" pot. Water as needed--but keep it just moist.
After the new leaves are growing--you will need to divide and transplant the new growths
into individual clusters. This is advisable--so your AV will just be growing from ONE cluster,
NOT as a multi-clustered one. NOT good!
Take care doing this--as AV leaves break off easily....
In about a year or so--you will have a multitude of new AV's to sell...
Here is the pot/top set-up that works great. In this case--the pot is a bit too big (4")
for the clear glass topping it. Like I said---3"pot and glass work the best....
But--You get the idea?
The other way is to break off a leaf and leave about a 2" stem on it.
Get a SMALL glass or vase--about 2" in diameter--fill it close to the top with water.
A bigger Shot Glass would work great.
Then stretch, tightly, some plastic wrap over the top of the vase. Poke a small hole in it.
Take the stem of the AV leaf and slip it through the hole in the plastic wrap.
This will keep the bottom of the leaf from touching the water...
That's it! Let it sit on a Northern windowsill until there are new leaves coming up
from the bottom of the leaf. Then--pot ot up--keeping it barely moist until the new
growths break the soil and start growing...
Patience is all this takes....One leaf==one plant to sell....
You could make a lot of money--it just takes planning and timing it right....
Here is an example of the water-rooting. I just set it up to take the picture--
so there are NO roots yet to see....
Here are three pots of well-growing new AV's that were just started last year...
They are in just 2"-3" pots right now.....
I need to transplant them in 4" pots--thinking about it every day!!!
It is VERY doable, Folks!!! Propagating ONLY takes time and know-how....
Gita
Thanks for the well wishes everyone. Gita, I have at least eight or ten pots of African Violets that I propogated probably two years ago. I can't get those babies to bloom though. What am I doing wrong????? I hadn't heard of either of your ideas, but both look simple enough. I would love to have a good collection for next years markets.
I spent a good portion of this morning looking for greenhouse shelving units which I plan to use in my plant room when I bring my houseplants back inside in the fall. I had the plant room set up last year, but hadn't taken the time to think much about the design of the room and the set up, so at times had difficulties tending all the plants. I am currently packing up the contents of the room and many pieces of furniture and other things that are now residing there, will be moved to the shed.
I sold about forty dollars worth of houseplants this morning. Well, John did, I transported them in my car to the market, and came back to pick them up afterwards. This is our local Farmer Market and he is also attending one in another nearby small town on Thursday afternoons. I am getting an idea of what is going to sell and how folks want them, so progress is being made. He isn't doing too badly with the gazillion Day Lilies he is selling either.
Anyway....this is all in good fun, and I guess the Universe was looking out for us and our pocket books by sending us opportunities for earning cash which hasn't been necessary for several of the previous years. I guess it is just a good example of the adage - where there is a will, there is a way. Now, if I could clobber that thought in to my youngest son's hard head, all would be great.
Anyway.......waiting for anyone who has had good success with getting AV's to bloom, I am all eyes and ears. I have had them bloom in years past, but it has been a while now since seeing any of the sweet blooms. One thing, I moved their location, may need to move them back to previous home.
Again, thanks for the chat from three of my favorite ladies at Dave's......for sure!!!
Ruby
Ruby---
I do not know about what is the ideal thing for AV's to bloom....
I have heard that once you find the right spot---they will let you know by blooming their heads off...
Right spot could be a bright Northern exposure---and not anywhere where there would be cold
or drafty. That is my problem--I have those little shelves right against my LR/DR windows.
i KNOW they are cold in the winter.
I suppose you could Google "Getting African Violets to bloom" and see what comes up.
I believe I have the link to the AV Society saved.. will look....
Re you selling houseplants---what kind sell best?
There are always gadzillion Spider Plants....Do they sell?
I could send you a pile of seeds to plants not too common. Daturas---4 O'Clocks--
Garlic Chives--Cleomes, etc....But--how much can you get for seeds? Not much!
I DO have a lot of Pregnant Onions....small ones and medium ones....
You could pot each bulb, or two, in a 4: clay pot and sell those.
I bet no one has heard of them before! SO! A novelty! Might fetch $4-$5 a pot.
I have a lot of pictures I could send you. And--meanwhile--it would be nice
if you could collect information on this plant and print out a 1/2 page primer on it
to go along with every plant someone buys.
Actually--Sally wrote an article on the Pregnant Onion at my suggestion.
Just click on her name and go down to "Articles Sally has Written"
and scroll down until you find that one. I think it was a year or more ago....
I know she used some of my photos for it.
Whatcha think????? Might be worth it....
I will be glad to send you a pile of pregnant Onion bulbs--growing in 2" clay pots
(will keep the pots--too heavy). These bulbs will be at least 1" or a bit more in size.
For Postage only!
OK! Let me go search for the AV Society link....Gita
Here's one--- http://www.lyndonlyon.com/hints.htm
Another-- http://www.optimara.com/index.html
Another-- http://www.violetbarn.com/
This link is on Propagating begonias----
http://www.bradsbegoniaworld.com/prop.htm
http://www.bradsbegoniaworld.com/ I think the last two are one and the same----
Have fun reading! Gita
Ruby- good going on the houseplants, and on the day lilies. What could be better than making some money on something you enjoy? (OK making MORE money LOL).
There is a fertilizer called Bloom Boost. It has extra P, the middle number. I hear that WILL induce a bloom. Might be worth a try, as you know anything with flowers sells much better
No you wont get 'anything' for seeds, esp of things not many people know of.
I think a few pregnant onions could be a fun novelty plant there though. Sure are easy enough to try. Only problem being they are going to be (maybe) too small to sell this year, and to get them bigger you'll have to have some kind of room for them inside for the winter. Not fussy, but still indoor space. If you do them, get John to print some pix from Gita, or me, I think I can find some pix of the bigger one I had.
Don't know if John is using good old dirt to pot his things, or buying something. I found finely chopped bagged pine bark at Ace for the usual 3 bucks or something for big bag. I use it to stretch and lighten my potting soil, and its about the third of the cost of say Scott Potting Mix in that size bag.
I can see him now "Day lilies! Git yer daylilies here!!"
By the way, my nephew was a late bloomer shall we say- drifted along until last year age 27 when his dad's new wife helped him get hired at the hospital. It finally clicked with him, he went thru tech training and last week was soo very proud to tell us he passed certification and the sixth floor placed him full time. Got my fingers crossed for your son to "figure out life"
Thank you both Sally and Gita. Sally, it is so sweet of you to send words of encouragement for my late bloomer. I still have hopes, haven't written him off and never will. It has just not been an easy five or so years with watching him struggle and make such poor choices. I have been enough of a basket case over the whole issue to last me a life time, so I am on hiatus from worry and have faith that things will eventually work out for him. Thankfully he is a nice and polite young man, has a lot more going for himself than he realizes, and won't listen to mom with compliments, because you are mom and you have to say that. Anyway.....thanks so much for the words of encouragement. I have always found you folks at Dave's to be such a great support for many of my non-gardening issues over the years. Five years ago, I believe I would have sunk way down deep if I had not had so many kind and wonderful people encouraging me along as I seemed to face one health issue after another the year I turned fifty. That is definitely a year I never want to repeat, never, ever, ever!!! Anyway....five years later, doing quite thanks to a lot of help from all you lovely people here.
Gita.....a great big thank you too for the offer of support in getting this business off the ground. I like your ideas and will we can discuss some specifics of exchanging these things on a dmail or even a phone chat. Thank you for the links, will check them out later on.
As for the things I am selling, I haven't sent too many varieties yet, but so far have sold a few Wandering Jew, some Coleus, Begonia and a few Varigated Spiders. This week I will be sending some Purple Passion, Pothos, another plant I need to identify the name of after taking a picture of it for you all. As you said........Spider Plants seem to be everywhere and I have what seems to be a gadzillion here too.
John said that on Saturday when I sent some extra large pots of things, it drew more buyers than usual just from the display. We only transport the larger pots to the market a couple of miles from home and don't subject the larger houseplants to transporting to another out of town market he is attending. If my baby sitting schedule ever works where I have a clear Thursday, I will transport some of the larger ones to the further market too.
Anyway.....you two have given me some good ideas. Thanks Sally for the tip on Bloom Boost. Will check it out. I mentioned in another thread that I moved the A Violets back to the location where they used to bloom for me yesterday. Am hoping for good results.
John just walked by and said to mention that we are not selling anything that we have received at the swaps.....yet, will be in the future possibly from the propogating we will do. Sally, I am hoping the Lysimachia will do well and spread.....because those firecracker blooms are really eye catching right now and ought to sell next year.
Okay all.......thank you both for your interest and support. I am needing to get up and move about some. Will make a note to re-read this and check the links Gita sent. Gita, I will also make note to dmail you the next time I sit here and we can work on the specifics of getting some things transferred from your place to mine......John mentioned riding that direction one day rather than mailing these things...so watch out, you may have visitors once the hot weather is behind us and I feel like a road trip.
Also.......John is offering you two ladies a pot of Blackberry Lilies which are a native flower here. They are quite interesting (novelty) little plants that after blooming the seed pod looks exactly like a Blackberry. He has sold quite a few of those. You may want to research it and see if it will grow in your zone if you are interested. Let me know. Enjoy the rest of your day. Thanks ladies....good chatting with you.
Ruby
Ruby--
Something else I have a lot of is Swedish Ivy. Kind of don't see that
much any more. It is such a pretty plant! Shiny leaves....easy care...
I am always taking cuttings and starting small pots of it. It is sooo easy!
The trick is to put 3 cuttings in each finger-hole. Then you have a bushy plant.
4" pot---2 holes
6" pot---5 holes
8" pot--7 holes
10" pot--11 holes
It is not hard to send cuttings through the mail. Just that they would be boxed.
Should get to you in a couple of days.
John does not have to drive all the way up here--that is a long trip!
The lilies you want to give us--would they hold until the Swap?
I know what I will do.....I will start a bunch of 4" pots of the Swedish Ivy
for you. That way, they will be a bit ahead...and nicely growing for you to sell.
I have 2 older HB's of it that I really do not want to keep.
Need to trip all those--will make a lot of pots....
Would you prefer I did 6" pots for you? Get more money?
How much can you get for a nice 6" potted plant? 4" ??
Hitting the sack--I have to get up at 4AM tomorrow...
Stay well--you two!
Gita
This is from Oct. 2009
Gita, we call that creeping charlie here. I used to have a beautiful one inside and some bug got it before I noticed and wiped it out.
Ruby, I will trade you some pink rain lilies or some Blackberry lilies. Photo is from this week.
Thanks again Gita - Hey, I am open to any thing you would like to give us. I already have some of the Swedish Ivy and today is supposed to be the day that I was going to pot some up to send to Market this week. Haven't made it to the potting table yet today because this morning was dog bathing day and kids will be here for the afternoon. Anyway....it is another of the plants you have gifted me with that has done excellent for me. I have little stems of it in several cups of water rooting sitting in several places. I have given it many hair cuts over the years since it came here to live. I am mainly selling in 4" pots for $3. If I pot in a decorative pot, I am charging $5. Over the weekend I vased up some plants that will live in water and plan to see if they will also sell for $5. Again, the onions sound good and the Swedish Ivy too. Whatever you have, I will give a home to and try to make a few bucks off the extras too, if that is okay with you.
Tell you what......go ahead and box some things up in the next couple of weeks and send and I will reimburse postage to you. As for the Blackberry Lilies, we can exchange at the swap if you'd like or I can mail a pot to you now if you'd like. For things that are not ready to be sent now, the swap will be a good time for getting them from you.
Sharon, I would love to do an exchange. I was looking at a zone map yesterday for the Blackberry Lilies and it looked like they will do okay pretty much three quarters of the US, beginning on the East Coast and working west. I don't have the map in front of me, and didn't know to check yesterday, but you might be able to get them to live there and I would love to do a trade. The Rain Lilies are very pretty. What can you tell me about them?
Anyway......I just came in from taking some pictures of the house plants and will share some of them here as soon as I download them. I need an ID on one, so will ask about it too.
So, I will be in touch through dmail with you two ladies or I can be found on the Address Exchange. Sharon, are you ready for me to send the BBLilies to you now?
Ruby
Ruby!!!
DO NOT waste time rooting things like Swedish Ivy or Wandering Jew in water first!
Just do bnunches of 2-3 cuttings at a time and put them in ONE finger-hole in fresh soil.
See my Post above!
They will root much faster and better...and grow into nice, little plants...
Also saves time! Alsdo--keep your newly planted cuttings outside in filtered shade.
The humidity and fresh air hels a lot! You will see.....
Having to adjust from water roots to soil--is a bit of a shock to most plants.
Be happy about the ones that CAN root right into soil from fresh cuttings.
Gita
Thanks Gita. I suppose it has just become a habit at this point. In the past whenever I rooted things it was usually because a piece had broken off a plant or something and water and a jar were always handy at odd times, when potting soil and pot weren't always. Now, that I will be doing it for a business cause, I like your idea. Plan ahead and save time. Good thinking.....I am always open to time savers.
I potted a few of the Swedish Ivy one evening this week. Will be taking to market tomorrow. Hope some folks like them well enough to buy them. I also took pictures one night and want to share a few of them here. Will try to find some time this weekend to post them.
Have a good weekend all. And thanks again Gita.
Ruby
Just dropping by to say I hope that everyone will have a good weekend coming up. Take care and try to stay cool everyone.
Ruby
Ruby---
You said in the above post that you just potted up some Swedish Ivy to take to the market...
What you said bothers me a bit......
Were they already rooted and growing well when you potted them up? Like in the soil?
Did you transplant them just to a bigger pot? OR--Were they newly rooted cuttings (in water) you just potted up?
I do not think I would buy a freshly potted up cuttings of anything. The DO have to go through
a time of adjustment and then start growing and looking good before I would sell, or buy, any.
Perhaps my standards are higher for what i would consider salable plants.
IF you have customers that will pay for whatever you are offering--that is wonderful.
You have often commented how nice all my plants are when i share them at the Swaps.
That is the result of how dedicated i am to quality of plants before I give them away.
NOTHING got just yanked out of my garden. NOTHING was just stuck in a glass of water.
NOTHING I just dug out of my garden the morning of a Swap and wrapped it in a wet paper towel.
When I share plants--they are already growing in pots and well on their way. Healthy and doing well.
Plants I will root in water first are:
--Individual Begonia leaves. The roots grow from the bottoms of the stem cuttings. Takes time.....
--Ivy cuttings--they root slowly. Water-rooting gives then a head start.
--You CAN do Swedish Ivy in water--but it is not necessary. Just wasting time....
--AV leaves. Can be done either way. Rooting right into the soil, in my opinion, gives these a better start.
I just rooted (in water) some cuttings of my Endless Summer Hydrangea. Need to pot them up.
I could just as well have cut the tips off and stuck them in the bed and they will root. Will do that to a zillion of them!
Then--by next spring--I could dig them up and pot them up.
I have never had much luck rooting woody cuttings in any way.
Like my Camellia. My Kopper King Hibiscus--and such....The KK does not even make seeds!!!
It makes the seed pods--but they all whither up and are empty.
I know I am NOT all knowledgeable on propagation. But--I try--just for the fun of it. Sometimes it works!
Sure would like to be able to root the KK HIbiscus. Can't buy it anywhere any more.
I dug away 2 new shoots from the base of my big one this spring. They both had roots on them.
Potted them up--and so far--I think they have rooted..as I did the "tug test" and there was definite resistance.
Of course, the stems all died back. That is expected--I think.
Will have to wait until next Summer to see if any new growth comes from the bottom of these divisions.
IF it does--these are, surely, already spoken for.
When I got it--about 5 or 6 years ago--ALL the HD's had it. Just that ONE year!!! So many--that no one bought them all.
I got two of them at 50% off at the end of the Season. I guess people did not really know what it was....
Now you cannot find any! Except through catalogs....
Hoping you have much luck with the two Red Epis I gave you. It will take time!
Patience is the main virtue in gardening.....
It is 100* here today--again. I am staying inside. Just watering my beds by sprinkler.
Glad our eater Bills here are so reasonable....otherwise--I could not afford to do this....
Gita
Ruby,
Apart from providing the right level of light and fertilizer to AVs, it is also important to get the pot size right. A very common reason for AVs not blooming is that their pots are too big. AVs like being root bound. When in big pots, the plants grow very big but won't bloom well. A few of my new AVs are now blooming in solo cups. If your AVs are in pots bigger than 3", you may want to consider moving them to smaller pots. If the AVs are already very big and look top heavy for small pots, you can remove some of the leaves from the bottom. That will leave a "neck" on the AV. When repotting, pot the "neck" in the soil.
If you google AV info, you can find many articles/discussions on how to grow AVs. They are really very easy plants to grow and propagate.
Good luck.
Donner
Donner--
You posted a picture of an amazing AV in the "Buttoneer's Stroke" Thread.
It was bi-color...Lavender and white?
It looked awesome! Would you start me a leaf? Are you coming to the September Plant Swap at Jill's?
I heard she was going to start a Thread on it soon. Have to go look.
Gita
Did not do anything outside today! too lazy....Can't say it was too hot--just did not feel like it....
Something must be wrong with me.....Not enough energy or will to do anything....
Maybe i should take some iron pills?
Then again--there is nothing urgent that needs to be done in my garden--besides watering....
Weeding too....
Picking many tomatoes. Mostly Cherokee Purples. Experimenting with Fermenting seeds. never did it before....
Fried up a bunch of yellow and green Zucchinis. Ate half of them when I took them off the pan....YUM!
Fixed up a pile for lunch tomorrow at HD.
Bought all kinds of chicken and turkey backs and necks at Richardsons. Cleaned them up and had to freeze them--
as my next totally free day will be next Friday. Gonna make a big batch of stock.
Monday, I have to make 3 deserts for our Fund-raised Bake sale for "an associate in need"...
I will make a big pan of "Luscious Lemon Bars" and 2 pies of some sort from DG. Sounder great!
Wish I knew WHO the "associate in need" is. Might make a bigger donation. HD has these now and then.
The "Homer Fund" matches all $$$ collected. Dollar for dollar.
Just killing time chatting here...My body wants to go to bed--but it is a bit early....
Yet--I will be getting up at 6AM...So! Why not?
Here is my KK Hibiscus. All HUGE and blooming away....
About the only thing worth showing off right now....
Gita
Sally---Care to move this on?????? 225 Posts......
Gita,
The AV in the picture you mentioned is a "Shimmering Sunshine". The flowers are fuchsia with white edges. I will start a leaf for you.
Donner
Gita, the heat and humidity have been awful. A vitamin with iron probably couldn't hurt but a doc visit and blood test would tell for sure.
Donner, I gave the av from swap to my mil, she loves it. Thanks for the tips.
Gita, yes we are due, I'll try to do that tuesday if no one else goes ahead before then. I'm out of town. Visiting dad for his birthday, 91.
Hi folks - By golly, you ladies are going to make a gardener out of me before this is all over. Thanks for further tips Gita. Yeah, the swedish ivy I potted had been rooted in water. I did what you said with the batch your sent and potted directly in soil. Will let you know how they do. A few have yellowed and shriveled and needed to be picked off, but so far, so good. The ones that I did from the watered roots look okay for now. Will do as you advised and try the tug test and see if they are in fact rooting correctly.
Donnerville, thanks for more info on the Violets. You seem to be our expert on those. Yes, you told me months ago that the pot sizes may be interfering with their non bloom state, and there are a couple that may have to go to smaller pots. One thing I did as I was writing here one day and realized that I had moved the AV from their previous home in which they were doing well blooming, so I have since moved them back to where they were blooming well a couple of years ago. No blooms yet, but hope this move helps. I have also begun feeding them with an AV fertilizer and they look good at the moment, yet still no blooms.
The Lipstick plant you sent has not formed any new blooms for me but is crazily growing new shoots. It seems happy, but again....no new blooms. Sally mentioned a special feeding for helping with blooms and I am applying it to a few plants also but haven't been doing it long enough to see any results yet.
Sally, tell you dad Happy 91st and that he raised one heck of a fine daughter. Oh yeah, that message can be given to your mom too if she is alive.
My afternoon will include potting some rather large Aloe plants that a neighbor sent via John earlier in the week. I planted the small ones already and so far, so good. Another exciting thing is that last week John and I visited a nearby Florist who is closing up shop and selling out the contents of the store. We were able to purchase a nice display stand she had in the middle of the store and that is where my houseplants will spend their winter when returning back inside in the fall.
I need to take the rest of the week to finish organizing the plant room which didn't suit me last winter even though the plants all did very well and I don't believe I lost any of them. I want to set it up so that it is easier for me to manuever around from pot to pot tending them. I need to move out the bakers racks I used to display some of them and send to either storage shed or greenhouse and then I begin rearranging the room to better suit my tastes. This has been an ongoing project for a couple of years now. Kind of my mini-indoors-greenhouse. It works in a pinch.
Anyway....enjoy your day everyone. Always good to hear from each of you. Will report back as to the condition of Swedish Ivy and others we discussed.
Oh yeah Gita, the epi's look perfectly content still in the containers you sent them in. At least one is growing new shoots and I will have to inspect the other two to see if they are currently growing. Will report back.
Ruby
Just realized that I haven't heard from Holly or Ric in a good while. Darn it. I just went and wrote down the numbers of some of the house plant pictures I want to share here. Will wait until after Sally or someone else starts a new page, because I have quite a few pictures to show.
Till we meet again......
Ruby
Ruby,
The Lipstic Plant is one of the class of plants called "Columnia".
They are all thick-leaves and do not like to be watered too often.
Also--like so many plants like this--they want to get root-bound before they will bloom.
Repotting your Aloe plants is difficult--as they are so top-heavy.
When I have re-planted them--I stick little support stakes all around the plant to hold it up.
Keep the watering to a minimum.....
They take a good half-a-year to grow enough roots to hold themselves up.
Let your Epis be--don't fuss too much over them--and water as needed--but allow to dry in between.
I am at work--BORING! It has been a long time that I have sat all 8 hrs. in the phone center...
Stay as cool as you can! Gita
Hi Gita, I worked this morning. I was the only one there for the first 2 hours, then got a cashier and it was just the two of us till 10:00. We had 2 people call off. Well, it is usually pretty quiet on Sunday mornings, was just starting to get busy as I was leaving.
Not sure I told you Ric took a tumble last week. Fell out of the boat he was loading for a fishing trip. Dislocated his shoulder and cracked a couple of ribs. He is resting, reading, and getting pretty bored. He is still doing things around here but after a day doing too much he has cut back to smaller lighter jobs, with plenty of rest between.
Holly--I am sorry to hear about Ric. Hey, man! are you getting too old for some of your adventures?????
Once more--there goes your worker and handyman for a few weeks.
I know you will take good are of him. You have to. He does so much worj around your garden.
Cracked ribs???? Now--that will take a bit of time to heal.
How is work going? I hate all the times I spend watering in this heat---
but, at the same time--I love the solitude and the time to just veg at those times.
Early mornings in a garden are magical--till the sun comes out.
Hate the sweat dripping down my neck. ..and my face..and my temples....
I always have a towel around my neck.....to catch it all,,,,
Many times I ask myself: "WHY do I bother fixing my hair every morning???"
Got some good deals at Lowes last week.
5" pots of double, pink Impatiens for .25 cents each. Bought 5 of them. Made a HB out of these.
Also bought two quart pots of pale pink, perennial Balloon Flowers for $1.67 each.
HD never marks anything down like that!. Bummer......
Lowes is 2 miles closer to my home than the HD I work in. So--I stop now and then....
Gita
New thread, please continue here:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1204370/
This message was edited Aug 1, 2011 10:12 PM