The Epi Nursery

Remember my Succulent Nursery? With some major rearranging, I've managed to get all the Epi babies into one location so I can keep an eye on their progress. They've all been removed from the hanging baskets which just don't work here in Happenstance Garden. They get beaten up in the wind and I'm not a great "overhead" waterer. :-)

Still some permanent metal markers to print up so I can keep track of what's what even as the ink markings disappear.

And here's the side to the left of the Epi Nursery.

And the side to the right.

Candy,
what a beautiful and organized place you have!! You habe been a very busy lady.
Just wonderful. And I can see your greenhouse in the third picture, very nice. Thanks for showing.

Ursula

Very beautiful greenhouse and every pot is at its right place , oh gosh may I be near this beautiful green house and grabe all your plants...... LOL.
Kaleem

You've done a beautiful job, Candy. What a great place to sit on the bench and hang out with a cup of coffee or tea. You've got yourself a little piece of heaven:-) Thanks for the pictures. It gives me something to aspire to.

Thanks, I think it will work through the summer months......must figure out what to do for the winter.

It would be a challenge to fit them all in the greenhouse, which houses my succulent collection in the winter months. About half of the succulent collection lives in the greenhouse year round, the other half lives on the patio off the kitchen. The Euphorbia collection moves inside to the sunroom in the winter, since I don't heat the greenhouse. I know Ursula can relate to the twice yearly chore of moving things from one place to another. :-)

And one of a number of buds on the cuttings......at least I'll get a preview of what some of them will look like in the future.

Candy, excellent job of arranging all those Epis into their own little corner. What do you mean, move them????? Why? If a plant can't make it year round outdoors, it's way too much trouble for me LOL. Besides, I've got nowhere to move them to ;-). And to get all that set up so nicely and then to have to move it all in a few months.....ugh! I'm far too lazy for that... ROTFL! You're a better woman than me, that's for certain!

-Julie

WOW!!!!
they look great

Candy, what a gorgeous garden you have! Everything is so beautiful, and beautifully arranged. Great organizing!

In your last photo I can see a lock. Is this any tip for more flowers?
Kaleem

Kaleem, I think that is the top of a metal plant marker.

Happenstance, I sure wish my "epi nursery" looked so good, and so organized! I have what looks to be about the same amount of small pots now, but just all on the ground. No shelving available here. : (

Candy, that's just gorgeous. You've given me more ideas -- uh oh. :-)
I love the dappled light -- what did you use for the top?
And what kind of markers are those? Metal -- but you mention printing. I would like easy to ready markers like that.

Julie, I'm with you -- they live outside or else!

Oh it is so yummy to have this all organized again.......I've started a couple of times this Spring to get to this area, but every time we would have a couple of days of warm weather the rain would start again.

I move a lot of tropicals from the greenhouse and the sun room into this "lathe" house for the summer. In the winter I store several dozen large planted containers with perennials in them in this area, along with garden art and favorite pots that would otherwise be blown about the garden.

The whole structure or plastic "lathe" has been blown apart many times in our winter winds. 40-50mph is not unusual in just a normal storm because of the convergence of the winds off the GG bridge slot and the 4000ft mountain we live on. We are at about the 1100ft level at the base of the mountain. Plants are pulled right out of the ground in these storms, so until the baby Epis has a good root sytem they need some protection.....they conceivably could end up in the next county if not protected til they can hold on fast in their pots. :-)

The metal markers are a real joy and the only way I can keep track of things.....I use them in conjunction with a P-Touch label maker that hooks up to the PC and you can organize a database as detailed or simple as you want with the ability to print whatever fields of info (up to 3-4 lines depending on font size). I think it's my favorite garden "tool". There's some additional info on the P-Touch system I use on this thread http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/405905/ .

The two racks that the Epis are on are another case of "happenstance". Several years ago my daughter and I each bought one at the Smith & Hawken Outlet. They were practically giving them away. She's in the process of moving and didn't want to move hers, so I inherited it. Perfect timing as I searched the garden shed for something to get these small Epi pots all in one place.

The "lathe" is simply the white plastic stuff sold at HD and other garden centers. It covers the top and 3 sides, with the 4th side open for the swing and the view to the greenhouse. This white plastic stuff is not the most attractive solution, but was a "temporary" fix to get some shade about 4 years ago. It is simply hung on hooks at the top and secured with rods of rebar pounded into the ground at the bottom of the panels

And here's the detail of the top of one panel.

Hey, I think it looks fabulous! :-) I suppose you're right, there are some things that one cannot just leave out in the elements during the winter rainy season. But I limit my hauling to lawn chairs, whirligigs and childrens summer toys - all packed away inside a not at all attractive, but useful, wooden crate surrounded by some winter-proofing plastic sheeting. Looks terrible, but gets the job done in an area of the garden never frequented during the cold wet winter here....thus, the fact that I couldn't care less what it looks like ;-).

-Julie

It really looks great, Candy. You've done a wonderful job with it.

Candy, thanks so much for that information.

The Epi nursery seems to be doing the trick......many new leaves and a number of buds continuing to progress on last years cuttings. I've been keeping my eye out for "orphans" in the nurseries and have picked up quite a few. These are not the worlds loveliest of plants in the best situation, let alone ugly little cuttings, so most people pass them up because they aren't aware of the beauty that springs forth every year.

That's exactly why the owner of the cactus and succulent market here doesn't carry many Epis at all. He said he'll have the same plants hanging there by the cash register for years before someone will come along who wants them. So every time I beg for more, he just says it's not worth the time and energy to grow them if I'm the only one who wants them. So he grows a handful of plants at a time. Right now he has none and has no plans for growing any more for a while. :-(

-Julie

Happenstance,

Most Euphorbia prefer temps around 50F or warmer and do not like our soggy winters. The sunroom temp is just a bit warmer and less humid than the greenhouse during our 2-3 month wet season when our lows during the early morning hours may reach 37-39F. I've found they do better with just that little bit of extra warmth. As soon as the temps are consistantly above 50F they move back outside for the warm months.

What a wonderful setup you have, Candy! I'm going to have to check out that label maker. What is the tall plant that is close to the front in the first picture?
:) Donna

Candy, how do I find more info about the labeler that you attach to the PC?
:) Donna

Does the ink ever wash off the labels? I have the ptouch that you speak of. Never though the ink would survive being watered daily. What is your experience?

Morning Donna!

To the left in the foreground? That's a young Cardboard Palm http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/51472/index.html

Or behind that left and center are a couple of Epi oxypetalum plants.

All the plants you see in this setup have moved either to the sunroom or into the greenhouse for our monsoon season. Most of the Epi cuttings are putting on some new growth and I'm trying to keep an eye on them to make sure they don't suffer from winter neglect. :-) It is so easy to forget that tending these in the off season is really important for a good show of blooms. Here it means baiting them for snails/slugs and I start fertilizing after the first of the year.

I love my P-Touch.....one of the best garden investments I've ever made. (And it comes in handy for all kinds of other labelling needs also!) The ink is permanent and looks like new after 4 years or so in the garden year round.

Here's a shot of the winter quarters for the Epi cuttings......not as spacious and plush as their summer quarters, that's for sure!

My two large Epi oxypetalum are in the sunroom because of the space they take up. Both are putting on tremendous growth!

Sorry Donna, forgot to add some additional info on the P-Touch. This is a cut and paste from a thread back in 2003 on my P-Touch:

Thanks for the info, Candy. I'll go and check.
:) Donna

Bump:-)