Gail: If you put a lizard in a terrarium you will have to catch bugs to feed it, LOL. I am not wanting to do this for a long time that's why I plan on releasing Miss Lucy to the back yard before long. She is just sooo tiny ... maybe she would fatten up if she were outside to catch her own ants, moths etc.
GoldLeaf: That plant Lucy is on is Pellionia repens: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/55124/ that I got in my very first trade here on DG. It hasn't done too well in a pot and there was still a little piece of it alive so I stuck it in the terrarium and it seems to like the moist environment!
Kivit: Yep ... all of those Lizards were pets that folks set free which is NOT good for the environment ... they displace the natural critters by eating them! There's been a problem in South Florida with huge snakes too: http://www.animalpicturesarchive.com/view.php?tid=2&did=29176 and hopefully they won't spread north!
Florida is a lot wilder than some realize ... we have Alligators, Crocodiles, Black Bears, Cougars, Coyotes Snakes ... and now all the non-natives that folks buy as small pets and when they grow they think it's okay to set them free!
Oh Yeah ... and we also have Sharks! The county where I live is known as the Shark Bite Capital of the world! This news video is from earlier in the year when there were only 10 shark bites: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2j1E_2wlJ6I we have broken the record so far this year and there have been more than 20 at last count.
Geesh ... am I making y'all want to move to paradise? ^_^
October Blooms, Part 3
OK......have a deal, Goldleaf. When I send you a box of strep leaves plus some other things, please send me one of those Pearcea......yea for me! yea for you!
Lin-- I guess that is the price we pay for living in paradise!! We don't have gators here in the ozarks--or sharks. But I encountered a timber rattlesnake the size of a python (NOT kidding). I almost stepped on it, on a stroll here in my little backwoods "paradise". Folks asked if I killed it--my answer "no"-- I was carrying a jar of elderbery jelly & a begonia to the neighbor-- didn't figure either was lethal. FYI--I haven't walked to the neighbors since and won't until the weather is too cold for creepy crawlies.
Tommie
Tommie: Oh, I detest snakes ... scare me to death! We have a few poisonous snakes in Florida ... had two deadly coral snakes in our yard the past couple of years and my backyard neighbor had a large one in her garage that another neighbor killed for her. Neighbor across the street killed a 6-7' Eastern Diamondback Rattler in his backyard a few years ago and my next door neighbors found two Pygmy Rattlers when they took the boards off their windows after the hurricanes of 2004! I see black snakes when I'm mowing the yard during the spring and summer and they even scare me but it's really scary when you see one of the deadly ones! It was on our news a couple of days ago where a mailman was delivering mail somewhere here in Florida and when he reached in a mailbox he was bitten by a rattle snake ... and he continued to deliver the mail! He ended up in the hospital and it showed his finger where the snake got him. It looked awful and they said he was lucky because it was a young snake that got him ... had it been a larger one I guess the venom would have taken effect a lot sooner and it would have been a more dire situation! I live in an unincorporated area of the city and everyone on our street's mailboxes are at the corner ... last summer I found a large black snake in the mailbox! It scared the living daylights out of me! I don't have a clue how it got in there ... I'm thinking a neighbor's son did it as a prank. I taped a sign on the outside of my mailbox for the mailman to beware, that there was a snake in the mailbox so he brought the mail to my door and thanked me! EEEW ... gives me the creeps just thinking about them ... I don't like snakes! I would never kill one on purpose because I feel they are God's creatures. Well, I would kill one if it is poisonous! I ran over a snake when I was mowing a couple of years ago ... never saw the thing in the grass and all of a sudden when I hit it, snake parts came flying out of the bottom of the mower and the mower was making all kinds of loud noise from the blade chopping that thing! I felt so bad that I ran over it ... this year I almost crashed the riding mower into a tree when I saw a snake in the grass while mowing ... I was trying to miss it, so turned sharply! Luckily the snake slithered off (very quickly) into some underbrush and I didn't crash the mower!
As a rule I don't kill them either-- DH chased a little black snake up the hill out of the yard yesterday. If they are poisonus and near the house-- well that is different . I make it a point to keep things that would attract rodents to as small a scale as possible to keep them away, so far have only seen the non-venomous near the house. I have prayed about that huge snake-- if I never see it again--fine-- IF I DO-- I will shoot it--it was big enough to eat any of my dogs. It was at least 7ft long and as big around as my upper arm--and I am not a little woman. I was grateful I was going to visit the neighbor when I found it and had left them (the dogs) home--they usually run up the road ahead of me and I am sure would have been supper. That one was so huge-- I took the shot shells out of the pistol and put in hollow points-- no point in making it mad instead of killing it if it comes down to that.
Whew, I don't blame you Tommie ... I would carry a loaded gun at all times while outdoors if I saw something like a Timber Rattler! I don't know if they would eat the dogs but the venom sure would kill one for sure and I guess they would eat what they kill! We had a cat come up missing many years ago. My DH searched the woods around the neighborhood. We were pretty sure an owl or some predator got it. We think now it may have been a large snake! It was around the time we had about 5 yards of mulch dumped at the edge of the property and had been shoveling mulch for a few days and then took a trip to visit my sister in N. Georgia. When I got home a neighbor saw me and asked me if my husband told me about the large snake crossing the road one night towards the mulch pile. I had no clue what they were talking about, hubby had not told me anything about a snake, large or small. Well, apparently the neighbors across the street had someone ring their doorbell about 9 p.m. one night, asking them to call the police or animal control, saying there was a big snake stretched across the street and they didn't want to drive over it to get by, didn't want to kill it. Well, it was about a 7-8' long boa or python or something, weighed a couple of hundred pounds ... took 5 grown men to lift it into the cage in back of the animal control guy's truck! Yikes! I would have had a heart attack if I had been shoveling mulch and seen something like that! Apparently there's a guy in the neighborhood who has a large room in his house full of exotic snakes! He and his girlfriend had a huge fight, he left and she got mad and released his snakes!
Look what I received on ebay from a DG member. I am trying to get Veemee to sell on DG...............these are beautiful streps..........her ebay is something like Veemeenee.............
edited to say I got her name wrong...........her user ID on DG is Vmee
and her ebay is Vmeenee
This message was edited Oct 16, 2008 11:36 AM
Are these the ones you were talking about on your anti-ebay thread?
what are the names gail? Dont keep us in suspense
Oh........OK.........they all have double and triple crowns. I need to askVmee to help me grow leaves like this. They are Persian Carpet, Papermoon, Blue Network, Silvia and Chiqusa. I paid an average of 5.50 for each one and that is a bargain to me. She can really grow. These double and triple crowns on them means they will get big fast and be so nice.................
Kivit ..... I always use 1/4 to 1/3 perlite in the bottom of my cups but I don't do the Texas method with the extra holes and standing in water. I was reading in the Cape Cod violetry PDF catalog that Gail had sent me how there is a new type of capillary matting and you just stand the cups with their bottom holes on it and it works that simply .... so even though I didn't get the special matting they spoke of that is the method I am doing. Just some matting and my regular pots sitting on it. I know I am hand watering much more often than with wicking but it suits me and the capillary matting gives me an extra day or two in between and keeps the humidity up for the plants etc. So far so good for me!
Goldleaf that Pearcea hypocyrtiflora is just stunning, the leaves on their own are worth growing it for and that balloon bloom is just too cool!!
Lin I love Lucy Lizard and her story, too cute. You can keep the rest of those critters down there with you though! You too Tommie!! I'd have fainted dead away to see a rattler that big!! Another trade off for our cold temps and months of snow are NO poisonous snakes at our elevation!!!
Beautiful new plants Gail, so glad you found a good eBay person!! Your going to love that Blue Network! Mine is going gangbusters right now and it is a special one I think ....
~Brenda
A first bloom on Lemon Ice ....
~Brenda
Last summer I bought an Iced Pink Flamingo plant from Gail off the classifieds. It came with a big seed pod on it which I let ripen. I planted part of the seeds and out of all that came up I ended up with three little variegated leaved plants. I put the little seedlings together in a cup and one of them has just sent up it's first bloom .... I love this little plant with it's big flower!
~Brenda
Gorgeous blooms Brenda!!
Strep Blue Network...swoon, and the variegated seedling strep is a honey. So sweet looking.
As is always with my purple / blueish flowers the colors aren't exactly true from my camera but close enough to enjoy! Me and my disclaimers! ^_^
I'm missing Nancy the last few days I've had to pop in, she must be as busy as the rest of us! Susan and Jan too!!
This is Blue Heaven, one of those with the extra doo dah and much prettier in person.
~Brenda
And Lynn's Ravishing Red ....
~Brenda
I need to be packing the car for an overnight trip with DD so just one more I've been so enjoying lately!
S Bonnie and Clyde....
~Brenda
In such a rush I forgot the picture again!!
Once again .... Bonnie and Clyde!
~Brenda
I have wanted that Blue Network for a long time. Yours is great looking. I can't believe you got a baby from Iced Pink Flamingo that looks that good with variegated foliage to boot!
You know, I just realized I didn't start an OT thread for October. Oh, well. Here is a pic of the ginger plant DH got in Boerne . . .
Here is another view of the blooms. They opened up just last night . . .
I have to show all my goods from ebay.........just find out who the good sellers are..............these are from lilriver and I paid more for these big ones than I did with Vmeenee.......................
They are Cape Baby, Crystal Beauty, Pink Clouds and Wild Irish Rose (I knocked her blooms off while unwrapping her)
Lol! I just got Crystal Beauty,Cape Baby & Pink Clouds! Havent even unpacked them yet because one of hubby's racing buddues gave him NINE shop lights which I am washing. He is putting them on my strep stands. Maybe I can get mine to look good too!
Got to keep washing!
Look what I got today!! Got my order from Gary Mikita--8 Kohlerias and 4 Episcias. It was Plant Christmas at my house today!! Not only did I get these, but got from DGmarketplace my Episcia stolons(gessiegail) , and my Hoyas and begonias (kathy_ann), A Philodendron gloriosum(ebay) and 2 more philos from another online vendor. Won't be getting much done today!!
Being new to Kohleria's I wasn't sure what to order--knew I wanted Grey Feather, but then ordered his assortment (6Kohlerias/4 Episcias)so everything else was a surprise. I was not disapointed--only received 1 episcia I already had. These 2 are my favorites--(because they are blooming)-- but the one on the right (K. amabilis)has spotted leaves (I think I mentioned I'm a pushover for spots), the one on the left is K. rosea.
This message was edited Oct 17, 2008 12:38 PM
You are going to have a busy day!
I had a busy night last night . . . yesterday I got 2 boxes . . . one from bmedel with a gagillion strep leaves, an AV trailer, a kohleria rhizome (I think it was kohleria!), and two petro-somethings! The other was my leaf order from The Velvet Leaf. I stuck 18 of the leaves this morning . . . I will stick the other 4 tonite, hopefully with the leaves I get today from Cedar Creek that should get here today . . .
And tomorrow - the AV & G sale in Austin!! WooHoo!!
Edited to say: No, not a kohleria rhizome, but a micro-mini sinningia "Tinkerbell"
This message was edited Oct 17, 2008 9:22 PM
Don't cha love it!! I am jealous tho'-- there is no local AV or Gesneriad society here :( There is one in Springdale but it would be 180 mi round trip. I may join in the spring anyway, if we get another vehicle. We had to get rid of our nearly new economical car when we moved here because it doesn't have enough ground clearance to traverse either the county road OR our driveway--so my poor worn out--but good ground clearance-- pickup keeps me close to home.
I've never been to one before . . . and I just can't wait until February for the one in Corpus . . .
Keep forgetting to ask, Hillbilly_Gran . . . which episcia did you get that you already had?
This message was edited Oct 17, 2008 2:15 PM
I received a pink panther-- I had just traded for several stolons of this one. Of the new ones today, rita's pearl passion is my favorite--although I love them all. I also got my Gesneriad society "welcome" pkg along with my ABS journal--so once everything is potted up --I have more plant fun ahead ^_^
I'm new here on the threads, just wanted to show my Blue Dragon AV, it does NOT Compare to the other pics here!
This message was edited Oct 17, 2008 4:28 PM
I just wrote a whole big thing about everyones beautiful pictures then clicked on something and it's gone *$%#@
Welcome lhettenhausen,Glad you could join us.Thats a very pretty AV your growing!
Brenda sent me the most beautiful Falling stars strep.Girl you can sure grow them.Thank you so much!I love it.
Received order from Cedar Creek.
Got most of what I ordered. Received: 2 Knight Magic, 2 Blueberry Mint, and 2 Raspberry Sizzle. I did get an Irish Mint packet, but only 1 leaf instead of 2. I wonder if that is why I got the extra leaves that I did . . . 2 Newtown Grape Suzette, 2 Irish Laughter, and 2 Dean's Bunny Blue.
I am glad I got the extras I did . . . really! But there was no note, no invoice, no nothing - except insulation - in the box. I will order from them again, but it would have been nice to have a bit of interaction, you know?
I am going to post this pic, just to see if anyone else can see what I think! I see . . . left to right is Cora Latte, Bristols Potpourri, and Blue Mars . . . I am kinda excited! I will go back and see who I got the leaves from and when . . . got them stuck before I realized the wisdom of marking who they're from . . .
Hmmmm! Looks like a baby leaf is already showing!
One in each! They're super tiny, and at first I wasn't sure if they were just algae covered perlite . . .
How exciting!!-- I just love babies (plants & puppies) ^_^
Ok, before DH needs the pc, here is what I walked away with from the sale in Austin: Episcia 'Sunny' - Cutting w/stolon
Episcia 'Chad's Cheetah' - rooted cutting
AV's:
Rob's Mad Cat
Rob's Smarty Pants (2-3 crowns)
The leaf baggies were $1.00 each:
Striped Love - 3 leaves
Hortense's Country Rose - 3 leaves
Frosted Denim - 2 leaves
Suncoast Lavender Silk - 2 leaves
Texas Space Dust - 2 leaves
Spring Cardinal - 2 leaves
YOu did have fun at the sale I can see! Good for you. Was it good or not?
I have a few pics to show but you must see Cape Essence I got from Gary Mikita........I have already cut this leaf twice and stuck her thinking little leaves would come up...........but I guess she is just good for sticking new plants.
Blue Weismore
edited to say Blue Weismoor
This message was edited Oct 18, 2008 8:54 PM
