I wasn’t going to buy any bulbs this fall because I wasn’t sure if I had any place to plant them. Then I added the new flower bed by the lamp post, and now I have a place to plant some bulbs. So, I have about 120 tulip bulbs to plant there, which should be a decent showing.I’ll probably treat these tulip bulbs as annuals and pull them out after they’ve all bloomed. I got a variety of early and mid season tulips, so I should have blooms for a month or longer this spring.While I was buying the … [Read more...] about Bulbs and Bulb Vases
indoor gardening
R-e-s-p-e-c-t and Rare Plants
Home gardeners are getting some respect! I read an article in the Wall Street Journal today entitled “Coming to Your Backyard: A Nearly Extinct Tree”.The main point of the article is that that there is a movement to preserve rare plants by encouraging gardeners to grow them at home. Included in rare plants are heirloom plants that have nearly disappeared as gardeners switched to new hybrids and plants that are threatened in the wild due to land development or other changes in their … [Read more...] about R-e-s-p-e-c-t and Rare Plants
Moth Orchid
Early in July when the Queen of the Night was drawing full attention in the sunroom, this moth orchid also started to bloom. In fact, if you look at the blog posting of the big night when the Queen of the Night bloomed, you can see in the bottom right corner of the picture of the whole plant, this little moth orchid starting to bloom.And guess what? The moth orchid is still blooming, long after the memory and scent of the night bloomer have faded. That means it has been blooming for over a … [Read more...] about Moth Orchid
Queen of the Night
I arrived home at 5:30 PM and determined that TONIGHT would be the night! The night blooming cereus (Epiphyllum oxypetalum) chose this evening to bloom.I took pictures every half hour from 5:30 – 8:30 and didn’t notice much change each time. However, beginning at 9:00, as the sun began to dip low in the west, I saw a noticeable change as the flower began to really open. At that point, I decided to take a new picture every 15 minutes or so. I’ve put them in chronological order below so you can … [Read more...] about Queen of the Night
Indoor Gardening
Okay, some evenings, it's easy to come home, eat, and then sit and watch TV and surf the 'net without any real direction or purpose. In between surfing and TV viewing, I might check work email to see if I can douse a fire or two or get a step or two ahead by sending some replies. I know some of my co-workers are doing the same thing, because I get replies from them within a matter of minutes. Not a good way to spend an evening.So tonight, after eating, putting out the weekly trash, watching some … [Read more...] about Indoor Gardening
Mealybugs!
I must confess I am battling mealybugs in my sun room. The little buggers are mostly attacking the clivia lilies, amaryllis, and aloe plants. I think they hitched a ride on some African violets that I got at either WalMart or Frank's or maybe a jade plant that I bought on clearance. Those violets and the jade plant perished last year and I took measures to clean things up, but I see I've not quite finished the job.Of particular concern to me right now is one of the clivia's. I've noticed the … [Read more...] about Mealybugs!
