So under the watchful eyes of my "indoor supervisor" Gizmo...
.....and my "outdoor supervisor" Ms. Downy Woodpecker , I can pot up these newcomers.
The Korean Fir and the Double Mockorange are small, but acceptable to me....
.....as is this Meyer Lemon. Sure, bigger is better, but this is bigger than I expected from these folks.
Um...can you say pot-bound? I bring relief in the nick of time...
.....and a pruning. We don't want two leaders for a standard tree, but if I trim too much it won't thicken the trunk as well...
....there! Trimmed just enough to leave the closest leaf, then when the trunk gets a lot thicker, I'll prune it the rest of the way off.
All my newcomers get watered with this rooting hormone to stimulate growth and lessen transplant shock. (Though I don't use this for annuals.)
There! Now into the house with you until our temps reliably come up to stay. (We have an f-ing frost warning tonight! Still!)
Now for the bareroot delphiniums....um...are these "dwarf" by chance? I mean, look at these puny things! There are supposed to be three per bag, but all these combined don't even make one decent-sized plant!
Gee, there are four in this bag...is that actually supposed to make up for the size of these things? I think not!
And these cyclamen corms aren't anything to brag about, either...*sigh*...looks like I'll have another "failure to thrive" credit next year.
This 'Russin Princess' lobelia looks like she's been imprisoned awhile....
.....oh yea, I had to cut the pot away. Let's give her some room...
...and how about these microscopic meadow rue? Now I know what they meant by "plant plugs" in the catalog, sheesh!
I think I'll peel away at least one side of their tiny "pots"....
...as for the clematis, they are planted out in their designated grow spots. Good luck!
Everybody else gets to wait here until I see signs of life (and figure out where on earth I can put them :) . Okay, grow already!
9 comments:
What neat plants you got there! I like the woodpecker too. He is cute. We dont get woodpecker birdies here in Brooklyn.
Good luck with your premature babies. A little time in the ICU should help some of them. In the end, gardeners are such optimists. We plant our little twigs and wisps and hope for the best.
By the way, get out of town Frosty.
Meemsnyc-Thank you! Sorry to hear you don't get woodpeckers in Brooklyn. They do tend to like lots of trees, so I suppose they'd head Central Park way....though we have quite a few around "town" up here. :) (Guessing that our towns are super different and all.)
Northern shade-Ironically, I'd have the opposite response to you (in a way), as our climates are very similar! "ICU" is a great way to put it...I have a real "Florence Nightingale" thing with plants! The so-called "end-of-season" sales (in July!) are some of my favorite rescue missions! ;-)
And yea, get lost to Frosty already, dammit!
Seriously, what's the latest you've had a frost warning? We have the odd one here or there in May, but it sounds like it's still a "regular thing" for you up there!
"Designated grow spots"??? That sounds like what I tell the kittens about their designated cat litter spots. Why then does it end up in the kitchen, the bathroom, under the rugs, the couch, and everywhere else?
Your little Meyer lemon plug has nice roots and looks good. I'm always looking for one in a gallon pot but they only sell 'em in 2 g or larger. Maybe I'll order one myself.
Kim-The latest frost? I'm not sure, but I've heard tales of June snowfall, though I hope it's some ugly rumor! "Regular thing" is a good way to put it...as I found looking at my posts last year. I see I was whining about frost as late as May 16th! ;-)
Chuck-Heh...sounds like your cats listen to you in standard feline fashion! ;-) You know, this lemon has bounced back and sprung into action beautifully. And for $7.99, I'm even more pleased! I highly recommend acquiring one! :) (Even though you want to consider S&H as a cost factor, as it sits right now, mine is in a gal. size planter and fitting perfectly.)
I would love to get such a shot of our woodpecker. I showed it to my husband and he was very jealous. Ours is just too high up in the tree, I guess.
Elizabeth-The woodpeckers get amazingly close to me...I think they realize I'm the food supplier. This one was about 6 feet away on a branch, and let me aim the camera without moving. They bring babies to the feeders all summer, it's funny to watch cuz' they're so clumsy. They land on the feeder and take a long time to figure out how to "operate it".
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