Brugmansia Makeover

Here's proof that some houseplants can do well in spite of their grower. This is brugmansia, (a.k.a. Angel's Trumpet),  this particular cultivar being 'Frosty Pink'. I bought it from Select Seeds way back in 2003. All these years, it has merely survived because I never gave it enough sun or food. This spring, it began as the gangly stick at left...growing and blooming to become the 7 foot+  monster at right.

After some slight frost/cool temp damage, the blooms were still opening beautifully on October 14th....

....smelling fantastic as well! (Though I'm too short to smell them up close, the plant is just too tall!)

Poor thing is in such a small pot and so top-heavy, I had to resort to stakes, bungees and old knee-highs to keep it steady in the wind.

The setup skun it up slightly, but no mortal injuries. So now to the task of cut-back and re-potting....

.....wow, look at that thing! It seems even taller under my porch! It was beginning to rain, so I took shelter for this process.

Here's the pot my friend is graduating to. My Texas gardening guru who has lots of experience with brugs says to put it in the largest pot that I can lug around, as they appreciate plenty of "leg room". I feel even more amazed that it bloomed for me with it's feet so confined, but I finally caught on to a regular feeding schedule this year. About once every month or three weeks in the winter with fish emulsion in water, then every other watering spring to now with either Miracle Grow or fish emulsion (with a capful of molasses to a gallon). I can only imagine how much happier it will be in this larger pot next year!

First, I cut the tops back. *Sigh* I simply couldn't bring myself to remove the blooms!

I combined spagnum moss, orchid soil/chips, and some potting soil to encourage rooting, then strapped the bags to my stumps.

I just happened to have this library bookshelf newly acquired from a friend, so I propped them up in here, blooms and all. They're three feet tall or more, and my friend says that plants started from blooming cuttings will bloom sooner than seed-grown. Bonus! Plus the fragrance was absolutely intoxicating that evening, especially confined in this room.

Here's the sad and oppressed root ball....

....so I teased the roots out some.....

.....but I was afraid to cut this large root that was cirling the old pot (there were a few more like it, too).

I sprinkled some of my own "nutrient mix" that I use mostly for cacti but figured it could help here: equal parts kelp meal, bone meal, and greensand. I must confess that I use no science, rhyme or reason for adding this stuff. It just seemed like a good idea to me and I felt like it, kind of the way I garden in general and explains my inconsistent success (in other words-I am no expert! :)

And here we are! May I present my friend "stumpy".....

...ready for his long winter's nap until spring. I'm handling his overwintering differently this year too: he will sit in the dark cool of my bedroom with limited water and attention until spring. Last year I kept him leafed out in my bright plant room...I'm told you can handle it either way and have a happy brug. I guess I'll find out!

It's Go Time

On Friday it was time to get my indoor seed starting underway. This is a couple weeks later than last year, but still 6 weeks before our frost-safe date, so what the hey. A few seeds were pre-soaked overnight...
...and I decided to try a row of sweet pea 'High Scent' with filed seeds to compare to the soaked ones.

I'd never filed the seed coat before, hopefully I did it right (at least I have the pre-soaked seeds in case this doesn't work out.)

Just like last year I'm using this heat mat under the trays to assist germination, but I don't have the same insulated metal mat to put under it. I improvised with aluminum foil, although it may not be necessary...just makes me feel better to cover the wooden boards with something to insulate and reflect the heat back.

And away we go! There's six 36-cell flats in all, with five on the mat and one for seeds that need "cooler germination" sitting nearby. One flat is all flowers, one all peppers, one all tomatoes, and three a combination of flowers, herbs and veggies.

My handy fan is ready to help strengthen the stems of emerging seedlings, as well as keeping the soil surface somewhat drier to prevent damping off. (I don't turn it on until there's germination.)

Here sets the "cooler germination" tray. I figured it can sit here about a week, then I'll move it under the lights but off the heat mat surface so it will be somewhat warmer but not too much.

How can they fail with this crowd cheering them on? :)

On a side note, check out my new orchid pot! I've priced these online at over $20, but found this one on sale locally for $4.45!! Self discipline and patience pay off after all!

Breaking wintersowing news: a tomato has germinated!! This is cherry tomato 'Stupice' from Czechoslovakia, listed at 52 days. All I can say is wow!

Some other wintersown seedlings needed to be thinned....

....like cabbage 'Caraflex'. That's better. It always bugs me not to "save' the culled sprouts, but it's just part of the process.

I have no qualms about "sacrificing" flowers though... ...to enjoy in the house of course! Got my spring on now for sure! :)

Biggest Houseplant News From 2009

This exciting event got lost in my blogging funk as of late, but check out my cactus bloom!!

This took place for the second time on August 17th, the first bloom was last spring (June I think...it's one of the pictures stored in the "chasm of the un-tagged" on Photobucket :(

Anyway, isn't it beautiful?!

Here is the name of my lovely, prickly, fuzzy friend....

...even when the bloom is closed (as it does at dusk), I'm thrilled with this flower!

You see, I am a notorious cactus rotter from way back. But my friend the "cactus guru" was kind enough to send me several cacti to "train with"...and by jove, I think I'm getting it! :)

Things Are Heating Up

November up here is looking more like September with the current temps.......causing some plants to hang onto their lives-and blooms! (Like this borage, too bad my tomatoes couldn't survive this well!)They're mixing with the fall foliage that's already been established....this is spirea 'Mellow Yellow'.Of course the grasses are swaying in the breeze, showing off their flashy seed heads (this is 'Big Bluestem'). Indoors the Christmas cacti have been blooming rather early, like this red and white that my friend in Texas was kind enough to send (it's grown to 5X the original size! :)

And check out my cute little witch hazel! This tree is barely 4 feet tall, yet blooming more vigorously every year like a champ! (Always in fall, though many varieties bloom much later).And finally, my own situation is "heating up" as well...the career choice is up for re-evaluation and I'm hoping to make big changes, my garden pics are scattered half on the web and half on my laptop causing continual frustrating confusion, and until I get a better connection than dialup, my blog posts will be fairly short (but not my sentence "structure" as usual :) But for what it's worth, I'm still here and looking forward to posting more frequently and with more substantive content. What's that, Gizmo? Bentley? Alright then...let's get on with it already!

Houseplant Facelift

Okay, back to the plants! After my last post, I promise I won't "vent" for a looooong time (like Skynrd said "I do not sing the blues" :) Okay, I try not to. Anyhow, I discovered that I could go back to the older post editor on blogger, so now my posting should be back to normal-Yay!



Anyway....this Schefflera is becoming kind of cumbersome as a houseplant, so I decided to do something about it. (Not to mention the poor thing hasn't been repotted in about 8 years-oops!)

Not nearly as rootbound as I expected. As you can see, I have three separate sections to work with........so let's start with the two big ones. I decided to try and weave them together to form a quasi-bonsai-looking houseplant "sculpture".......after fiddling with them for awhile, I came up with this.........held together at the trunk with some stretchy plant tape to maintain form.I felt that it would be plenty content rather pot-bound, since it grew so large all crowded before. (Plus I'd like to try and keep it manageable.)There! It still looks too large, and frankly scraggly too..........time for a little "tough love"!Presto! Hopefully the bare stubs will fill in and pretty it up, but I'm willing to sacrifice this specimen in the name of experimentation ;-)I decided to expose some higher roots and wedge a couple decorative rocks underneath........for another bonsai-ish element. Someday I'm going to try "real" bonsai again, but for now I'm content to amuse myself this way.
Our third subject will be potted up alone....



....and trimmed to sort-of represent a leaning bonsai form.

That was fun! Now what else can I bend to my will? :)

(This took place a few months ago...more updates from last summer coming soon.)

Fast forward: Here is our main subject just the other day...not too shabby, eh?

The smaller one still looks pretty much the same, maybe it's focusing on root growth?