My Plants Survived My Absence. Here's Proof!



While I was off partying in the desert, my plants were busy too. All the indoor plants were relatively unchanged by the experience (though I did find a loving home for my leftover wandering Jews), so this update focuses on outdoor plants.

 

My purslane is growing like a weed, probably because it is a weed. As expected, it doesn't seem to mind the clay soil it's in. I've been sprinkling these leaves on sandwiches and in dips. They add a nice twist.

 



This plant is new! These are hens and chicks (probably Sempervivum tectorum). I got these (and a couple of "chicks" that fell out) for a dollar at a farmer's market. I couldn't pass them up.

My sage has some new growth, though it appears to be afflicted with some manner of fungus. I'm not sure what to do about this.

My basil and peppermint are affected too. My thyme is just beautiful, though, and the rosemary is also untouched and thriving. Maybe not as well as it thrives in Vegas.

My Swiss chard has never looked better. I've been eating these leaves on sandwiches too. It's a wonderful feeling to harvest homegrown food. There's nothing like it.

I've saved the biggest news for last. None of my tomatoes ripened while I was gone, but they've come a lot closer! And there are new fruits! When I play I Spy with this picture, I can spot eight tiny tomatoes. How many can you find?

This is the best picture I've gotten thus far of my ripening fruits. This picture shows three of them.

This shot is not so good, but it shows the most prolific cluster of fruits on the plant (so far).

In all, I am quite happy with how my plants are coming along. I just need to find some way to treat and prevent whatever kind of fungus or pest is going around. How are your plants doing this summer?

Next post: garden-fresh snacks.



Beautiful, Sunny Las Vegas!

I'm back! My vacation (a trip to Las Vegas for the Electric Daisy Carnival) was a blast. I saw some of my favorite bands live, I learned about the culture of Vegas and desert life, and I got a bit of a tan. But more importantly, I saw a lot of neat plants. We spent quite a bit of time roaming the Strip, and I didn't get to bring my camera for those outings, but I did see a few plants of note.

This is my first view of Las Vegas, taken as soon as we got out of the airport. Already I saw how different the landscape would be from that of my home. By the way, that sign said "LIMO PARKING ONLY." You don't see that much in Missouri.

This is less of a shot of the desert than a mere oddity. This baby rubber plant (which looks like it might be a cutting) was growing right outside the door of our hotel. It seems to be tolerating the heat just fine.

Palm trees are also not common to the Midwest, so it was neat to see them everywhere in Vegas. This one is going to have some trouble when it gets tall enough to hit the overhang.

There were several Lantana plants around Vegas as well. These are present but uncommon in the Midwest, but they obviously can deal with the desert as well. The amount of money in Sin City doesn't hurt, since it has a tremendous water bill but doesn't care.

I believe this bush is a cycad, closely related to pine trees.

I really liked the burnt orange bark on this tree. It definitely belongs in the desert.

These agaves might be the first I've ever seen in person. They're certainly the largest. Seriously, these guys were about four feet tall.

Another palm for your enjoyment. To me it looks rather silly sprouting out of this bush, but what do I know.

These are Opuntia! There are a few cacti like this in the Midwest, but never this big (with the exception of the Eastern Prickly Pear). I wanted to chow down when I saw these, but that would be stealing from the hotel (or the Havana CigarBar), and I didn't have the proper equipment anyway.

More Lantana. These come in some great colors. I was looking them up on the Web one time and saw a picture of a cluster of blooms that faded from pastel pink to bright yellow. This individual is more like a sunset blend.

 

A close-up of the Opuntia.

I can't readily identify this cactus. Cylindropuntia, perhaps? Either way, it's new to me, and I always love discovering new plants.

This palm was the tallest around our hotel. Also, note the completely cloudless sky. It stayed like that almost all week. In addition, George Wallace is a popular dude. We saw his face all around town.

This photograph highlights a peculiarity I was very interested in: these are rosemary bushes. Rosemary grows well in dry soil, so it makes sense that they could thrive in the desert, but these suckers are everywhere! It's great! You walk down the Strip, pass by a fancy restaurant, and all the while you're smelling rosemary because the sidewalk is lined with these bushes. It really improves the overall ambiance of the place. Whoever had that idea was a thinker.

Note the grass here. Note my comment above about Vegas's water bill. I can't even imagine how many zeros are on that thing.

 

I'm not familiar with this bush either. Any ideas on what it is?

A similar bush.

There are a few more sights from Las Vegas that I'd like to share, but that will have to wait. Also, I know this post is really late, but the Internet at my house has been problematic (to say the least). Fortunately, a new company has set up Internet, and it seems to be working better. Hopefully this will not be a problem in the future. Thanks for reading.

Next post: Las Vegas at night.

Finally...

...I can keep plants outside. Today is my third day in my new apartment. Remember how I had half a salad's worth of Swiss chard before I left home? I have at least twice that today. One of my professors told our class that plants don't grow because of us--they grow in spite of us. The fact that the chard stayed alive for three months indoors and is now growing prolifically testifies to the truth in that statement.

So, here are the pictures of my plants' new homes. Maybe at the end of the summer I can do a before-and-after post. I'm sure there would be lots of improvement.

These are the three wandering jews that I've decided not to keep. I'm still looking for good homes for these little guys. They're really easy to care for. Thankfully they're recent cuttings, so they haven't developed much of a root system, so they can stay in this four pack for a while without becoming rootbound.

My spider plant and bromeliad aren't really near a window, but light from three windows reaches them, so they might be okay there.

My lucky bamboo also isn't in a window, but from what I understand, these plants actually benefit from staying out of direct sunlight. It works out very well.

This table contains the two succulents I brought, my wandering jew, and my purple shamrock. They've got some of the best seats in the house.

My jade plant (unfortunately not pictured) is near a window in the bedroom. The rest of my plants are outside. My tomato is looking happier by the day. The parsley pot (behind the tomato) was flooded by rain a couple of times, but I poured out the excess. We'll see how that does.

There's a noticeable difference between the Swiss chard in this shot and what it looks like now, a day later. I have high hopes for this crop.

My basil's still a bit raggedy, but I'm working on it. The peppermint, however, doesn't need any help.

I'm already excited to see my desert rose bloom, though the plant already looks very dramatic against this brick wall.

Here are the rest of the herbs. My thyme looks small, still, but if I can keep it out of heavy rains, it should be fine. I'm going to be cooking pizzas with rosemary soon, and I think I'm going to harvest a few leaves from my rosemary for it. Think of it: my first true harvest (eating doomed plant matter doesn't count) of the year. Miraculous.

What miracles are transpiring in your garden or containers?

Next post: more from the dawn of summer.

The Great Garden Planting of 2013: After

Yesterday we got Mom's garden plant, and I repotted nearly all of my plants. We accomplished a great deal, and I'm here to chronicle the seeds of our future success (somewhat literally!).

I'll start with my plants. I'm glad I repotted my spider plant; when I took it out of its pot, I could tell it was starting to get rootbound. There are lots of spider plants in the greenhouses that are so rootbound that they're pushing themselves out of their pots. I wouldn't ever want mine to get that desperate. It has lots of room to grow now.

Here's the wandering jew that I've decided to keep, as well as a succulent (the tag says it's Haworthia coarctata, but I highly doubt that because of the lack of "pearls") that I replanted. I'm taking two of these succulents.

My purple shamrock got the nicest pot. It's droopy from being out in the heat, but I think it will recover quickly.

Pictured here is the other succulent (of the same species) that I'm bringing home, as well as my jade plant. It seems like jade is a slow grower, so this pot should be suitable for a while.

Moving outside, here are my peppermint and thyme in their new homes. The peppermint might be able to take over a much larger pot, but I want to keep it manageable. I think I'm going to harvest pretty aggressively once it looks like its fitting the pot better.

The rosemary was also looking rootbound when I repotted it, so now it has deeper soil to probe into. Rosemary has a simple appearance, but I think it's a beautiful plant.

Now onto the grand finale: Mom's garden. This is what it looks like now. I think it's a perfectly sized plot for what Mom wants.

Here's the row of peppers and tomatoes, from the pepper side. No, the row isn't straight, but don't judge.

The same row, from the tomato side. I think Mom did a good job choosing her tomato plants. They're young and healthy, and I think they'll do great. She already got cages for them (and one for me, because she's sweet).

I had a lot of fun helping Mom transplant her vegetables and digging around in the soil. I'll make updates on the progress of the garden when I come home to visit.

Next post: tis' the season for my favorite flowers in the whole world.

A Brief Respite at Home

I am home for the weekend, and my plants are here with me. They're enjoying the sun. Thankfully, they'll remain outside once I move again next week.

These plants (spider plant, jade plant, lucky bamboo, and wandering jews) are hanging out inside since they're suited for such conditions.

I'm also wary of putting the wandering jews outside for fear they might grow too much. They already look eerily taller than they did just a few days ago. Another concern I have is that, because they grow so much, I really don't need four of them. I'm looking for good homes for three of them; if I can't find good homes, I might just pitch them.

My desert rose is ready to go outside. I don't have room in my car to take this one with me over the summer (though I may try anyway), but I'll get it eventually. Judging by the plentiful foliage, I'd bet this is going to be a great year for desert rose flowers.

Here's my purple shamrock, stealing the show as per usual. In the top right corner is a succulent that I'd like to take with me. I think the two plants are going to switch pots. Also, in the lower right corner are some basil seedlings that my mom is growing. Very exciting!

A better shot of the succulent. This is definitely multiple plants, so I might have to put them in multiple pots. Some might need good homes at some point as well...

In other basil news, remember my basil plant? As you can see, we're working on getting it to bush out a little. It's looking (and tasting) good, though.

Mints in general (I imagine peppermint is no exception) are tough, and my little specimen here is responding particularly well to the great outdoors. I suspect I'll have no trouble keeping this plant healthy and producing. Peppermint is one herb I've never used in cooking, but I love mint tea.

Though this isn't a great shot, you can see that the sage is doing okay too. I think it has some new leaves, but this pot will keep it happy for a long time.

The rosemary is also looking healthy as ever. All my plants (well, most) are getting repotted into permanent containers tomorrow, and I imagine the rosemary will benefit from that. Rosemary can turn into full-fledged bushes, so it needs room to grow.

Though blurry, the thyme seems to be taking off more than it has been. If this batch doesn't grow much, I can plant some more seeds and see if they perform better, as they would be outside from the beginning. We'll see.

The Swiss chard has definitely grown since coming home. It looks like it might just grow up nice and big after all. I mean, there's already half a side salad here! I could also probably get rid of the knife at this point, since the air will be well circulated. I thought these were goners on my way home because all the chard started to wilt from the heat when I was packing up my car. I gave them plenty of water, though, and they perked back up like nothing happened! I was truly impressed.

My tomato apparently got caught in a slight frost a week or two ago, but it appears to be recovering as well as can be expected.

It looks tiny in this pot, but remember, it's supposed to become 6-7' tall. I have a cage for it, but I'm going to wait until I move to put it in. You can also see the parsley pot in the background. I'm fairly certain the soil in it is good old clay garden soil, so the parsley may not have an easy time surfacing, but we will see. If it doesn't turn out, I can put something else in that pot.

How are your plants doing? Have you been moving some outside?

Next post: a garden overhaul.