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.



What My Plants Are Up To

Too infrequently do I get a chance to really study my plants and evaluate their conditions and activities. But the other day, I was fortunate enough to observe lots of new changes.

 

 

First off: my purple shamrock is flowering! When I bought this plant, all its peers at the farm were flowering, but since I like these plants for their foliage, I chose the one with the nicest, biggest foliage. Maybe this one's just a late bloomer. The flowers are pretty (though blurry--my apologies), and a lot closer to lavender than they look here. 

 

Interestingly, all the flowers here are nestled underneath the leaves. I've never really seen a plant do that before. Usually they want their flowers as high up and visible as possible to encourage pollination. I wonder what advantage this flower placement confers to the purple shamrock.

The evening after I first saw these, I noticed that the blooms had closed up. I thought they might be one-day blooms, but I was mistaken. They just close up at night and open again the next morning.

In less joyful news, it seems that something is eating my Swiss chard. It looks a bit better now than it does in this picture, but some of these leaves look like they're really not doing too well. Do you know of any pests that really like chard? I hear they're fairly rabbit-proof (and I don't think we have rabbits around here anyway).

Also, we've had a lot of rain recently. As in, more rain than I expected to get all summer. This hasn't pleased my desert rose, but look at my sage go! It's huge, compared to when I got it! It's already started to form a woody stem, as you can see in the picture. I'm a proud mama.

The peppermint and lens flare are also enjoying the rain.

How has the weather affected your garden so far? Do you have anything that's struggling?

Next post: another exciting development.

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.

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.

Another Plant Sale! (Part 2)

Now I'll bring you the other half of the plant sale pictures! The unfortunate weather really hurt our plant sale, and I had to move a lot of these plants back to the greenhouse today. However, during my time at work, I did get to see several people construct collections of plants to take home. It's always inspiring to see the conspiratory glint in people's eyes when they're choosing plants. That kept me upbeat even though it was 37 degrees Fahrenheit and drizzling out.

Pictured here is the sage and the tarragon. My sage isn't nearly this big, but I know it's outside, so perhaps it will be before long.

I took this picture just to show the scale of this sale. This shot encompasses roughly one-fourth of the offerings. We had two whole tables for non-tomato vegetables. A table for tomatoes (and some on the floor and other tables). At least a table and a half for herbs. Two tables and a lot of floor space for ornamentals. You can see some of this and more below.

These, I believe, are some of the tomatoes and peppers.

These are the big tomatoes. These sold out on the first day of the sale, unsurprisingly.

Here are the other vegetables (like rhubarb, zucchini, squash, cucumbers, and strawberries).

This shot shows some of the ornamental combo planters, the few grasses we had, and more vegetables.

This is all the combo planters, as well as the geraniums. All the pink geraniums sold.

I've never seen an ornamental pepper bearing fruit before. While I'd much rather eat these peppers than merely look at them, they are very pretty. I would recommend them as patio plantings outside a Mexican or Thai restaurant.

Ah, one of the members of my to-get list. Dichondra 'Silver Falls.' In the far right of the picture, you can also see Dichondra 'Emerald Falls.' I'll leave it to you to decipher these names.

These are amaranth plants (Amaranthus 'Velvet Curtains,' I think). Amaranth can be grown for aesthetics, their leaves (used like any other leafy green), their grains (popular in ancient Mexico), or their pigments (used by Native Americans as a red dye). I transplanted these, so I feel like I've watched them grow up. If I had a garden, I definitely would have bought at least one of these.

That's all the documentation I have for the plant sale, but enjoy this flower.

What plants would you try to grow if circumstances were just slightly different? What plants are you trying within your circumstances?

Next post: state park adventures!

Moonlight Garden

When I plan my future gardens, there are two objectives I keep in mind: form and function. I tend to favor function. There are tangible rewards for growing vegetables, fruits, edible flowers, and herbs. You can literally taste your success, which goes on to literally nourish your body, rather than just emitting an abstract sense of victory.

However, my eyes can be bigger than my stomach. I do have moments when I want a plant just for its looks. I love how my jade plant and spider plant look. I like five-color silverbeet in part for its five colors. So the wishlist moonlight garden I am about to describe is the culmination of those moments.

A moonlight garden is one in which plants with white or silver foliage or flowers are planted. The idea behind this is that the moon's rays reflect off the plants at night, leading to a glow-in-the-dark garden, perfect for evening parties or gatherings. I find this idea classy--all white flowers, lots of silvery leaves, all illuminating your guests as you entertain them in the dark of the night. It would be nice on quiet, lonesome nights too. A little surreal, maybe. At any rate, I want to try to create this kind of garden someday, and these are the plants I want to grow in it. As always with my plant lists, click on the hyperlinks to see a picture of the plant.

Iris germanica: Irises have always been some of my favorite flowers. Their elegant ruffles would fit in perfectly with the aesthetic of a moonlight garden. Which is to say, classic.

Hydrangea macrophylla 'White Ball': While most of my memories regarding hydrangeas come from my childhood vacations on Cape Cod, these beautiful bushes grow in my Midwestern hometown as well. Hydrangeas are fun as well as versatile. I don't know what pH level the soil needs to be for the flowers to be white rather than blue or pink, but the effect is worth it.

Convallaria magallis (Lily-of-the-valley): I was not familiar with these plants until this year. These are some of the sweetest flowers I've ever seen, and I would love to cultivate them someday.

Hellebore niger (White hellebore): Many of the plants on this list bloom a few feet off the ground. Irises grow atop tall inflorescences, and hydrangeas grow on sizeable bushes. Hellebores, however, grow close to the ground, so they would provide layering and depth to a moonlight garden. In addition, hellebores bloom in late winter and early spring, so they would provide white when most plants don't.

Salvia officinalis (Common sage): Writing about sage makes me happy since I already have a member of this species. My seedling's leaves are not yet pubescent, but someday they will be, and it's the pubescence (read: hair) that makes them silvery. The best part about using sage in a moonlight garden is that it provides form and function, as sage is a wonderful culinary herb.

Kalanchoe rhombopilosa: To switch things up a little bit, I'd like a white succulent in my moonlight garden. This Kalanchoe looks somewhat like an upright shelf fungus, and the entire plant (minus the flowers) is white and brown. This would, like the hellebores, give white color that's close to the ground. It would also provide a very different texture than most of the other plants.

Artemisia ludoviciana (Louisiana artemisia): This silvery bush has waist-high foliage, so the entire plant fits the "moonlight" ideal.

Senecio serpens (Blue chalksticks): Blue chalksticks are primarily ground cover, similar to the Kalanchoe. Some varieties look more blue or green than silver, but the silver ones are impressively so.

Cerastium 'Silver Carpet' (Snow in summer): This ground cover-y plant is, in one sense, the perfect plant for a moonlight garden. That's because snow in summer has both silver foliage and white flowers. Both are very pretty to boot!

Dichondra argentea 'Silver Falls' (Kidneyweed): As the cultivar name implies, kidneyweed is an ideal "spiller" plant for containers. It also makes excellent silver ground cover. A few pots of this have been growing at the greenhouse this spring, and it's a delight just to walk by them. They look even more silvery in person than in the photo.

Athyrium niponicum pictum (Japanese painted fern): I have a weak spot in my heart for ferns, and this one is no exception. Japanese painted ferns come in several colors, but most commonly seem to be silver with burgundy stems. This contrast would really liven up a moonlight garden and keep it from becoming a white-and-green monotony. Not to mention the fact that ferns like to bush out and take up some space.

Bonus: I'm going to go ahead and list Cylindropuntia echinocarpa (Silver cholla) with my moonlight garden selections. This cactus' spines are so incredibly white that a specimen would undoubtably go in this garden, should I end up living in a region that could support it. (And judging by the fact that I really want to live in the American southwest at some point, the inclusion of this plant seems likely.)

I realize that not all of these plants would grow in a single environment, so I will let my region dictate which I choose to grow. I would love to grow them all, though. You might notice I skipped over a couple of common choices for moonlight gardens. I have my reasons: lamb's ear is missing--this is because lamb's ear is incredibly invasive, and I prefer not to plant invasive species.

What combinations of these plants would you like to grow? Do you think a Japanese painted fern would look good next to irises? What about kidneyweed next to the Kalanchoe?

Next post: more views from around campus.

P.S. Thinking about it, Silver cholla would look really snazzy in a container with blue chalksticks and maybe some Senecio rowleyanus (string of pearls). The cholla would be the thriller, the chalksticks would fill in space, and the string of pearls would spill over. Perfect!

What I Harvested from the 2013 Spring Sale

I have the most exciting kind of news--I have new plants! I bought two vegetable plants from the plant sale for myself, and I bought one for a friend. Here's the scoop.

The first plant is sage. This, from what I've gathered, is just garden-variety (pun?) sage, and I'm fine with that. I love sage for cooking and general eating purposes. When I was younger, we had one that was in a gigantic container, and it was a veritable bush. I hope this little plant can get that big.

Generally, sage is pubescent (meaning the leaves have tiny hairs all over them). The sage bush we had when I was little was hairy. This seedling, so far, is not. Maybe when it gets bigger it will develop hair.

This next plant is a first for me: a tomato plant! This variety is called 'Yellow Pear.' It produces hundreds of cherry-sized, pear-shaped, tangy, yellow tomatoes throughout the summer. It's also indeterminate and can grow up to seven feet tall (so I'm on the lookout for a large container and a tomato cage!). I'm very excited to try this. My mom is babysitting this and the sage until I move.

Lastly, I bought a Mr. Stripey tomato plant for Scott's parents. This variety produces gigantic (1-2 pound) fruits with red and yellow striping. These tomatoes also have a very high sugar content. Hopefully it works out for them!

That seems like a small harvest (a lilliputian bounty, anyone?), but greatness from small beginnings, right? What odd tomato cultivars have you encountered this season? Does sage usually lack pubescence when it's young? What plants are you trying out for the first time?

Next post: updates on my existing plants, plus an interesting tree.