Strawberry Hill Farms, Part 1

Over the weekend, Scott and I went to a farm so I could get one plant (on which I will report later). I told him we'd only be there five minutes, but this farm is a huge plant vendor with several warehouses full of fruits, vegetables, and ornamentals. We were there longer than five minutes. I had to wander around and take pictures, of course.

Speaking of which, the camera I'm using now is Scott's, so many thanks are due.

Anyway, people come from all over the state to go to this farm and get plants, so we had to park a good walk away from the cluster of buildings. As we approached them, this was the first thing we saw: discounted cole crops! I think these were marked down to $2 for a four-pack.

I've never seen so many petunias, or in so many colors. There were several rows of tables like this scattered around, covered in petunias. I had to water petunias regularly as a child, and I've never been a fan. They're too sticky for me, and they need to be deadheaded all the time. That said, they are nice to look at.

Here are some tables of salvia and marigolds. I love purple and yellow together, though I don't know if I like how marigolds smell. I'm going to get some next year regardless to put around my tomatoes (assuming I grow tomatoes again next year).

Here's just a section of one of the greenhouses containing ornamental hanging baskets. There was so much to see--I could have spent days wandering around and perusing the selection.

They even have a variety of ferns!

These were the only coleus I saw, but they're nothing to shake a stick at. Sadly I did not have time to sniff all these varieties to find out which were sweet-smelling. Those are my favorites.

Here's a great spider plant. I hope mine gets this full someday.

This begonia looks like a looking-glass begonia, only with polka dots. I don't know what would go well with this plant, but it's impressive on its own.

Now, this is what I came for: a purple shamrock. The species was not denoted on the tags, but I believe these are Oxalis regnelli 'Charmed Wine'. The one I ended up purchasing is on the bottom left. Their leaves are slightly variegated, which is different from the individuals in the greenhouse.

A better shot of the leaves. They look like butterflies in person, too. Some of them were flowering, but people don't cultivate purple shamrocks for their flowers.

All these pictures don't encompass one-fiftieth of the plants at Strawberry Hill. It's truly amazing. Maybe that's why people flock from all over. It was plant overload on my brain, which is why the visit was so fun.

Next post: more views from Strawberry Hill.

Poolside Containers

I finally got ahold of an actual camera! Just in time, too, to capture these fun container arrangements next to the outdoor pool on campus.

The red flowers here are some sort of salvia. Hopefully they grow a bit taller throughout the season, or else this combination will be very short compared to the height of the pot it inhabits. It looks like the purple-leaved plant here will spill out of the container, which will also look better as the summer progresses.

There are a lot of salvia in the greenhouse. I think I like the 'Black and Blue' cultivar more than the red, but it contrasts with the pool nicely.

These sweet flowers balance out the boldness of the salvia, and they do a good job of taking up space.

This cycad-looking plant is the real reason to pay attention to these containers. There was another one, but it's having a lot of trouble. I guess cycads can adapt to temperate regions, but I always think of them as tropical plants. This individual is taking the climate relatively well.

Down the path a ways from those containers were these eye-popping bushes. They are incredibly pink, and there are a lot of them. They would be simply overwhelming were it not for all the green bushes, trees, and mulch around.

Seeing tropical-looking blooms like these herald the approach of summer, so they're welcome in my eyes.

I've never seen a bush so covered with such large flowers before. It's a jaw-dropping effect.

Is my new camera acceptable? It's not as nice as my old one, but I am grateful to have it. I was worried that all of these pictures would be blurry since I'm not used to the camera yet, but it's not hard to operate. Also, what plants have you seen that are screaming, "SUMMER IS COMING"?

Next post: a visit to a farm.

Windowsill Updates

I'm taking a brief study break to relay some news through a photograph:

As you may notice, the tomato plant I've been babysitting is gone. I hear it is in a big pot now, happily swaying in the breeze and soaking up the sun. Lucky guy!

Here in windowsill land, though, a couple of other things have changed. My remaining spinach seedling is quite large now, though spindly as ever. Since the cool season is definitely over (it's supposed to be 80 degrees in a couple of days), this plant won't do very well outdoors, so it's time to harvest what there is to harvest. I've enjoyed having the spinach, and I've learned a bit in the process, so I'm satisfied with the experience even though the two seedlings never really grew big and strong.

Also, as you can see, my jade and spider plants are doing quite well. Unlike all my other plants, these are generally accepted to be indoor plants, and you can tell. If the spider plant keeps growing at this rate, I may need to repot it relatively soon. I also doubt it would take much prodding for it to put out a baby spider plant within the next year or so.

Well, it's time to get back to the grind. My next post will feature high-quality photographs for the first time in a long time, and I've been saving a few post-worthy locales for just an occasion. Thanks for bearing with my through this tribulation.

Next post: Summery container arrangements.

Something I Should Have Done a Long Time Ago

Meet my new watering can. It's nothing special, but it's got a sprinkling spout, which is something my plants have had to live without thus far. Today I decided to fix that.

In other news, I'm getting a substitute/replacement camera this weekend! I might just wait to go back to that plant farm until I get that. The place is so beautiful, I want to capture it in high resolution. Now, this camera may not be as nice as my old one, but it will certainly be a step up from my phone.

Next post: Probably the plant farm.

Landscape Services Presents...

Today I bring you a couple of recent developments around campus. Disclaimer: while I may not always love everything that Landscape Services does, I respect them greatly, love a lot of what they do, and am grateful that they make our campus the most beautiful place I've ever inhabited. I sometimes may speculate negatively about the combinations, locations, formations, or types of plants they do or do not use, but speculation is all it is. Now onto the show.

First are some shots of two container plantings I spotted on my way to class (speaking of which, today was my last day of classes!). I am not a fan of the arrangement of these particular planters: their centerpieces are small shrubs of some sort. Their foliage is reminiscent of river birches, to give you a visual. That part of the planting is rather drab. However, below that were pansies and these:

These refreshing daisy-type flowers are fantastic on their own. I really don't know why they aren't the intended centerpiece of the arrangement. Below is another interesting plant in the container, which proves that foliage can, and often does, add a lot of visual interest. Foliage plants just have to be interesting to accomplish this.

Some sweet alyssum (Lobularia maritima) graced a nearby container. I remember when these took up half a bench in one of the greenhouses at work. The smell was incredible. They're still looking good, even this late in the season.

On another side of campus, I found these flowering bushes. Their thorns would lead me to believe that they are roses, but their flowers are unlike any roses I've ever seen. They're gorgeous, though.

I've had little to report in the past few days, but I swear something big is coming this weekend. After that, though, is finals week, so I probably won't post again until I've moved, and things are settling down. Thanks for bearing with me.

Next post: the next thing I see!

It's 11 AM. Do You Know Where Your Crops Are?

Since nothing much has developed around campus (that I've seen, at least), and I haven't done anything exciting with plants lately (except one thing -- see below), I've decided to show you how my crops are coming along.

I recently started a crop notebook. As of May 2013, the status of all my edible crops is "Growing slowly indoors." I still contend my Swiss chard and thyme will improve once outside, but for now they're still puny.

But they're getting better. I have three main sprigs of thyme coming up now, as well as a wee one.

The leaves on my Swiss chard are approaching baby green size, which is really better than they're supposed to be able to do indoors. This brings me to my sole piece of plant news: I ate my first Swiss chard leaf today. There was a leaf on my biggest seedling that was small and curled up. I thought that if there was one plant that could handle losing a leaf, it was that one. So I ate it. Swiss chard really is mild. I approve. This experience gives me something to look forward to; that is to say, getting these suckers outside, watching them prosper, and feasting!

This is the plant that provided me with a sliver of nutrition. I use the knife to mix up the soil so a mysterious white fuzz (which the Internet tells me is mold caused by lack of circulation) cannot persist in the soil. You can see the lack of leaf on the lower right of the plant.

This 'Mr. Stripey' seems to have grown a bit since I got it. At any rate, it's doing okay, but it's ready to head outside too. It's going to get that chance on Friday! Hooray!

While my bromeliad is by no means an edible crop, I figured I'd report on it too. Its condition is deteriorating more rapidly than before. I doubt I can really save it at this point.

How are your crops faring?

Next post: who knows!

(Belated) Cinco de Mayo Plantings

Happy (late) Cinco de Mayo! Today representatives of the Horticulture Club planted containers at one of the apartment complexes in town. We planted four large containers near the entrance to the pool area, four elevated containers surrounding the pool, and eight small, border-type concrete cutouts along the pool area's walls.

This is one of the larger containers. I planted almost everything in this one. We had a red banana, some celosia 'New Look,' some orange petunias, a couple of marigolds, and some yellow calibrachoa.

These are two of the containers overlooking the pool. It's really hard to see what we planted from this distance, so...

...I'm posting a tags picture!

And here's another shot of the contents of the larger containers. By the time I thought to take pictures, the pool area was locked, so I couldn't photograph the small cutouts.

The greenhouses where we got all these plants (minus the marigolds, which we had leftover from our sale), was amazing. It was huge, and it had half the plants I've ever wanted. It had purple shamrock, Dusty Miller, ferns, all kinds of succulents, all kinds of herbs (including some awesome variegated sage), wandering jews, and we didn't even explore the vegetable greenhouses. I'm planning on going back there next weekend to meander. I'll take pictures while I'm there. It will be a fun time.

How did you celebrate Cinco de Mayo? Have you seen any impressive plant collections lately?

Next post: maybe cave photos this time.