Orchid Society Holiday Party

The orchid society party went well. That was last Sunday. Nice theme, Hawaii, wish we could all be there! Great food as always! Somehow, I think gardeners know how to cook and eat! It was a good time, but I was a bit bummed out from the night before, my own holiday party where hardly anyone showed up. I didn't feel like being very social. I did however, win a door prize. A Cycd. Jumbo Puff 'Jumbo Orchids' SM/TOGA! I was told mine was blooming the female flowers and luckily, someone brought in one in bloom with male flowers so I had a short lesson on how to tel l the difference! As usual, the female flowers aren't quite as showy as the males and they have bigger (what I call) "shields" (the lip). Hope I don't kill this unique orchid! Looks like it will like my semi-hydroponic (SH) media though!

From Orchids

MG Holiday Party

Man I have a weekend of parties. Tonight was the first one, my Phippps Master Gardener Holiday Party. It was a great time except for the fact that we were saying goodbye to our MG coordinator. She's been so wonderful! We'll miss her lots and she will remember us too with the gifts we got her :D Anyway, wanted to share a cute little jingle we sang. It's to the tune of Let It Snow:

Oh the soil outside is blightful,
But the gardener's so insightful;
And because I got lots of dough,
It's gonna grow, gonna grow, gonna grow!

Well, It doesn't show signs of sprouting,
But now's no time for doubting;
So at the problem, Cash I'll throw!
Make it grow, make it grow, make it grow!

When it finally goes to seed,
I will try to get back on track;
So all the Garden Books I'll read,
And next Spring I'll attack!

Well the weather is slowly chilling,
But gardening is sooo fulfilling;
And until it freezes DOWN BELOW,
Let is grow, let it grow, let it grow!

Year in Review

The backyard on the side and by the wall in the back did not get enough water this year. I had a hard time growing my ferns and since those are the only things that would grow back there in an area that lacks such light that was a bit disappointing to me, but the soil is clay. I need some compost mixed into it....maybe that would help retain some moisture. I'm hoping that my ferns just went dormant and will come back next spring. I was really hoping for a nice lush fern garden!

My herb pot did really well this year and I wish I could've saved it for next year, but I couldn't keep them going inside the house. There just wasn't enough room for another big pot! Hopefully next year I will be able to find the same herbs to grow and maybe the front porch will be done by then so that I could maybe save my herbs.

The sweet potato vine grew like a weed up front as you saw in previous photos. When I finally cut it back after our first hard frost I found potatoes! I saved those in hopes that I could just plant them next spring.

The garlic was a big small this year, but that was to be expected since I did not plant them last fall (I didn't have any!). So hopefully next year....I'll get some good ones!

I didn't eat any of the tomatoes I grew...the ones that I would eat were the result of weed & feed and I did not want to ingest things grown with that. I did however, try the garlic grown in it since I just had to taste what home grown garlic would taste like after trying to grow them for a few years! It was some STRONG garlic!

The grass I thought looked pretty good this year...it helped that Samba did not run zoomies in it all the time now that he is older and more mature. There were some clover in it, but it fixes nitrogen in the soil so I didn't really mind too much.

I barely made it....I was going to plant the bulbs I forgot to plant yesterday, but I ended up staying out a bit too late and it was too dark and rainy to plant them. Woke up this morning to snow! It's not sticking yet, but it is quite cold. Managed to get my Landini lillies, Moutain bells, Persian Blue Allium, Gladiator Allium and Hyacinth 'Fondant' in the ground! Can't wait to see what it'll look like next spring! Hopefully the chipmunks and squirrels will leave them alone! So far so good with the Alliums I already have along with the lillies so I don't think I will have much of a problem besides running out of space!

I got all my plantings done, did the dishes, doing laundry, changed the water in the aquarium and vacuumed the gravel, fed & bathed Pele, fed Samba, added bonemeal to my garlic, repotted two new orchids that I didn't get around to repotting (good thing I did too the one didn't have much roots left!), answered emails, and hopefully settle into studying some before I have to purchase a new washer & dryer tonight when the deal sets in and I have to pick up my sister's bf from the airport tonight...I need more time in the day!

Garlic Planted!

Last weekend I planted my garlic. The kind John gave me (not sure the variety) and Music, which I got at a local nursery! Music had some HUGE cloves! It was tough finding space for all of it, but I managed to get them all in the ground! Hopefully, next year I will have a HUGE crop of garlic! Some to eat, some to plant, and some to share! :D

Unfortunately, I forgot to plant some other bulbs so hopefully I will get to do that this weekend! We also raked up 6 bags of leaves out of our backyard! Thank god for the leaf blower and mulcher!

Sweet Potato Vine

Check this out! I planted two chartreuse sweet potato vines this past spring and after the frost killed the leaves I cut them back and dug it up and this is what I found! That huge tuber on the left was sticking up about 1/3 of the way. This was not the area where I had planted it. This was part of the vine that had decided to root itself down into the soil and grew this! I am attempting to save them for next spring to be replanted. Hopefully it will work! I could probably divide them with an eye each and get a ton more plants out of it. The two plants got HUGE!

Stinky Ginko Fruit

Wow....when they said that Ginko fruit stinks they weren't kidding! Someone said it stunk like stinky feet and my teacher said it smelled like stinky cheese! It fits the cheese more for sure. How do I know this? I picked up one of those fruits this morning at school. Peeewwwy! It stunk so bad I took it to the bathroom, peeled off the fruit and saved the seed in a paper towel. Then I proceeded to wash my hands real well!!!

Mulch

So yesterday I got a bag of pine mulch. It sure looked heavier than it actually was! Covered my Cyps. with it and planted my Betilla and covered that also. I should've probably planted those at an angle so they'd grow straight, but I didn't. I should've also taken it out of its pot, but I also didn't! Maybe next spring I will dig them back up and take it off, but right now that is how they are going to overwinter! The one that couldn't overwinter outdoors I brought back indoors and placed it on my enclosed front porch, which leaks still so it is doing a slow cool down to dormancy. Hopefully it'll overwinter ok!

Got some garlic bulbs too. I think they are called "Magic", but since the nursery didn't mark it anywhere I'm not sure.

I also bought 3 pumpkins. They were expensive! $12.99 and $11.99 each! And a small one for $1.99! But since I was there already I didn't feel like driving elsewhere and wasting more gas! We'll have to carve them later this week.

It is getting cold quickly here. I am not enjoying it! What happened to that indian summer???

Autumn

This has been a really chilly autumn. All the plants are indoors already except for one terrestrial orchid that is outside. I am waiting for it to die back and go dormant before I bring it in. The other terrestrial orchid needs a home outside and I can't decide where to plant it! I still have yet to plant my garlic and other bulbs I got in the mail. Can't forget about those or else I won't have flowers or garlic next year! Other than that, not much going on....just trying to stay warm and improve my life with yet another degree!

Roses at CCAC

So I have been attending school again at the local community college since August and every time I walk from the parking lot to class I catch this whiff of sweet smelling air. Turns out it's these gorgeous roses at this one mansion. I think it is part of the school, but I remember being on the haunted tour a few years ago and they said the place was haunted. Either way, what *awesome* roses! Alas, all the flowers have faded mostly. There are a few hanging in there and trying their best to look pretty and smell good. I can't wait to smell them again in full bloom next year!

Saffron Crocus, Temp Drop, Plantings & Update

The temperature has dropped quite a bit in the last week or so. So much so that I had to bring everything back inside. My saffron crocus is blooming at the moment! I am glad to see that coming back. My Cyprepedium died back so I planted it underground so it can overwinter outside. Will have to mulch over it so it survives the winter! The orchid cactus and Cymbidiums are still outside getting their "cold treatment" in hopes that they will bloom! Here is what the Stapelia bud bloomed out to be as shown in the previous post:

Stapelia & Neofinetia

So I brought two orchids, of which I was unhappy with, to the OSWP meeting this afternoon and gave them away for free. I, of course (must be an unwritten rule of orchid-holics), bring home three new ones instead! LOL I got a yellow flowering Neofinetia and one with red tails. Both are from Japan. I wish I could've bought more as I loved some of the real itty bitty ones! Maybe in the future. I also got a freebie Dendrobium. No idea what it'll look like, but I'll give it a shot!

So I come home, repot them like I normally do with any new orchids I get, cuz if I don't, they'll die! Especially if they are potted in sphagnum moss like these were. It just holds too much water and rots at my house. As I am putting my new plants on my light stand and watering them I notice that my Stapelia in bud...has gotten bigger! Not the plant, but the bud! It is cracking open too so this should be a pretty interesting and impressive flower! Much bigger than I am used to with my maroon 3/4" flower. This one looks to be a lighter color with spots too. Will get a pic when it opens, but this is what it is currently looking like:




I also came home to find my Bulbophyllum in full bloom, but it is all contorted. I tried fixing it prior to this pic:


This is what it is called in case you were wondering:

Neomarica longifolia in bloom!

Wow, I have waited a long time for these "walking irises" to bloom so that I could remember what color they are! I walked outside to an awesome surprise tonight, N. longifolia in bloom with two flowers and a bud! Of course I got pics! Will add one when I feel like downloading them. Now I have to go get a label so I don't forget what it is when it is done blooming! They are called "walking irises" because after they bloom a small plantlet will grow at the end of the bloom stalk and when that plant gets big enough gravity will pull it down to the ground and that little plant will root out into the soil, thus "walking" :D

Ok, here it is!

End of Summer Update

Seems the end of summer is here. The days are much cooler than we were used to. Here is a little photo update as to what has been going on:



Sunday night, September 14, we had the remnants of what was hurricane Ike that touched land in Galveston, TX. We got no rain, but what a windstorm! We had power outages and things were blown around quite a bit. Pretty scary when I was outside! Can't imagine what it would be like to hunker down while a hurricane passed by...I would NOT want to be there!

My Black Krim tomato in the ground is so big that two stakes isn't holding it up any longer that I had to add two more!

Worms

If there is any doubt that weed and feed doesn't harm you, just look at your soil life. I received my earthworm cocoons today in the mail from Gardens Alive! and I went around my yard digging holes for these little guys. There was not one worm to be found! Not even the red wigglers I accidentally put into my garden last year! So if you don't think weed and feed is harmful....think again! Hopefully, I won't have to order new earthworms again now that I have re-"seeded" the yard again with them. I will be throwing away that bag of weed and feed ASAP to avoid this happening again!

Tomato Eating

I picked my first Black Krim recently because it was cracked and started to get "soft." Boy is it yummy! My bearded dragon didn't think so though. She ignored it! Humph! I haven't picked any of the other tomatoes cuz I figured soon as I picked them the sooner they would rot! The basil is yummy as always! It's been quite chilly at night recently, almost feels like an October night! It's just getting a tad too chilly for my liking. Still quite humid tho!

I haven't had the time to finish reading that grass book. Hopefully after this week is over I can sneak some time here and there to finish it. Maybe I'll learn something! :) Anyway, back to studying!

Rotting Zucchini

At first glance you would think the dog decided to make himself a cool bed out in the yard at the look of my Zucchini plants, but upon closer inspection the plant itself isn't broken...it is mushy! I kinda figured this would happen as each time I pulled a Zuchini off and it left an exposed wound to bacteria all around. So my guess is that it got a bacterial infection and it has died :( Now my bed is going to look all empty! I picked my big zucchini that I didn't pick in time and let go to seed. There are two more fingerling baby zucchinis on the plants. So I guess we'll see!

Fall is Around the Corner

Football has apparently started. That is my signal that fall is just around the corner. Probably another reason why I hate football! Means my growing season is coming to an end! This last week has been super stressful as it was my first week of fall semester back at school. I have a very rigorous class that I have been spending every free moment studying for already. The only times I take a break are if I am eating or if I am taking a short break. It's been hard falling off the face of the earth to everyone I know. I like to keep in touch! So hi to all those folks out there that have not heard from me! I am not dead, just super super busy! I had to force myself to do the dishes today since I have been too busy to do them and the sink was overflowing.

So some garden talk....my two Black Krim tomatoes are not only growing at different speeds, but the fruit produced is also looking drastically different from each other. One is more black than the other. One of the fruits has already cracked so much I can see the seed in it. Probably needs to be eaten ASAP so that it doesn't just rot on the vine.

Everything else has been really dry. Some of my ferns have died back, my Irish Moss is trying to go. I hope the both of them have established themselves enough that they will come back next year. Everything else is pretty uneventful. Oh! I did catch the vole that was digging tunnels all over my yard with a mouse trap! WOOHOO! I did re-set it in case it decided to leave me any friends or offspring that might want to see who took mommy's life!

Anyway, back to the grindstone here....

Grass

I am now reading The Organic Lawn Care Manual by Paul Tukey. I am in chapter 4 and never thought of growing grass was such a science! There is lots to learn on just how to grow grass, not just organically! The types of grass (there are lots!), where they grow, what they tolerate, what they love, etc. Will update on what I learn!

Tomato Growth Progress

I am finally done with my chores and had some time to take some updated pictures. The garlic is all harvested. They weren't as fat as I had hoped they would be, but here are some shots of the tomatoes instead:

The tomato in the foreground in the pot is the same as the taller tomato in the ground in the way back, Black Krim. The one in the ground got more constant water as there was more ground to be saturated with the stuff and it probably got some weed and feed too when bf put some down w/o telling me he was going to do so! So it is quite a difference as you shall see...

This is what the whole area looks like now. The zucchini plants have given me 4 zucchinis of which I am afraid to eat due to the weed and feed. There is still one giant zucchini on the vine because I let it get too big to take off. It wouldn't be good to eat so I thought I'd let it go to seed. The honeysuckle sure got big over the Vegas weekend! I had to tie it up some more. No flowers yet, maybe next year!

One giant ugly Black Krim tomato. This is the biggest of them all and grows on the bigger, in the ground, tomato bush. I believe this was the first tomato to grow. You can see how big it is against the ruler...it is in inches.

These are two smaller Black Krims as you can see. They are two of very few growing in the pot and are ripening up already. These will have less of a chance that they got any weed and feed as evidenced by their size :) Can't wait to try these out as they are AWESOME tomatoes! I think I will always have one of these growing in my yard each summer!

Hood Rat

No, not the furry four legged with a tail type vermin....the two legged I don't give a shit as to what society says kind. I know it's not my neighbors because they have RESPECT. This is the view outside my front door this morning:



The yellow circles indicate where my planters have resided for the past 3 years since I have lived in this house. The green circles indicate where my planters were this morning as I walked outside! I don't go walking into YOUR yard and messing it up. Why the FUCK would you touch mine?! Yeah, no harm done, but guess what? There is, cuz I am not supposed to lift anything more than 10 lbs at the moment! To the jackass that thought this was funny. You come here and do this again and I'll have something nice waiting for you. Stay the fuck away from my property!

All Gone...!

Alas....all the beautiful Stargazer Lillies are done blooming! They were so beautiful and fragrant, but they sure didn't last long enough! It'll give me something to look forward to next year along with those red Asiatic lillies! The back of the patch there is looking a bit empty now that I have cut off half their stalks to make sure they are not trying to put any energy into making seeds.

The home grown zuchinis are a bit tough skinned though as we found out the other night when we decided to cook two of them.

Other than that...not much going on. It's a bit dry. We could use a good downpour so that I don't have to pull out the hose. I haven't been able to pull the hose out due to the fact that bf is parking his car right in front of the spigot!

I just realized I could put labels on my posts....I wonder who reads my blog? Apparently quite a few of you since my visitor counter says so! :) I hope ya'll enjoy my posts as much as I do writing about them!

Another orchid in starting to bloom!

My baby Meyers Lemons growing! Woohoo! Can't wait to eat them!

My garlic patch in the backyard....they are ripening up. The zucchinis are finally starting to grow here amazingly enough! I thought it wasn't getting enough sunlight, which it isn't, but it is still growing some for me. Not many, but two is better than none!

Garlic

Harvested my first garlic today. The bulb wasn't too bad, but it wasn't super big either for such a big plant! I think I'll pull up the others later.

More Blooms

This is Phal. John Ewing. It was supposed to bloom last year and had TWO spikes, but I threw it outside with the other Phals in the fall and blasted the two spikes! :( So this year, to make up for it....it has given me one single spike. This has been a long awaited bloom since this is a SCENTED Phalaenopsis! Oh it is heavenly! Pretty to boot too!

Spider Lily I believe what this is called. Quite pretty, small flowers though. Apparently the bee in the flower the morning I took this picture agreed since it was drunk with sleep! I thought it was dead! It must really appreciate the food :D

Close up shot of the pretty small flowers. They are about 1" across.

Neofinetia X is in bloom!

Somehow this beautiful little thing has a tinge of purple to the petals even though Neofinetia is white and the other plant it was crossed with was named 'alba.' this is a first bloom for me. I got this plant off eBay. It is lightly scented at the moment, but I am sure it will get stronger as night falls! Grown under florescent lights!

Stargazer Lillies Are Open!

All four lillies are open! Actually, one is already fading. It didn't last very long....a week max? They all opened up during the heat of this past weekend. They smelled SO good! The rain storm late afternoon yesterday, Sunday, knocked a lot of the pollen off the stamens. I will definitely grow more of these since they are able to bloom in shade even!


8:29pm - It is pouring! WOOHOO!!!! The yard sure needed the water!

Stone Plant Bloom Progression

Is it safe to come out?

Hello?

Must be safe....?

Hello world! Hello tiny itty bitty bee!

Ahhh....the sun sure feels good!

Blooms!

I have six, count that S-I-X, orchids in spike under my light stand! YIPEE!!!! Some I have not seen some of them bloom since I bought it (years!) and some have never bloomed at all (few years or just bought) so it will be exciting to see what they look like possibly!

Outdoors, my stargazer lillies are about to bloom so I am excited to see what those actually look like! I hope I got the white ones because I really can't remember LOL

Just found out two nights ago bf put down weed and feed in the backyard....GRRRR....now I can't eat my garlic! :( :( :( He has been reminded that he is ***FORBIDDEN*** to use any pesticides/herbicides in our yard because not only is my garlic affected, but my worms and the dog since he didn't tell me he put it down. You are supposed to wait something like two days before letting pets or children onto lawns when you put down fertilizer, pesticides, or herbicides (read your labels!). Well...unbeknownst to me my dog was still being let out on that same grass and EATING on it! Ugh...

Visual Update

This is what my front yard looks like now that all the spring flowers have died back. Seems a bit empty now... I've gotten a lot of compliments though!

Baby zucchini! I have learned that these need A LOT of light! The ones planted in shade are blooming all male flowers like crazy, but absolutely, not even one single female flower! The three I planted in the pot and is sitting actually in my neighbor's yard (rental) is growing some baby zucchinis, but eventually they will outgrow the pot. :\ I learned my lesson....grow in pot only!

A little piece of my backyard....finally decided to plant my tuberous begonia back there with the ferns. The light requirements worked well and it looked nice to have some white popping up. the fern next to the begonia is a native maidenhair fern. It dies back every fall and comes up every spring! These are my most favorite ferns!

Mini Hosta "Gold Drops" in bloom. I thought the flowers would be darker than they are now, but quite pretty for such a tiny hosta! I planted it last summer.

Brad's Black tomato given to me by Doug Oster, the Post-Gazette's Backyard Gardener, who showed me how easy it was to go "organic" with his and Jessica Walliser's book, Growing Organic.

One of two Black Krim tomato plants I am growing....these are SO good! They are an heirloom variety and finally setting fruit! I can't wait to eat them!

Look how big my yellow peppers are getting!!!

This is one of those stone plants I keep killing indoors. Yes, you just heard it...a master gardener kills plants! I too cannot grow everything I love :) I bought this from Lowes and put it outside in a clay pot so it wouldn't blow over (just plopped it into the pot, plastic pot and all) and I haven't even watered it! All it gets in water is when it decides to rain. I can't believe it is blooming! Guess I have to grow these as annuals....

Update

It has been raining for two days now. Am I still in Seattle???

My red lillies were really short lived. There is only one left. One of my Stargazer lillies got blown over by the storm so I had to cut it down. I don't know if the bulb will survive since there are no leaves for it to gather food with. I guess I'll find out if it doesn't come back next year!

My garlic is starting to turn brown. Woohoo! :D The tips...we cooked one. It was kind of tough, but pretty darn tasty! Maybe I gotta cook them a bit more for them to soften up.

The habaneros still have not set fruit yet. I am worried they won't at all being on a windowsill. I think I will move them closer to the other plants for a day or two when they are in bloom next. My yellow peppers on the other hand, have two little baby peppers growing already! I hope it grows some more!

The weeds are growing well....like weeds! You won't believe how fast they really grow! Seems pretty tough to keep up after them, but they are so much easier to pull when they are about 4-6" tall. Of course, I am not that meticulous about the yard. If it looks good to me then it is fine LOL

My Neofinetia falcata cross is spiking!!! I am excited about that as I have never seen it in bloom. I also have a Phrag in bloom for the first time for me. Not too exciting, but quite pretty in its plain simple way. Seems like there aren't much of a color variation in Phrags...just red, pink, and some yellow. Pretty boring if you ask me! I think I will uh..."weed" those out soon.

Bletilla striata

Bletilla striata 'alba' in bloom!

The Story of Stuff

This is a great video on why we need to be sustainable!

More Stuff in Bloom!

Bletilla striata 'alba' in bud.

Habanero's in bloom.

Yellow peppers growing!

The Things That Grow While You Are on Vacation...

Besides the weeds that sprouted a whole 6" while I was gone for a week last week look what is blooming!

Phalaenopsis Lava Glow

Chirita 'Aiko' - Whoever said these types of African violet relatives don't bloom well clumped up is WRONG! I have TWO buds! Much more than I ever had with a single plant!

Look at my zucchinis! They've finally grown some! Guess I didn't need to move some. The garlic is amazing! The heads are really neat and twist around quite a bit! And oh the lillies! I forgot they were RED!

Close up of my Asiatic lillies in bloom. They are just stunning!

Summer is Here!

Even though it is not the summer equinox yet I think summer has arrived anyhow. All those spring rains have all of a sudden stopped and the last few days have been hot and humid. Temps are in the high 80s to 90s and the humidity I think is about 80% and above! My pansies are NOT liking this weather at all, but as long as I keep them watered they seem to hang in there.

Phipps has a chocolate exhibit that I have yet to go. I will just wait until I volunteer to go.

My lillies are budding up surprisingly enough! They are growing in full shade! I will need to move them this fall so they are more organized looking! I think I will cut them as cut flowers when they do bloom. Not a fan of how they look really in the garden.

The garlic is TALL! I didn't realize how big they can get physically! I hope this means that the bulbs are getting really fat underground!

The zucchini plants are finally starting to take off and grow some! It's about time! Hopefully I will get some zucchinis out of them before the squash borers get to them!

My herbs planted in my garlic bed has not done well at all. I think the slugs are getting to them. I will have to put some slug bait near them! The other herbs in the pots are doing GREAT! Just planted all my mints in the big black pot in my backyard with the Brug in it, but it was probably a bad idea since I put them on the edge and that is where the soil gets frozen first. I'll probably have to dig them back out or something in the fall. I wish I had more space!

The habanero plants keep getting aphids. It doesn't matter how often I spray them. They just keep coming back! GRRR!!!!

More Work

Some more plantings and moving around. Planted the Sambuca nigra 'Black Lace' and moved the Hyacinths, but I think I broke one so I may have a hyacinth pop up next year if I didn't just kill it since it can't store anymore food now with no leaves. Moved the bleeding heart towards the front since I needed something there. It was much easier to dig up than I thought! Really shallow rooted. Moved the black elephant's ear to the left side behind the burning bush (too small to see) and moved the succulent again since I didn't want to move the juniper. I really like where it is at the moment and there is plenty of space for it to spread. So far, I like it! We'll see how everything does!



Below are some of my finds from last Sunday, the last day of May Market. #1: Caladium, #2: Hakone grass (shade tolerant!), #3: Thai Caladium, #4: Jack in the Pulpit, #5: Sambuca nigra 'Black Lace' and #6: blue hosta.

Volunteering at May Market

So today I put in my 4 hours for Phipps at May Market doing the green room teaching visitors how to "go organic." Still need more Phipps hours though to get to my require 18 minimum! Prior scheduled volunteer time I arrived early (hours early!) so I could get a good parking spot and did some more shopping. Found a Sambuca nigra 'Black Lace,' two Caladiums (one freebie and one for $1!) and a Hakona grass (shade tolderant grass!). I also got a freebie tomato! Never did find my white Hellebore though :\ I got the required fondant dipped strawberries as I have each year since discovering them and this year they even had some of the fondant for sale so I bought a $4 brick to be used later! Mmm....! There were these GORGEOUS peonies that were a cross between the herbaceous type and the tree peony type, but required full sun, none of which I had! Hardy like the herbaceous kind, but colorful like the tree type! Someday...

Today's Results

It's getting there! See? I know it's kind of hard to tell, but once the plants have a chance to grow a bit it'll look nice!