Category: Gardening (Page 1 of 164)

My jewel orchid is blooming! I saw the spike before Christmas, but now the blooms are finally opening. They aren’t spectacular, but it’s still exciting.

There was a spiky-leaved plant in the background of yesterday’s post pictures. It’s a begonia – a variety called ‘ferox’. Here are some better pictures of it:

The spikes aren’t really spiky. They’re kind of hairy. It’s a fussy variety of begonia, but I seem to have found a spot it’s okay with. It gets bright, indirect light, and it’s surrounded by other plants, so the humidity is a little higher than other places in my house.

It’s down to one leaf, but the rhizome looks heathy, and there’s a tiny new leaf growing. I think it’s just a winter slow-down, so it should be ok.

My jewel orchid is getting big. I’ve had to tie it to the plant stand so it doesn’t flop over.

But wait! What is that coming out of the crown of the plant?

It’s a flower spike! My jewel orchid is going to be blooming soon! Woo hoo!

And maybe after it’s done, I’ll re-pot it. It’s so lanky.

Last night I ate the potatoes I harvested over the weekend. They are a purple variety. After washing them, they were extra purple.

I decided I’d just “bake” them in the microwave so I could taste them without the interference of other flavors. The cooking process muted their purply-ness, but did not fade it entirely.

I thought maybe they would taste different from other potatoes, but they didn’t.

I don’t think I’ll try growing potatoes again for a while. This was disappointing.

I planted some potatoes in the spring. In April, they were growing, and I posted about them. During the summer, the plants grew big, then suddenly died from what looked like unnatural causes, then grew big, then died again.

Yesterday I decided to dump out the pot and harvest all the potatoes that must be crammed in there.

Heh. It was a pitiful harvest.

The potatoes are purple. I didn’t cook them last night. When I decide how to prepare them, I’ll post about it and show the insides.