Category: Gardening (Page 1 of 156)

I’ve had an increasing fascination with begonias. Fortunately, I’ve been able to resist impulse buys. Unfortunately, I have not been able to resist other kinds of buys. One of those is a begonia from my past. The variety is called “Art Hodes”. I don’t actually remember what I did with it my old one. I had it right before I moved to Maui, so I must’ve given it away. I loved its big, droopy, hairy leaves.

I really wanted another one, and things are so easy to order from the internet and I got one. It came yesterday.

It’s a big healthy cutting. And apparently, it grows into a big plant. I think I might grow this outside…

I have noticed when I’m showering on the weekend that I’ve smelled wood smoke. I thought maybe a neighbor had a fireplace that they lit for warmth.

Then recently, I noticed it was just Sunday I was smelling the smoke. Why would the neighbor only light the fire on Sundays?

Then I realized that I was smelling the smoke after I watered my bathroom orchids, which I do every Sunday morning.

The orchid potting mix has chunks of charcoal in it. I haven’t been smelling fire. I’ve been smelling my orchids.

My orchids are still blooming. I think I’ve only been without orchid flowers for maybe a month in the last year. Amazing!

I worked in my garden yesterday! Woo hoo!

I started by repotting a houseplant, and while I was going to the garage to get the pot, I saw a container that had some old seeds in it. Some of the seeds were from a mgambo tree. They’re fuzzy! They’re often used in leis. My friend Cheryl gave me some in Maui. I’m not sure if it was THIS time, or another, but that was four years ago.

They’re super old now, but I wondered if they might still sprout. I planted them. I also planted some herb seeds that students gave me at Christmas.

I watered everything in the back yard after that. I need to get some new watering equipment. I need hoses that aren’t expandable. The expandable ones put the water under too much pressure, and the potting mix gets blasted out of the pots.

Since I was already outside, I mowed the lawn. It really needed mowing. The last few weekends have been rainy, so I haven’t been able to do it until now.

And then there was one last thing to do… My driveway has a lot of weeds growing in the cracks. I wanted to use salt and vinegar to kill them and poison the ground. I got most of them, but ran out of salt and vinegar, so I’ll have to finish another day.

Happy Birthday to Denis! Woo hoo!

There are more warmer days happening here. The plants in my back yard are liking it. The amaryllises have bloomed. They have more bloom spikes this year than they did last year. And the nasturtiums I grew from seed a year ago are finally blooming!

And the fig already has a fruit on it. Woo hoo! Hopefully I can eat it before a bird or bug does.

And speaking of food, I’m growing some potatoes this year. When you grow them in containers, you’re supposed to plant them way at the bottom in shallow soil, then as they grow, you bury the stems and slowly fill the pot. That way, roots grow off the stems, and you get more potatoes. I did this back in Baltimore with a storage tub. This time, I’m just using a pot.

The pot to the left is herbs. Yay, herbs!

Yesterday I went to Carlsbad (down toward San Diego). I visited a flower farm that lets people visit and take pictures and buy pricy refreshments. It was fun!

They had a lot of fun flower things. Here’s a patch of clover where they encourage you to try to find a four leaf clover:

They had a maze made out of sweet pea plants. The flowers smelled so good!

They also had an orchid green house. So beautiful!

But the main attraction was their flower fields. They grow ranunculus flowers. Ranunculuses are relatives of buttercups, but they are much bigger and come in many colors:

They plant seeds, and at the end of the season, dig up the tubers to be sold at garden centers all around the world. Cool!