Category: Gardening (Page 1 of 138)

Since I’ve started packing, I’ve had categories of stuff: shipping box, rummage sale, garbage, and suitcase. I took care of the shipping box stuff this past weekend. Yesterday, I took care of the rummage sale stuff.

Our church youth group is having a rummage sale today. It was perfect timing! I took three boxes of stuff to them, and gave them almost all my lanai plants. I think they should fetch a good price. Many of them are rare or spectacular:

While I was at school, I did some other gardening as well. Some of the vegetables died or were dying, so I took them out and replaced them with flowers.

But the pepper plants and tomato plants are flourishing. I propped up the tomatoes with some branches.

There’s a tomato on one of the plants. I was so excited to see it!

My taro plants at school have a LOT of aphids on them right now. When I water them, I always spray the leaves, hoping to cut down on the aphid population.

Yesterday when I did an inspection at recess time, I saw that the water isn’t the only aphid-control method the taro has.

That weird alligator-looking thing is a ladybug nymph. They love to eat aphids! Awesome! Good job, ladybugs! No water sprays for you.

This has been a crazy week. Our May Day celebration is tomorrow, so we’ve been having all kinds of practices. I’m also getting my condo ready for listing. The real estate agents are taking pictures today after school.

Still, things are good. The kids are in good spirits, and I’ve been eating cookies all day every day since I got so many on Monday for Teacher Appreciation Week.

On top of all that, my gardening at school is yielding results! Yesterday at recess, I was looking at the potted plants by the school office, and saw that the bean plants the kindergarteners had sprouted (which I planted in one of the pots) are starting to grow tiny bean pods! Yay!

I am going to have to figure out what to do with my plants when I move away. I love them, and have been caring for them for years now. But I can’t take them with me. Each one has a story. Some of them were surprise finds. Others were only acquired after long searches. Most of them are unusual varieties, because that’s how I roll.

As I type, I’m admiring my pilea peperomioides. It’s an easy care plant that also looks exotic – a great combination. But it will be sad to say goodbye to it. I’ve had it for three years. If only I could just stuff it into a suitcase…

I know I’ve posted about this before, but I just love that the birds come to drink and bathe on my lanai. Yesterday I was peeking out between the curtains, so I was really close to the window. I stuck my camera lens in the opening and took a picture:

It’s a family of Java sparrows. The young ones were plain brown when they first started coming to the water. Now they are getting their characteristic grey and white coloring. Time flies. Young ones always grow up so fast. Sunrise, sunset – Is this the little girl I carried? Is this the little boy at play?