Kelly's Not So Green Thumb

Old Feedsack Quilt???

2008-07-13T08:03:00.000-07:00

I finally made it to the community thrift store in Dayton, Nevada where my Mom lives. Bruce and I always mean to pop in there, but always choose the wrong day to go, as the place is usually closed! Anyway, my Mom and I were out having fun shopping, picking out plants for her back yard haven that we were working on. On the way home I asked her to stop really quick at the thrift store. We did, and I found this old, very funky quilt. I understand the time that goes into making quilts and also, I love anything old and vintage, especially textiles, so I wanted it.

It didn't have particularly attractive coloring or patterning, for that matter, nor was it put together all that well, but it had a since of the area famous for being the first place of gold discovery in Nevada and the flavor of the historical old west, and the fabrics looked fairly old. I didn't have $10 on me though. I spent it all earlier in the day. Mom had spent all her cash too. I wanted it though. My Mom thought I was odd for wanting it at first, but realized at the same time that I have an eye for old things and the passion for the history of them, the stories behind them. She said if it was there on Monday, (they're closed on Sundays), then I was meant to have it, but I couldn't get it off my mind.

When we got home, I went straight to Tony and asked him if he had $10 I could borrow, and he did. Mom drove me back to the store that was due to close in 30 minutes and I picked it up. I was elated. I am going to give the quilt to Bruce, but with instructions to treat it kindly. He's going to love it! He'll be up next Thursday, and I can't wait to show him.

When I got home with the quilt, I placed it in the washer and dried it afterwards. The colors brightened and it has a puckered look, which leads me to believe that it has never been dried in a dryer. Ooops! Still, I believe there's no point in owning cool vintage/antique pieces if they aren't used and enjoyed!

Later that night I couldn't sleep. I studied the quilt and the fabric pieces and began researching on the Internet. I found out that the fabric was quite old in my quilt and that many of the pieces, which I originally thought were broadcloth were actually linen, and very likely from old feedsacks which were popular especially during the 20s to the 50s. The feedsacks held flour and sugar, for example, and of course the fabrics from the sacks were utilized after they were emptied. They found their way into garments, bedding, curtains, etc. In the old days, nothing was wasted.

As far as the date of this quilt, I have no idea. It could be quite modern and put together with a combination of contemporary and vintage fabrics. I'm guessing that perhaps it was put together in the 60s or 70s, but I'm really unsure.

Below are closeups of some of the blocks in the quilt. She seemed to have themes in each block. You can click on each photo to view the blocks up close.

Below is the fabric on the back. It is much more gold-yellow than this picture and it has forts, rifles, and swords on it.

On Vacation!

2008-07-12T07:42:00.000-07:00

Hi! I'm on vacation right now, up at my Mom's in Dayton, Nevada. I left on Wednesday, and have been up here for about three days. I promised my poor husband Bruce, who can't come up until next Thursday, that I would send him a photo from our favorite place to get Bloody Mary's, Bonanza in Virginia City, Nevada. I just had to tease him. Here I am cheering him with my yummy drink. He wrote me back after showing everyone in the office. His response was, "You suck!" Hee-hee.

Here we are having lunch at the Bonanza. I had a fantastic Shrimp BLT salad, which was made with "field greens," tomatoes, fabulous bacon, crumbled blue-cheese, vinaigrette and fabulous creole style shrimp on top. It was so darn good! Anyway, here's my Mom Leslie, Grandpa Tony, Micaela and Chloe waiting for lunch!
The smoke up here has been pretty bad, which is a bummer, but it's cleared up a little bit. Still, it's not as clear as it is usually, which I really love. It's because of the fires in California. The smoke is blowing East to Nevada.

So What Subtropical Tree Did I Get????

2008-06-20T08:05:00.001-07:00

That's right, I got myself a fig tree. I can't remember exactly how I came to the conclusion that I would get a fig tree. It really just happened. I think I read somewhere about growing trees in containers and a light bulb came on. I have always wanted a fig tree. I love figs. The trees are gorgeous, and I read that they grow very well in containers. They prefer a tight root ball, so tight spaces are good for them. I read that they have been known to grow even in cracks in the ground! And did you know that the figs are actually not a fruit at all, but an outside-in fleshy flower? That fact really surprised me!

So I got on this little kick that I had to get myself a fig tree. I had many concerns, such as how well would it do on my hot, third level balcony, and what if it gets too big to move it? I decided I would start by looking at them at Armstrong Nursery in Glendale, CA. They had several varieties: Brown Turkey, Kadota, Panachee (a nifty yellow green striped variety), and the White Genoa. I didn't buy the tree at that time. I was disappointed in what the nursery man told me, saying that he didn't recommend growing them on my balcony because of wind and heat. Still, couldn't I work around this some how? I have shade cloth and it's rarely windy on our balcony. I decided I would read about each variety and about figs in general, then I would decide.

I tried to talk myself out of it, but was unsuccessful. The idea of growing a fig tree filled my heart with joy. (It still does, so I know I made the right choice). There's something amazing about nurturing a beautiful tree such as a fig tree. So I picked one up at Armstrong's. I chose a White Genoa a.k.a. officially as: Ficus carica higo. I kind of wish I had chosen the Kadota, but the Genoa tree looked much healthier, and the kids thought I should pick it. I got home with my beauty; I was glowing with delight. Then I read some more about it and found out that it was a fast growing, large tree. Oops! I guess I missed that point. I must have been thinking about the Kadota, which would have been a great choice too. Well, I love the tree, so we'll see how it goes. I can keep it trimmed down. I will be reading up on pruning trees next. Above is the picture of it the day I got it. All the rest of the pictures were taken today.

Aren't the figs and leaves beautiful? I'm in love. This particular variety has what they call a "breba" crop. What this means is that it typically has two fruit crops; one in Spring and another in Fall. The Spring crop is called the breba crop. The "breba" crop grows on last season's growth, while the Fall crop grows on the new growth.

I think the leaves have grown a bit in the 8 days since I bought it. I repotted it in a big plastic pot, that would hold moisture much better than a terracotta pot, plus it would be a lot lighter. I sprinkled some pebbles on top to hold in moisture a bit and for decorative purposes. It's looks beautiful. BTW...you can grow a lot of trees indoors too! And there are many trees that can be grown in containers. Anyway, I'm so thrilled with my new subtropical tree!

P.S. I have three new posts today, so don't miss them below....

My Baby's a Teenager!!!!

2008-06-20T07:18:00.000-07:00

Okay, where the heck did the time go? My baby isn't my little baby anymore! Today she is a teenager, 13 years old! She loves to take random pictures of herself. Funny ones, silly ones. Above and below are pictures of my new-teen, Micaela.(Chloe's sitting in the back in one of Micaela's random shots!):

She's a great kid, who works hard at school, (brought home straight "A"s this year), and is an amazing, talented singer and dancer. Here's a picture of her below, center stage in front of the microphone. This was taken at the Disneyland competition this April. She's having a blast. I love this picture of her, because she's having so much fun up there with all her friends!

Happy Birthday Micaela! I love you!

"Baby Toes" Flowers Have Appeared!!

2008-06-20T07:03:00.000-07:00

What a surprise! My first experience with the flowers of Baby Toes a.k.a. officially as: Ficoidaceae-Aizodaceae fenestraria, was a simple white, daisy-like flower, but boy was I surprised by the delicate shade of pink and yellow flowers that appeared on this one! You never know what you're going to get. I wrote about this recently here, and so far three flowers have appeared. In the picture below I only show two, but since then another has appeared, and if I'm not incorrect there will be a fourth one appearing shortly! Click to enlarge the pictures. The colors are unbelievable! Fairy tell like, if you ask me!

My "Baby Toes": Ficoidaceae-Aizoaceae fenestraria

2008-06-12T17:15:00.000-07:00

Remember me whining a while back about how terrible my "Baby Toe" succulent plant was doing? Or maybe I only whined to Donna about it? Hmm.... Anyway, here's how it looked in between the bad stage, including a picture of the pretty white flower that had bloomed. Not too long after this it started going down hill. Probably due to overwatering. I was so bummed out, 'cause my plant was getting all "smooshy" and I really loved my Baby Toe succulent plant. After that one started going down the toilet, I decided to pick up a couple of others, just in case I lost the first one. Well, I left the plant alone and believe it or not it recovered. Here's a picture of it now, with lots of new "toes":
Okay, so that's great, right? But what really got me wanting to blog about this excellent succulent specimen was the fabulous flower buds that appeared on one of my other plants. Three buds, to be exact! I was really surprised when I noticed these the other day. Here's a pic that shows the new flower buds growing on the plant on the right:

And then here's another great plant I have that's doing fabulous:

Anyway, I just had to share this. I've got another post coming up real quick! I'm excited to share with you my latest purchase, which I'm really excited about. Someone better get me a nice big yard, real quick like!). I'll give you a hint...it is subtropical and it bears fruit. Any guesses???

Exploring Succulent Propagation

2008-06-03T15:33:00.001-07:00

As you know, I'm interested in propagating plants, especially some of my favorite succulent plants. I have a few plants that are actively reproducing themselves via fallen leaves and through offshoots.

My favorite "Blue Bird" Echeveria has a few little offshoots coming out, and I noticed little plants growing on the diagonal of it's lower base on two sides, where the leaves have fallen off. It was a happy surprise, as this plant is gorgeous and I would love to share it with my succulent collecting friends. I haven't seen this on any of my other plants. Here's a picture of the babies that are growing. Click on it to get a good close up of them.

You can see tiny little plants growing on the side, right? You can also see the little offshoot that is growing on the side too. Below is a bigger picture of it, which you can click to enlarge too. This plant is making it very easy for me to propagate new plants by simply cutting offshoots once they have matured a little more.

Below are some Kalanchoe leaves that are producing new plants. Because this is representative of asexual reproduction, the new plants will be exactly like the original plant. This makes it nice when you want to reproduce a plant that you really love.

Offshoots and taking cuttings from plants represents asexual reproduction too; The plant is basically cloning itself. Only with seeds do you see a change in the DNA of the plant, a new mixing or blending of genetic material/coding that gives you a unique and one-of-a-kind plant, not a clone from it's parent. It's amazing that succulents have come up with a variety of ways to reproduce themselves in order to insure their survival.

In the pot below are the following Kalanchoe common names: "Panda," "Chocolate Soldier," and "Lambs Ear." I found the chocolate soldier leaves laying at the bottom of the pot and they were already cloning themselves, however, I pulled off the Panda Kalanchoe leaf (big leaf on the left)and experimented with it, hoping for a new plant, and boy was I successful! The Lamb's Ear, however, hasn't done anything yet.

You know what's funny though? The Chocolate Soldier is growing as slowly as the original plant. In fact, the growth on the parent plant has been very minimal. The Panda is doing great, and has really only been growing for a short period of time, at least a couple of months less than the Chocolate Soldier. It goes to show you that they are definitely exact copies of their parents, mimicking even the growth patterns of their parents, and subject to the same diseases as the parents also. It's something to keep in mind when choosing plants and methods to propagate.

Kalanchoes are extremely easy to propagate from leaves. I've got all sorts of neat plants growing, some I started myself by pulling off leaves from the plant, and some just reproduced themselves via fallen leaves in their pots. Below are some leaves from Guinevere and Sir Lancelot with little plantlets growing on them. You can click on the picture to get a good closeup of them. I love these two plants (Guinevere and Sir Lancelot). They are growing beautifully, so I'm happy to have more of them. I pulled a leaf off of one and the rest started on their own. They are really beginning to take off!

Here's another nice picture to see how they propagate from leaves:

Here are some Echeverias growing from leaflets. Do you see the little plant with the wrinkled up dry leaf? I found it at the bottom of it's pot. I was happily surprised. I think that might be a tiny little Kalanchoe growing in the back towards the right. I decided to pull another leaf off (on the left) and see what would happen. It seems to be rooting nicely. I'm curious if those are little plants though or roots? Click on the picture to enlarge, so you can see what I mean. There's a lot of roots or plantlets growing on the edge that lies on the soil.

Below are two favorites that I'm propagating via cuttings: Sedum clavatum and "Kiwi" an Aeonium. I cut them from the plant, let them dry a few days and then put them in a pot. I check them here and there by gently pulling at them to see if they are rooted. If the plant gives away easily, I know it hasn't rooted. I wait a few more days and then try again. It's fun to create new plants from ones that you love.
Above is the Sedum clavatum I propagated from cuttings from the mother plant.

Above is the Aeonium "Kiwi" that I propagated via cuttings from the mother plant.

My Weekend Wreath Project

2008-06-02T14:12:00.000-07:00

I went to the Dollar Tree in San Fernando. My husband goes all the way out there to pick up flour tortillas at his favorite place. I told him I was hitching a ride along with him, which annoyed him a bit, but he got over it. Hee-hee. Anyway, I picked up some really neat things there. I bought the three wreaths, all for a buck each and then the flower arrangements were a buck each. You couldn't beat the price. I made the orange/red and yellow/white wreaths for $3 and I made the pink wreath for $2. I had the ribbon at home. Cool! I wanted some more permanent colors in my home. I love how my friend has flower wreaths throughout her house, so I'd been thinking about doing this for a while. Here are the other two that I made:

It was a lot of fun. All I used was the wreath, flowers, ribbon and a hot glue gun. Simple and fun!

Still Playing with Flowers!

2008-06-01T08:14:00.000-07:00

I played with flowers this weekend! I did a whole bunch of different projects, including creating some wreaths, which I think came out pretty good. Above is a fun little flower arrangement that I put together in shades of lavender, pink and white. I found the little turtle at the 99 Cent store. (My favorite place it seems these days)! I had a fantastic time putting it together.

Here's the plants I chose for this arrangement: Cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus), Mexican Heather (Cuphea hyssopifolia), and Alyssum (Lobularia maritima). Here's another picture taken in the morning:

I gave up on my strawberries. I was tired of trying to get them to behave and grow right, so I threw them out and decided flowers would be fun!

Above is a close up of the Cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus) flowers.

Here's another Cosmo in shades of pink, lavender and yellow.

Here's my sweet little turtle. Isn't he cute? For some reason, even with the flowers, he seems like a he. Boys like flowers too, right?

My Little Flower Garden

2008-05-26T09:09:00.001-07:00

I needed some color on my balcony to mix up all of the green. I wanted to do a color theme, and I love the color mix I came up with: oranges, yellow, and peachy tones. I need to pot them, but that requires money, which I am low on at the moment, so I'll have to hope they can hang on until the money comes in to buy pots. Would you like to know what I purchased? The following picture will be a closeup, and I'll give you a breakdown below it of what I picked up. But before I do that, do you see the little pot of greens next to the yellow flowers on the left? That's one of my herb pots. I've got basil, parsley and chamomile growing in it and I started it from seeds! I have some indoors too. I clipped some basil for the pizzas we made last night. Nice young leaves that were oh-so-fragrant and tender.

Okay, so starting in the back, the flowers are as goes:

Three each of "#1 Iceland Poppy" in Yellow, Peachy-Pink & Orange Flowers: Scientific name: "Papaver nudicale"

In front from left to right:

"#1 Dwarf Dahlia 'Figaro' Dahlia" - "Dahlia x hybrida" - Yellow flowers
"Daisies" - Red Flowers (I don't have a tag w/this one, so I'll have to look it up)."Gold Coin" - "Asteriscus Maritimus" - Yellow flowers
A nice close up of the peachy-pink poppies with a new bud getting ready to open on the right hand side.

Here's a close up of the Yellow Dahlias and Red Daisies.

And a closeup of the Red Daisies and Gold Coins.

Above is a picture of my orange poppies.

And another picture above of my peach-pink Poppies. They look more pink in this photo, but they do have a "peachy" tone to them in person.

New Patio/Balcony Shade Screen!

2008-05-20T15:45:00.001-07:00

I was really busy this weekend. I must be nuts! It was well into the high nineties and I was out on my balcony building a shade screen to protect my plants from sunburn. I think it turned out pretty good though! Bruce suggested that I only build it so high, saving the both of us from balancing precariously from the third floor railing to hang it.

I went to Home Depot early Sunday morning and came back with the following supplies: a roll of shade fabric in a lovely sandy shade, 5 wood supports - 2" x 1" and 3 feet long, metal tacks designed to hook the fabric to wood (a staple gun would have been better), and electrical ties (think that's the name!). I got home and started building. I made myself nuts, sweating and swearing as I scraped my arm, stepped on my hammer and experienced many other mishaps. I had to redo it a couple of times too, which really ticked me off, but there it is, finished. Yes, it could be better, but my husband is really proud of me. He called me from downstairs especially to tell me how good it looked. He was really impressed and I did it all myself, except for having someone hold one end, so it wouldn't fall over the side of the balcony while I tied it. It comes up about three feet from the balcony ledge. I love having privacy while I play with my plants. Here's another picture, and I'll try to add an evening picture later. The flower lights look really cool against the shade screen at night. They sort of glow.

Fly Tape and the Gnat Problem

2008-05-20T15:34:00.000-07:00

I've got a real big gnat problem, inside and out. I'm trying a couple of things. The first was a brand of insecticidal soap spray from Schultz, which is not working and the second is good, old-fashioned fly-tape, which I picked up at the 99 cent store. I got four rolls for 99 cents, a great bargain! I was told about using tape at the California Cactus Center, but I wasn't sure about it. Within about an half-an hour I had all those gnats stuck at the top. Needless to say, I was shocked. I have one hanging by my tomato plants, which have a really bad infestation. I have to say that though that my tomatoes aren't doing so good generally anyway. I have some little caterpillar eating up all my plants. Darn caterpillar! At least you can pick them off fairly easy though. Still they ate a bunch of leaves before I caught on to them. Anyway, back to the gnats: I'm hoping the tape will eliminate a few of them from laying more eggs! Imagine all those babies!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

2008-05-05T15:42:00.000-07:00

Boy have I been busy with the garden, amongst other things. I came down with a really bad sinus infection, after a bout with the flu, plus Micaela had her VMA competition for her middle school at Disneyland and Fullerton, which kept me hugely busy! Anyway, my fellow friend and blogger Julie asked where I was and I figured I better get busy. (Thanks Julie for asking about me! :O)) ).

Okay, so I've been increasing my garden like a crazy woman, even adding some strawberry plants, herbs, lettuce and tomatoes. It's so exciting. I'm having so much fun digging in the dirt that I've neglected my blog. I thought I'd get back into things by adding pictures of ALL my plants. I've got a ton, so now you get to witness my plant addiction problem. Here goes (click on the pics for closeups):

Here's a picture of the garden on the left hand side of my balcony. We have two balconies that have their own sliding doors. Below us, (we're on the third floor), is a two bedroom on the left and a one bedroom on the right, which gives you an idea of how big our apartment is. The apartments below each have a balcony lined up under and below us. Anyway, click on the pic for a bigger look at all that's going on. We've got my salad bowl hanging on the left with the pink flowers. I planted the lettuce seeds about a week and half ago, and the other bowl with the orange flowers has herbs. Those are strawberry plants on the center table and closest in the pic are some great cactus that I found at the 99 cent store. I kept meaning to blog about them, but I'd get busy. I got some great flowers from them recently. I'll post some individual pictures later on. That's a rather "weedy" bushy lavender plant to the right of the cactus and a stapelia between the two. I love my stapelia. It's growing beautifully!

In the picture above you see a recent find! I was so thrilled when I came across these big, lush Cotleydon tomentosas, fondly known as "Bear Paws." I bought two plants and put them in a nice big pot to encourage them to grow even more. I loved planting these yesterday, 'cause they are so soft and velvety feeling. I made my hubby and everyone come over and stroke them. I love my Bear Paws. Do you like the green frog? I picked this cutey up at the 99 cent store! I bought one for my Mom for Mother's Day. She is a bigtime frog collector! She's going to love it I think.

Here's my indoor collection of succulents. I do have some others scattered about in my house, but here's where I store the majority. There's lots going on here. I took some close ups to show you. I haven't got all the names, but I'm going through an Echeveria addiction right now. I'm very picky, but I've selected some real good specimens.

Here's a table filled with Echeverias and Cotyledon tomentosas. I have two Perle Von Nurnbergs. One is supposed to be a gift, but I'm not sure I can part with it. It's the lower left hand corner purplish-green plant. It's such a nice specimen, that I might have to hold on to it and put together another gift for my hubbies co-worker. Then there's my gorgeous "Blue Bird" Echeveria who is still developing flower buds on it's ever-growing stems. You can see it in the center on the table.
And above are some herbs I've grown from seeds. From left to right you see parsley, basil (which grows rapidly), and chamomile They're really coming along and are actually growing better in my window sill than the ones I'm growing in a pot outside! Here's a nice closeup of the plants on the table. Lots going on here too. I love, love, love my blue-green sedum clavatum that's sitting in the front, second from the right by the Perle Von Nurnberg. It's my favorite and it finally took off! I learned from trial and error that it likes to be watered more often. I'm really beginning to get to know my plants and their unique needs, which is giving me much better results. Once it got warm and I started watering it more, it really began to produce for me. I even took some cuttings off this plant and I am trying to root them.

My Creeping Charlie cuttings that my Mom rooted for me are growing marvelously. I'm so pleased with the fact that they finally took off. They were really struggling, so I cut them back tremendously and between that and the warmer weather, they are doing much better. They are in the big blue-green ceramic pot.

Here's some more plants "stashed" under my table, 'cause I'm running out of room. It includes a conophytum, split-rock and a couple of lithops "hiding" amongst the rocks. I don't have all the technical names of the other two, but please forgive me, as this is a long post. Please write me if you want the names.

Here's another cutting from my Mom's plant. It's doing so good! I finally planted it, but I think the pot is just tad bit small for the plant.

Here's another new find, a real beauty that I had to have. It's called a Pachyphytum "Blue Haze." I got a tiny one to ship to my Mom for Mother's Day. Unfortunately, this guy came with some friends, some aphids. At this point they're not so bad, so I'm just hand picking them off. Still it's a beaut and you can reproduce it easily from leaf cuttings which I'm preparing to do.

Okay, I know I have the name of this Echeveria some where, but I'm not sure where I put it. It's inside, by my balcony window and seems to be doing real good there.

Here's a neato Sempervivum tectorum "Houseleek," that I picked up recently and it is doing great growing by the balcony sliding door.

I loved my Creeping Charlies so much that I got from my Mom that I picked some up at the 99 cent store and put them on my piano.

Here's some more things I've got growing amongst our rock museum. (Yes, we're nerds and my daughter Chloe and I have a rock museum that includes magnifying glasses and books). Hee-hee...! Dig our 70s wood paneling!

We're back outside on the left hand side balcony. Here's the mad-scientist-botanist-horticulturist's, (call me what you will), outdoor laboratory! Here's is where I start new plants and hope for some great success. I've got leaves budding and cuttings rooting, and there's five little beauties on the right hand side that are going to be shipped off to Mommy for Mother's Day.

Here's my Ruby Slippers Daisy-like flowers that I just had to have. I think they actually are a breed of daisies, at least that's what they told me at Home Depot. Aren't the colors beautiful?

There's a few things growing here, but I will talk to you about my tomato plants. I'm growing them organically and attempting "companion planting" where you plant them along with beneficial plants that protect them from certain bugs/diseases. These Celebrity and Better Boys tomato plants have been planted with Marigolds and basil seeds, which are just starting to germinate.

In the pot on the left are Morning Glory plants that I started from seed and in the terracotta plant 2nd from the left is the herb pot that I told you wasn't growing as good as the ones inside. It contains parsley, basil and chamomile.

And finally, here's my last tomato plant on hubbies side of the balcony called a "Big Rainbow Tomato." It's a nifty looking orange-red swirled tomato, that I hope will taste yummy, although I've read it's quite mild in flavor, AFTER buying it, of course!

I've got lots of seedlings going and it's keeping me so busy, but I love my garden. I need to post more specifics, but this is a good jump start on what's happening in my world of plants!

Blum Ranch Lilacs

2008-04-13T08:19:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to remember who told us about Blum Ranch originally. I am blanking out on it for some reason! Anyway, whoever it was, and I will remember eventually, brought me the best peaches I had ever tasted. I have never been a peach person, but after my first Blum Ranch peach I was hooked, but they're not just known for their peaches and pears, they're also known for their lilac. I think we missed the majority of the blooms, but we got our flyer about two weeks ago and the period of blooming began on March 27th, and is due to end next weekend.

Blum Ranch is located in Acton, California. I would LOVE to live here. One day I dream of having some acreage of my own. Anyway, I took some photos of the old 100+ year old farm house, orchards, lilacs, some family shots, etc., to share with you. I even found a couple of blooming cactus plants to thrown in too! I hope you enjoy them. Oh and don't forget you can click on the photos to get a bigger view!

Blum Ranch farmhouse in the distance. We will walk down that road to view the lilac fields.

But before we walk down the road, we've got to go inside and check out what they have for sale. We found peach jam, honey, and of course, lilac. Chloe runs to the barn store.

Inside we find lots of lilac in containers, in shades of lavender, white and deep purple.

Now we are ready to head down the long road to the lilac fields. (Did I mention how beautiful the weather was this day?).

The sign leading us on our way to the fields.

And what's this I see? In Southern California, you're pretty much guaranteed to see some sort of cactus at any place you visit.

And look: it's blooming! This cactus will probably be covered with yellow flowers in a week or two.
On the road to the lilac fields, we come up to the old farm house. Isn't is absolutely fantastic. I start dreaming of living here immediately. There's so much farmland not being used any more. Awww...what would I plant??? It's hard work though, but I'm so sick of the city...

Here's the front of the house. I love the steps and the style of the front door. It doesn't seem like they've changed it much, but who knows.

Here's your blog host, (in the very back) and her two daughters, Micaela and Chloe. (Chloe's being silly...as usual).

And here's my husband Bruce in front of an old barn. That's it for our little family!

Chloe loves horses and reads everything about them. We need to get her some lessons. Anyway, she spied these gals a mile away. They seemed a bit shabby when viewed closely. I hope they're just old. Of course, we had to get up closer to them.

The horses were a little bit timid. Maybe just shy because they don't know us. There was a really old white horse in the back. I don't know if I got a shot of the poor thing.

Chloe's pretty thrilled about this! Her and Micaela spent some time looking and petting the horses while Bruce and I went off to explore the lilac fields.

That's Bruce way, way out there in the lilac fields. I had to hurry to catch up with him.

But not before turning to snap this little shot of the girls hanging out with the horses.

A nice snapshot of some of the deep purple lilac. Notice the house in the background on the top of the hill? Must be nice!

The girls running through the lilac fields.

And some lovely white lilac.

The girls head back down the road towards the farmhouse and our car, while Bruce...

...stops yet again, to snap another shot with his beloved i-Phone.

Some pretty lavender lilac along the way.

I'm not sure what the story is here. Both Bruce and I had to take a picture of this pile of rusty cans and glass jars and bottles.

Finally, we all head back to the farmhouse and our car.

But along the way Bruce notices a blooming cactus! Isn't it beautiful?

And finally, we're back to the barn, but that's not our car. Would be nice though! I hope you enjoyed this walking field trip through Blum Ranch. When we go back for peaches in the summer, I'll be sure to take a bunch of pictures then too!

Indoor Plant and Seedling Systems

2008-04-12T09:00:00.000-07:00

I really don't have to worry about this right now, as it has warmed up in Southern California, and it's really unlikely at this point that we'll have anymore frost. Today, for example, it's supposed to get up into the mid-90s. Yikes! I know Donna joins me in that sentiment. It's going to be HOT. Still, I so want to get an indoor plant system going. I really want an outdoor greenhouse, but that's not going to happen any time soon. So with apartment living, it's my balcony, with it's many challenges and indoors. Thankfully, I've got a ton of big windows to work with. Anyway, I thought I'd share some pictures and links with different seed starting, hothouse systems for you to look over with me. These products can be purchased at http://www.planetnatural.com/, who offers "Earth Friendly Products for Home, Lawn and Garden." I've never purchased anything from them before, so this isn't a plug, but if any of you out there have, please let us know how it went.

I love the marketing illustrations on the Heated Germination Station, and it's $33.50. They have heating mats at Orchard (Osh) for $23. I think this is a much better deal because you get the case too! But I like the next one a little bit more as it has a lot more room to grow things, at only about $6 more:
The Hot House by Hydrofarm runs for $39.95 at Planet Natural. Again, GREAT graphics and illustrations here. Makes me want to run, like the running tomatoe head, and get me one of these babies.

Then there is the Pot Maker for $16.95, which is what I was searching for in the first place, and what led me to Planet Natural. The name says it all. It's a perfect way to recycle by making handy little pots using newspaper. Of course, Mr. Brown Thumb has a great article on Homemade Seed Pots that you should check out. You wouldn't even need this handy little device, although I'd love to have one anyway! Here's a great picture of it that I found at the Burpee website.

Here's a seed starting kit for $49.95 that is carried at Planet Natural. It features "Cocoplugs" which apparently make it much easier to start your plants. I've never heard of them before, so I'll have to do some research. Here's a picture of it from Planet Natural:

Okay, so here's some info from Planet Natural that gives a little more information on what these Cocoplugs are:

"Organic Starter Plugs -100% organic. Coconut fiber starter plugs for seeds and cuttings. Ideal medium for certified organic growing applications. Lightweight and easy to handle. Expands instantly! OMRI Listed for use in organic production. Can be used with most seed flats.Unique features:• Netting-free - will not harm delicate roots• Nourishing - no added nutrients needed• Low in sodium for excellent drainage• Lightweight and easy to use• OMRI-listed."

The refills cost $4.50 for a 24 pack and you can get them here at Planet Natural.

Whoa! And check out the HydroHut below. I think it's a little to scientific for me at this point, but it's pretty cool:

I bought some strawberry plants and herbs to plant with my daughter Chloe, but I didn't go all organic, which annoys me, so I think I'm going to try to pick up some organic fertilizers and soil the next time around, along with purchasing organic plants. Okay, enough of this for now. I'm going to research a little more and see what else I can dig up. I'll share my findings afterwards on another blog.

R.I.P: My Sweet Split-Rock

2008-04-07T17:09:00.001-07:00

Yes, it's true: My beloved Split-Rock is no longer with us. I had taken this favorite of mine to work a month ago. I was gone over the long Spring Break, plus two more days because I had the flu, and my other pot of succulents was suffering terribly; withering from a lack of water. I watered both that pot and this one on Wednesday. Everything seemed fine. Even my boss, the principle at the elementary school I work at in Burbank, commented on how well it looked last week. (She loves to come in and poke and touch my plants). Well, I came in today and it was oozing and mushy. I thought maybe letting it dry out would help, but by the end of the day, it was clear he wasn't getting any better. The oozing only got worse. I pulled him out of the dirt and examined the roots, which were perfectly dry and not rotting, but some how I think this poor guy received entirely too much water. (I'm sorry sweet little rock plant). I feel bad, but what could I do? It's part of the learning process and I'm telling you now, take it easy on the watering of these beauties, as the outcome from over watering isn't a pretty sight. (Rest in peace little rock plant. I'll miss you).

FINGER ALOE: Cotyledon orbiculata var oblonga/flanaganii

2008-04-06T13:05:00.000-07:00

I posted about this cool succulent plant earlier, thinking it was from the Senecio genus, but it's not. Usually, when the Cactus Collection mislabels their plants, the genus is correct, but the common name is wrong. I should have thought about this, well I guess I did, or I wouldn't have kept researching it. After researching for what seems like forever, I came across what I believe is the true name and classification for this plant: It is from the Crassulaceae (krass-yoo-LAY-see-ay) family, and is from the Cotyledon (kot-EE-lee-don) genus. It is a "orbiculata (or-bee-kul-AY-tuh) var oblonga," which I believe simply means that is is round and oblong. (Please correct me if I'm wrong). I found a fabulous website that has great articles regarding African plants including paintings and sometimes actual clippings of plants. You need to sign up to see the articles. The site is called "Aluka" and you can reach it at: http://www.aluka.org/. I downloaded a PDF file that included the following image:

Aluka calls this plant a Cotyledon Flanaganii.

I found an article from San Marcos Growers that confirmed that this was from the Cotyledon genus. Here's a picture from their article of this plant, which looks just like both images above.

Frogs, Frogs and more FROGS!

2008-04-04T18:27:00.000-07:00

My Mom LOVES frogs. And when I say she LOVES frogs, I'm not exaggerating one bit. My daughter Micaela took pictures of all her frogs, and boy were there a lot of pictures of frogs. She lost count when she tried counting them all, but we will make a valiant attempt to count them all the next time we visit during the summer. It all started over me buying her one little toad. I know, it's not a frog, but that's what kicked off her HUGE frog addiction. Anyway, I found some GREAT frogs at the 99 Cent store. I was sure to pick up a couple for my Mommy, and a couple for myself, of course. So here they are along with some of my plants I haven't blogged yet (Click on them to enlarge if you like!):

And here's a close-up:

And here's another little friend. Ain't he cute?

And we can't forget this little guy either:

Crassulaceae Echeveria "Blue Bird"

2008-04-04T16:50:00.000-07:00

Gosh, I love this plant! It's so delicate and pretty. I picked it up yesterday. It's common name is "Blue Bird," which really fits it and it is from the Crassulaceae (krass-yoo-LAY-see-ay) family and the Echeveria (ech-eh-VER-ee-a) Genus. I found a super cool website that gives the entire taxonomy on this plant. It's a lot info, so look out! I found the pot at the 99 Cent store today. Whoopee! I drilled a hole in the bottom for drainage and it seems the plant is the perfect match for the pot!

MYSTERY PLANTS: Help!

2008-04-04T16:00:00.001-07:00

Okay fellow succulent-cactus lovers: I need your help! As usual the tags are wrong in my planters, well at least I know one of them is wrong. The one above is supposed to be a Cotyledon Bell Tower, but I can't find a picture on the internet to tell me one way or the other if this is correct. Then there's this little plant that's truly outgrown his pot, so I had to rescue it:

And is this one a Sedum?

MOTHER OF THOUSANDS: Bryophyllum daigremontianum

2008-03-30T16:10:00.000-07:00

Donna, do you remember this little guy? He was a "bonus" when I bought my varigated Bear Paw plant, a tiny little seedling that I was sure to pot with the very same Bear Paw plant. Anyway, at first we thought that he was going to be a baby Bear Paw, because of the jiggy-jaggy edges, but he always seemed to look a little like something else. And where was his fur? I've noticed on my lastest "freebies," i.e. the baby Chocolate Soldiers, that they are fuzzy from conception, so I'm certain this is an entirely different plant all together.

What's interesting, is the plant that I think it's going to be is one that is on my wish list, and one that I'll be able to share with everyone, commonly known as the "Mother of Thousands." What made me think that this was it was something I noticed on the edge of two of the inside leaves; there appears to be something growing on the tips of them, like a little baby plant. This really surprised me, and so knowing that my camera is a great magnifying glass of sorts, I took a ton of pictures until I got the perfect one to show you. Please click the picture above to enlarge and take a good look at the "bump" growing on the middle top leaf. Doesn't it look like a little plant starting to grow? There's one growing on the leaf exactly across from it too! Okay, so I poked around a bit, and here's a picture of the plant, a Bryophyllum daigremontianum, plus a link to the website, in a language I do not understand, but the pictures are worth a thousand words:

Doesn't it look a lot like my plant??? It's really tripping me out! I believe mine is a varigated version also. I will keep my eye on this little baby and keep you posted as to it's growth. Here's a couple more pictures including one of it next to my dirty little varigated Bear Paw that it came with.
Rats, I just read this article, and realize that maybe I should rid myself of this poisonous plant. Darn it, and it's so cool looking. It explains a lot that it landed in another planter and made it's way to my home, sneaky little devil. Is there a way to maintain it without having millions of babies?

SURPRISE!!! New Growths Abound!

2008-03-30T14:03:00.000-07:00

I stumbled upon something today. (I'm glad something good is happening, because I've been sick for days now, and I need something exciting to happen!). Anyway, I was poking around my plants and I found a surprise! Two broken pieces of Chocolate Soldier leaves have been laying in this pot for weeks. I thought I could see some fuzzy new green growth on the edges of them, and sure enough, there were new babies growing on the ends of them! I read how easy these guys, succulents, multiply, but I didn't think I'd be luck enough to experience it myself. Here's some closeups of the little guys, (I hope I didn't mess them up by picking them up to look a them, but who could resist it?):
As you can see from above and below, these leaves were broken up, not even clean cut from the plant. One of the leaves only had half of it remaining, but they are little survivors!
So this, of course, provoked me to do some poking around. I found another shocking surprise! Guinevere has babies! See the little "rosettes" growing along the edge of a leaf that had fallen off? I can't believe it:
So then I looked around and found some more suckers growing. The one on the left is a plant that I haven't listed yet. It has tiny leaves, and little white flowers. I don't have the name right now, but I'll be sure to find out. One of its tiny leaves fell to the dirt and then started a new baby, plus a baby Jelly Bean plant grows next to a shriveled "Momma" leaf. You know how those Jelly Bean plants LOVE to reproduce.
I'll keep poking around my garden and see what else I can find. In the mean time, I pulled off some leaves of some plants I'd really love duplicates of, but of course they'll probably never grow 'cause I want them to!

KIWI: Crassulaceae Aeonium

2008-03-29T11:43:00.000-07:00

Isn't this the most beautiful crassulaceae you've ever seen? I love it! This beauty is called "Kiwi" and comes from the crassulaceae family and is from the aenonium genus. You can read more about it on Dave's Garden website. I picked it up at the California Cactus Center in Pasadena, California. I'm going to have to get some more of these and ship one off to my Mom. She'd really love it! I have had it a little over a month now. It's really gotten yellow over the last week or so, and it's starting to grow more, which is great! I love all the different shades of colors. You can't be sad looking at this beauty!

Look Who's Got WHISKERS!

2008-03-29T11:33:00.003-07:00

My little devil is all grown up from when I wrote about him on March 15th, and it clear we've got a baby cactus here! Isn't he cute? I started growing him on March 2nd, so he's almost a month old. Here's two more little guys, a different kind of cactus with whiskers and I think possibly a conophylum, both of them are the same age as my little devil:

Cuttings From Donna's Garden

2008-03-29T08:11:00.000-07:00

Okay Donna, I'm ready for some more clippings! Check out how good they are doing, especially the Echeveria and the String of Buttons, or whatever it's called, (please correct me Donna). The Echeveria that you gave me is doing better than any that I bought. These sit in my kitchen window sill, which happens to be a happy place for my plants. They really thrive there. To bad it's not bigger!

WOW! Look at the growth on our Staplia:

2008-03-29T08:04:00.001-07:00

I cannot believe how much the new arms have grown on our Staplia plant since I last wrote about it on March 15th! When I came back from my Mom's I was surprised by the changes since only a week since I left. This guy should have three good size arms by the end of the growing season. I wonder if we'll be blessed with a stinky flower too? Remember these are the plants whose flowers attract flys...ewww!

Here's a picture of the growth from two weeks ago:

Mom's New Succulent Garden

2008-03-29T07:22:00.001-07:00

I'm so bad...now I got my Mom into succulents and then she told her Mom, my Nanny, and she wants to start growing them too! We got these when I was up there visiting. They don't have them at too many garden centers, as it gets very C-O-L-D up there, so you'd have to bring them inside during the winter/spring. We picked up 5 of these at Lowes in Carson City, Nevada, and they come from The Cactus Collection too, same as our local Lowes. I brought my Mom the Bear Paw plant for Easter, and then we picked up Elephant Bush, two Echeverias, a Split-Rock, and Blushing Beauty. My Mom bought the green-blue pot on the left with the three plants in it for herself and I, then we found the rest of the pots around her house. I took a picture of her plants with another one of her new gnomes. I really like this one! She wanted to get me one, but they were out of them at Raleys. She was really bummed out.

My Mom and my Nanny are amazing plant growers, always have been. Our house was always filled with lots of plants. I think that's why I love them so much, but I really haven't had too many plants in my house, only one, since having kids. They were enough to take care of when they were little, but now that they are bigger, I'm getting back into them. My Mom gave me some Creeping Charlie/Swedish Ivy plants and these other very common green ones, but the name fails me. I'm pretty sure it begins with a "P." I'll post some pics of them.

I really love collecting glazed pots. I love the tall yellow-blue-green pot that houses my Mom's echeveria above. I am still thinking it would be fun to attempt making some in a pottery class. I stunk at it in high school, but I'd be more interested in it now.

My New Water/pH/Light Gauge (THANKS MOM!)

2008-03-28T08:59:00.000-07:00

My Mom and I went out succulent shopping in her neck-of-the-woods, i.e. Northern Nevada. Needless to say, I didn't find a whole lot of plants there, but they did have some at Lowes, which I'll tell you about later. Anyway, I saw this at Lowe's for only about $8! I wanted it, but my Mom insisted that she had one at home she could give me. She's not into the light/pH gauge part of this, so she said I could have it. She has one like Donna's that tests only the water. I was so excited to take this home! (Click photo above for closeup of the water gauge).

Okay, so I got home yesterday and boy was I tired. (I'm sick; my hubby was sick all week and gave it to me). Anyway, I had to check all my plants, which I did and the crunching sound alone, as I stuck the metal part in the sand told me that my plants were really, really dry. Anyway, the needle didn't move. The only plant that was doing fine was our Staplia plant, that is in a plastic pot! That might be why it's new arms are growing so fast! I spent a really, really long time watering all my plants. That's what I get for buying so many.

Here's a picture of my new water gauge along with some new finds up at my Mom's and a couple of friends who HAD to be in the photo...hee-hee!

So this morning I decided to check my plants with my new water gauge and I was a little disappointed. When I put them in the pots, the gauge said they were dry already! The soil still seemed a little moist to me though! Here's the thing though, when I stuck it into my plants that had plastic pots, they were still showing a bit wet. I'm thinking this may be caused by a couple of things: 1) The plants sucked up the majority of the water as they were extremely over-dry, even wilting quite a bit, and that's what succulents do; their leaves act like little water reservoirs; 2) Terracotta doesn't hold water very well at all, but plastic and glazed pots do; and 3) My water gauge isn't too accurate, meaning I'll have to keep in mind that it only reads true or obvious moisture. Still, I realize that these terracotta pots aren't all they're cracked up to be! I need to move my plants into glazed pots or even plastic pots eventually. Otherwise I will be watering an awful lot during the summer!

BTW...the needle doesn't move a bit when I check out the pH. I'm not sure why, so I'll have to test it out!

Mom's Gnome: SIR FREDERICK

2008-03-24T08:27:00.000-07:00

Mom's gnome, Sir Frederick! My mom has the gnome bug! She's got a couple others besides this one. She picked this one up at Raley's, which is grocery story chain up here in Northern Nevada. Isn't he spunky and cute?! My Mom's got all sorts of garden creatures. Maybe when we come up in the summer, I'll do a blog on all them! There just starting to get things going on their garden at this point!

Mom's Green House!!

2008-03-24T08:16:00.000-07:00

My Mom has one of those cool plastic zip-up green houses! I was so suprised when she showed it to me, because Donna and I were talking about these things. She has her tomatoe plants in it now. They're expecting snow later this week, so I'm wondering how they're going to hold up, as there's no heating in it. Perhaps the sun during the day will steam it up a bit and keep it warm? If you'd like to take a closer look at the green house, just click on the photo.

On Vacation!

2008-03-23T07:58:00.001-07:00

Hey! I'm on vacation and I wanted to write about stuff that had nothing to do with plants, so I started a new blog: Kelly's Not So Glamorous Life. Check it out, if you get the chance!

EEEK!!! SPIDER MITES!

2008-03-16T12:35:00.000-07:00

Man, I'm so annoyed! I watered my plants last night and guess what I found running all over the top of one of them? Little, white, tiny, fast moving mites. I found this pic of one that most resembles my little beasts on the website I have linked to "mites" above. I rinsed my plant and am now in the process of trying to figure out what to do with this small problem, at this point anyway. I did read where someone said you should rinse or wash your plants regularly, recommending dish soap mixed with water for ridding yourself of spider mites. I wish I would have saved the link to that site. I can't find it now, but I'll go through my history and see if I can find it. Anyway, I'm pretty sure it's mites. I also have some of those pesty flies, but I always seem to have that problem. I pulled off all dead foliage and cleaned the plant up a bit. We'll see how it goes. For now, there aren't too many and the only damage I've seen is sort of dried out parts on the plant, sort of rust colored.

NEW GROWTH!! On Our Asclepiadaceae Stapelia Hirsuta

2008-03-15T15:24:00.000-07:00

Here's my hubbies Stapelia! (That sounds sort of nasty, doesn't it?) He picked it out when we went to the California Cactus Center a month or so ago. Anyway, I should give you all the details, but I'm so short on time any more, so I'll just give you it's scientific name: Asclepiadaceae (ass-kle-pee-ad-AY-see-ay) Stapelia (sta-PEL-ee-uh) Hirsuta (her-SOO-tuh), and if you want more info you can visit Dave's Garden, to find out more about it. (Why reinvent the wheel?) Do you see the three arms growing from the side of the arm? I'm so excited! Click on the pic above for a great closeup of the new baby arms, that I noticed just the other day. Here's a pic of the whole plant:

And What About The Conophytum?

2008-03-15T15:11:00.000-07:00

So far, I've only got two conophytum that have come up, which is sort of a bummer since I only bought 20 seeds. I think I used them all. I can't remember right now, but still, they only cost two bucks, so I could always get more. Who knows what breeds I've got here. The two biggest on the left hand side and top look very different. I think the one on left looks very different from everything I'm growing. The tiny seedling on the right still has it's seed shell on it's head, so it's hard to know what we've got there. It just recently germinated, so maybe in a couple weeks we'll have a new picture with some real changes!

The Other Two Pots of Lithop Seedlings

2008-03-15T15:01:00.000-07:00

I have two round pots of lithops that I'm growing too. Let me see if I can give you a count of how many are growing: Okay, there's 9 in one pot, and about 14 in the other pot. Here's my concerns about these guys: Quite a few are laying on their sides. I'm not sure why this is happening, but it is. I have this urge to push them down into the soil, but I'm going to leave it alone and let nature takes it's course. Fingers crossed, I'll be providing you with some pictures within the next one or two weeks, depending on if there is much change. I've read that this is where it gets real boring, as they take a really long time to grow.

Three Strangers

2008-03-15T14:55:00.001-07:00

The title says it all: Three Strangers. These three come from the "mystery" mix too. There's a cool red plant in the upper right hand corner, and then a green plant, that looks sort of like a lithop or maybe a conophylum, and then I think I've got another little devil popping up just above to the left of the green plant. Not sure yet what I have here, but in a week or two I'll post new pics...if they survive that is!

Oh and by the way, I included a sewing pin and penny, to give you some perspective on their size, plus you can click on it to enlarge the photo.

My Little Devil!

2008-03-15T14:44:00.000-07:00

Here's my little Devil! That's what he/she looks like anyway! This is the only thing that came up in this post of the secret, bonus mix that he sent me. It can be anything from a cactus to a succulent, and I'm betting this is going to be a cactus, from what I've seen around the internet. This is an okay picture of it, which you can click to enlarge. Again, I've included a penny and a sewing pin to show the size of the little seedling. This one is quite hardy compared to my lithops, and it's much bigger than them too.

Here's another pic that is sort of nice, maybe a little clearer:

Let's See What's in the Square Pot!

2008-03-15T14:11:00.001-07:00

Okay, so here's a close up of what's in the square pot that was planted on March 4th. (Be sure to click on it to get a real good close up). Okay, so those are teeny-tiny Lithops. To give you an idea of how teeny-tiny they are, I put a sewing pin that's next to the top two lithops, and a penny. They are smaller than the head of a pin! This is why I had to wait so long to take photos; my camera simply couldn't pick up the little guys.

Here's a picture of all of them:

I forgot to mention another thing I did differently with these than the other six: I put the sand through a strainer so that the sand wasn't as chunky. Another recommendation I decided to follow with the second set. There are about 11 lithops growing in this container. Not too bad of a germination ratio. I think I put in a little over 10 Lithop seeds.

How's My Project Going?

2008-03-15T13:49:00.000-07:00

My project is going pretty good, for the most part. I received my packets including a bonus packet of 20 cactus and succulent seeds. That was really cool! I love bonuses. When they said the seeds were tiny, they weren't kidding. They are extremely small. I'll have to get pics to share with you, but just think of a tiny piece of sand, and that'll give you an idea of their size. Really, really small. After planting the seeds, (basically laying them on top of the moist soil and tapping them lightly) I misted the top of them and put them into the Aquarium, creating a sort of greenhouse. (I really want a greenhouse now, and have been reading up on them).

Oh, and I guess I should tell you what I planted, right? In the first two pots, I planted Lithops. In the second row of two I planted Conophylum (which aren't doing so great), and in the last row, I planted the mix, which is revealing some really cool specimens.

Then the waiting game began...tick-tock-tick-tock-tick-tock. I planted the first 6 on March 2nd, and the last one using Lithop seeds in the square container on March 4th. I did this to test out the "actual" instructions that came with my seeds. That is to simply plant them in a pot filled with moistened soil and cover with plastic wrap. Both methods were successful, however I think the aquarium method worked the best, so after about three days, I removed the plastic wrap from the square pot and put it in with the other six. I was getting some transparent, spindly ones. They seem much happier!

So it's been 11 and 13 days respectively for all my plants and in the next post I'll post some great pictures of them.

My Latest Project...

2008-02-25T21:29:00.000-08:00

Okay, so my old project, propagating succulent plants from leaves, blew away, literally. Yes, Donna and I experienced a great deal of wind about a week or two ago and I came home to find my leaves and their corresponding pots all over the balcony, and dirt everywhere. I got over it and I'm trying simpler methods, but the other day I picked up some Aizoceace Split-Rocks, Lithops and Conophytum plants at Lowe's and one thing led to another...

So, I got this idea, (which always gets me in trouble), to try to grow Lithops. Why? I don't know, I'm just drawn to do it, and probably because in researching the plants, I came across a few people who were growing them from seed, so I had to try it! I borrowed a tank from Donna, and I'm going to create a greenhouse for the seedlings. I'm so excited, like a mad scientist! I just ordered seeds from eBay, from a company called "The Cactus Seed." (Those are his pics up above). I'm getting a 100 "mixed" Lithop seeds in the bottom pic, and 20 Conophytum, which are those in the top pic.

I should have my seeds within 3 days, I hope. They're coming from Illinois. Hey, I wonder if the California Cactus Center sells seeds???? I emailed them once before, but they never responded, but perhaps I should try calling them or emailing them again? (What do you think Donna)? BTW...I was there this weekend, (The California Cactus Center), and it was great! It's an awesome store, with tons of exotic cacti and succulents, pots of all kinds, great soil, rock cover, etc. It started to rain, which was really interesting. I had a lot of fun that day! They have Sophia, the one-eyed cat, who sits in a box next to the register. She's so sweet. Anyway, I'll keep you posted on how the project goes!

Where Have I Been???

2008-02-25T20:06:00.000-08:00

Have you missed me? Where have I been? Poor Jack's sweet face above, a picture taken as he's crying to me for attention, (be sure to click on it for a close up) clearly expresses my sorrow in not being able to write on my blog! It's killing me not being able to spend time talking about things I love and sharing with you the latest succulents I've added to my garden.

I told you in the beginning, that I am back in college, College of the Canyons to be exact. I'm taking two classes, Anthropology 101 and British Literature 1. The British Lit. class is killing me. The work is unbelievable, on top of the fact that I found out it's an 8 week course, not a 16 week course. I'm freaking out! My professors syllabus is ridiculous and I'm working with her to try and make it more reasonable. It really should be a 16 week course, as I thought it was in the first place.

Okay, so I had some fun picking a poem for my latest homework in the class today. We're into 17th century literature at this point, and I picked Andrew Marvell's lusty, "To His Coy Mistress." Ooh-La-La! I think I have a thing for lusty "carpe diem," i.e., "seize the day" poems. I have to share this one with you, which has crazy metaphors in an attempt to persuade his "Coy Mistress" to hurry up and go to bed with him already:

To His Coy Mistress
by Andrew Marvell (1621-1678)

HAD we but world enough, and time,
This coyness, Lady, were no crime
We would sit down and think which way
To walk and pass our long love's day.
Thou by the Indian Ganges' side 5
Shouldst rubies find: I by the tide
Of Humber would complain. I would
Love you ten years before the Flood,
And you should, if you please, refuse
Till the conversion of the Jews. 10
My vegetable love should grow
Vaster than empires, and more slow;
An hundred years should go to praise
Thine eyes and on thy forehead gaze;
Two hundred to adore each breast, 15
But thirty thousand to the rest;
An age at least to every part,
And the last age should show your heart.
For, Lady, you deserve this state,
Nor would I love at lower rate. 20
But at my back I always hear
Time's wingèd chariot hurrying near;
And yonder all before us lie
Deserts of vast eternity.
Thy beauty shall no more be found, 25
Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound
My echoing song: then worms shall try
That long preserved virginity,
And your quaint honour turn to dust,
And into ashes all my lust: 30
The grave 's a fine and private place,
But none, I think, do there embrace.
Now therefore, while the youthful hue
Sits on thy skin like morning dew,
And while thy willing soul transpires 35
At every pore with instant fires,
Now let us sport us while we may,
And now, like amorous birds of prey,
Rather at once our time devour
Than languish in his slow-chapt power. 40
Let us roll all our strength and all
Our sweetness up into one ball,
And tear our pleasures with rough strife
Thorough the iron gates of life:
Thus, though we cannot make our sun 45
Stand still, yet we will make him run.

What did you think of his references to her decaying body in her tomb? What a nut! I think if I were this lady, I would have been cracking up! I'm not sure yet whether I would have given in or not. He seems like he might be a lot fun though...hee-hee! Like I sad, "What a nut!"

On to succulents:

So I've added some more plants to my garden. I've got a bunch to blog about, but no time. I have to get all their scientific information together. I will be starting with my "rock-like" plants first and then working my way back. I've a ton to catch up on. Above is my growing "indoor" succulent garden, and below is the plants I will blog on tomorrow, if everything goes right!

Weekend Adventures in Succulent Gardening

2008-02-18T08:00:00.001-08:00

I decided to bring some of my succulent plants indoors. I keep reading about what ideal indoor plants they are, and I live on the third floor and have lots of big floor-to-floor windows with loads of bright light! I think the lighting might even be better in this room, and my bedroom then on my balcony! My cats may be the only problem. See, this is their hangout, their abode. I didn't take over Stella's comfy pillow seat by the window, where she bird watches, sleeps and relaxes. Both her and Jack were quite content sniffing the plants by their perch. I'm hoping they'll get along marvelously. Let's hope!

(P.S. As I wrote this, Jack jumped up and knocked over my tall planter....thanks Jack. Lava rocks everywhere. Thank goodness for my new dust-buster)!

That's Miss "Queen-Bee," or should I say, "Queen Cat" Stella relaxing next to the plants. (Click on the photo to see Stella and my plants close up). By the way, I think they've actually perked up a bit! Seriously! I was worried about the three in the largest pot. They weren't really doing much, but with daylight all day long, they already seem to be leaning and lifting up towards the light. Yeah!

That's a new plant in the tall slender pot, which I picked up at a place that I found totally by accident on my way to La Crescenta. I believe the place was called "La Cresenta Nursery." They've got so many plants, but not quite as many succulents as I would have liked, however, the nusery went on forever. It was like a botanical garden! They have a great variety of pots. The terracotta pots are very reasonably priced. (That neat slender one I got for $2.49). They have great statues for your garden too. I really want a native Indian statue! They're really expensive though.

My real intent on heading to La Crescenta was to visit this great 99 cent store. It has a ton of great things for a buck! I picked up some whirly-gigs (picture below), and some rocks. I wanted to try and disguise my cool, plump Split-Rock I got from Donna. It's still pretty green, so it doesn't disguise so easily, but it looks pretty cool, don't you think?

Here's my new whirly-gig amongst my husband's gorgeous Aloe Vera. I got two, but one doesn't twirl. Oh well, it looks nice and it only cost a buck!

That's about it for my adventures. I need to blog some more of my plants. I think I'm up to 45 species at this point. That's crazy!!!!! Only thousands more to go! (Hee-hee)

SPLIT ROCK: Aizoaceae Pleiospilos Nelii

2008-02-16T08:38:00.000-08:00

I just got back from hiking. I'm pooped out, so this is a good time to Blog more of my succulent plants. Last weekend, I picked up three super-cool looking succulent plants. They have several names, but the most common are Split Rock and Living Rock. These are quite young compared to the cute, chubby one I got from my buddy Donna...

This one's nice and plump! They are quite hardy from what I read, but you've got to be careful with over-watering, which is something I need to learn! I read that if you over-water them, they split. Yikes! I guess they usually heal okay, but they don't look so hot. Anyway, I really love these plants. They have such a cool, unique look to them. I need to get some regular colored stones to put around the plants, so they really show how well they can camouflauge themselves! They also have purple Living Rocks that are neato too! I want them also!

Okay, here's the scientific info on them:

Family: Aizoaceae (ay-zoh-AY-see-ay)
Genus: Pleiospilos (plee-oh-SPIL-os) meaning many spots.
Species: Nelii (NEL-ee-eye) named for Gert Cornelius Nel, early 20th century botanist.
Common Name: Split Rock, Living Rock, Mimicry
Min Temp: to 32 degrees F
Bloom: Orange/Bright Yellow - Varies when it blooms.
USDA Zone: Zone 9
Exposure: Filtered sun to bright light
Height: 6 inches tall
Origin: South Africa

PURPLE & CREAM SCALLOPS: Kalanchoe (Bryophyllum) Fedtschenkoi (One Variegata)

2008-02-16T07:43:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!

I'm trying to get over the fact that my Baby Toes are experiencing rot. I've no idea if I can save them and I'm a tad bit devastated, as you know how much I love my Baby Toes. Anyway, I'll write about that later, but let me focus on a couple of my many succulents!

(Oh, and just to let you know, my first photo on all my Blog posts can be enlarged by clicking it, offering you great closeups of the plants!)

I planted these together. They're both Kalanchoes only one is varigated and one is not. I was inspired by their coloring and what I'm currently reading in British Literature called, "Morte D'Arthur" by Sir Thomas Malory. Therefore, they are rightly named "Lancelot and Guinevere." The color suits them. Lancelot is the beautiful forest green and deep purple kalanchoe, while Guinevere is the lovely varigated version, with the pretty cream, pink and light green leaves. I planted them together. What a sad tale; I'm sure they would have like to have remained together.

I'm not definite about their common names. From what I've gathered they're referred to simply as "Purple Scallops" and "Cream Scallops." I've also heard them called, "Lavendar Scallops." I guess it all depends on the intensity of their coloring.

One more important point, before I go on to the scientific stuff; they are poisonous to animals. I think it mostly affects grazing animals, but keep an eye on your dogs and cats.

Now on to the scientific facts!

Family: Crassulaceae (krass-yoo-LAY-see-ay)
Genus: Kalanchoe (kal-un-KOH-ee)
Species: fedtschenkoi (fed-tscheng-koh-eye) named for Alexei Fedtschenko a Russian botanist and plant collector from the 19th century, and bryophyllum (bry-oh-FIL-um) From Dave's Garden, "Greek bryo (sprout) and phyllon (leaf), referring to the ability to propagate via leaf cuttings."
Common Name: Purple Scallops, Lavender Scallops, Cream Scallops, Rosey Dawn
Min Temp: to 36 degrees F
Bloom: Pink - Can bloom all year - Fall to Spring
USDA Zone: Zone 9-10
Exposure: Part Light
Height: 12 - 18 inches tall
Origin: The Montaine (cloud) forest area of Madagascar.

I found an awesome article that includes some super cool pictures (see below) of new babies growing from the edges of the leaf! You've got to check it out here:

http://www.echeveria.freeserve.co.uk/leslies_succulents21a.htm

Pilosocereus Azureus

2008-02-15T18:48:00.001-08:00

Oh my goodness! I missed posting here so much! I'm going to start off with a beautiful blue-green cactus I bought for my beautiful daughter Chloe! She spotted one of these during our last adventures at the California Cactus Center, and was totally surprised by it's beautiful blue coloring! I found these at our local OSH. They finally had a new shipment, and this was one of 5 that they had. I picked the bluest one I could find. I don't know if it means anything, but I had to get Chloe the bluest one...(OCD...OCD! Work's been stressful this week, hee-hee)!

Let's get straight to the technical stuff...
Family: Cactaceae (kak-TAY-see-ay)
Genus: Pilosocereus (pil-oh-so-KER-ee-us) meaning that it has a hairy, waxy taper.
Species: Pachycladus (pak-ee-KLAD-us) meaning thick-branched.
Common Name: Baby Toes
Min Temp: to 40 degrees F
Coloring: Beautiful blue-green
Bloom: White
USDA Zone: Zone 10
Exposure: Bright light/Sun - Mid-Summer
Height: 6 feet and up!
Origin: Brazil

Info from The Cactus Collection:

Pilosocereus azureus, native to Brazil in semi-tropical areas, forms arborescent specimens to 20' in height. Beautiful blue stems with golden spines along ribs. White nocturnal flowers that are pollinated by bats and sphinx moths. Beautiful specimen for landscape or patio in temperate areas. Requires porous cactus soil with adequate drainage. Bright light to full sun with ample airflow. Water thoroughly when soil is dry to the touch. Protect from frost.

Love is in the air...

2008-02-09T10:05:00.000-08:00

Love is in the air at the Kingman household. My early Valentine's gift, 'cause I had to have it and my hubby loves me, so there you go! Sir Bruce Kingman offers a token of his love and affection, a sweet heart pendulum to his fair bride Lady Kelly Kingman. Awww...isn't it sweet? Hee-hee. (Uh-oh Donna. The slap-silly side is coming on early this fine morning)! I picked them or rather "us" up at the local Armstrong Nursery.

And here's what I found at Home Depot at an awesome price:

And the price was right! Only $1.79 a plant! I found two Bear Paws, one of which is varigated! Yeah! The other I have, but this one is much more robust! My daughter Chloe just has to have her own plant. She picked the lovely fuschia/green plant in the upper left hand corner. And Micaela picked the one just to the right of it. I think it's called a Window Pane, or something like that. I'll have to look them all up and give you all the names! I'll edit this post later.

BABY TOES: Ficoidaceae-Aizoaceae Fenestraria Rhopalophylla

2008-02-08T21:14:00.000-08:00

I'm up entirely too early this lovely Saturday morning, but I couldn't sleep. I have so much on my mind. I will be visiting some nurseries today, and I can't wait, plus I've been so caught up with my school work, that I haven't really had time to post any more articles on my nearly 30 specimens of succulents! It's been driving me bonkers! I got my school work done after 8:00 last night and now I'm kicking off my weekend of posts with my absolute favorite of all succulents:

The sweet and adorable Baby Toes!

This plant is bizarre and fanciful to behold. I loved it so much I had to have two of them, and picked one up for my friend Donna yesterday; a little beat up, but still salvageable! (By the way, I'm going through this plant rescuing thing, picking up prospective beauties and attempting to revive them at home). Okay, I've got to stop side tracking here. Anyway, the story goes that only the top portion of the plant leaf sticks out from the sand. It has this marvelous looking convex, bulging, somewhat translucent window at its tip that adjusts itself by becoming more or less translucent depending on the weather conditions. It does all this for optimum photosynthesis and protection from the harshness of the sun. This is why they say that if your Baby Toes aren't getting enough sun, the translucent window will spread further open and can change the look of your plant!

Let's get to the scientific stuff:

Family: Ficoidaceae (fy-koy-DAY-see-ay) meaning "fig-like"
Genus:Fenestraria (fen-es-TRAY-ree-uh) meaning window in Latin and rhopalophylla
Species: rhopalophylla
Common Name: Baby Toes
Min Temp: to 32 degrees F
Bloom: A variety of colors such as yellow, purple and white like a daisy! - Varies
USDA Zone: Zone 9
Exposure: Bright light/Partial Shade
Height: Under 6 inches
Origin: Cape Province, South Africa and South West Africa

Here's what The Cactus Collection has to say about it:

"Fenestraria or "Baby Toes" are very unusual plants from the deserts of South Africa. These plants belong to large family of Aizoaceae (synonymous with Mesembryanthemaceae), which includes plants known as "Mimicry" plants for their ability to camouflage with their environment. "Baby Toes" have finger-like leaves in upright clusters. Each "finger" has a translucent "window" at the tip, and it is through this window that the harsh African sunlight if filtered to enable photosynthesis. In habitat, often only these "windows" are visible above the quartz sand. Prefers a soil with less organic material; extra pumice or perlite provides excellent drainage essential to these type of plants. Requires bright light to prevent "stretching" of the leaves. Water thoroughly when soil is dry to the touch. Will not tolerate water-logged soils. Somewhat frost tolerant, but protection is advisable to prevent scarring."

As you can see from above, they list a different family name for Baby Toes. I listed the family that I found in one of the books I checked out from the library, ficoidaceae, but they list it as Aizoaceae, which means "evergreen."

Below is a beautiful bloom on my Baby Toes! It looks just like a pretty daisy!

And here is where my Baby Toes lives, protected by Sir Patrick Corridan, my fabulous garden gnome.

Side note: I sure wish the spell check was working...

ZEBRA PLANT: Lilaceae Haworthia Fasciata

2008-02-06T17:34:00.000-08:00

I really miss blogging! I miss my plants, and I miss sharing with you. A couple of times this week I stopped to get myself a little something to cheer me up. I picked up three new babies at Lowe's on Tuesday, and the Jelly Bean plant I told you about on Monday, but I was good today and came straight home.

Anyway, here's one of my latest. It is a Zebra plant from the Liliaceae family. A new family for me! It reminds me more of a lizard than a Zebra plant, so I catch myself calling it that name all the time. It has bumpy white stripes on it! It's really strange to feel! I really love it. It is very reptile like!

Okay, so here are the scientific facts on this plant:

Family: Liliaceae (lil-ee-AY-see-ay) and Asphodelaceae (as-foh-del-AY-see-ay) Both having to due with the fact that they are from the lily family.
Genus: Hawthoria (hay-WOR-thee-uh) Named for Adrian Hardy Haworth, 19th century British botanist
Species: Fasciata (fash-ee-AY-tuh) meaning it is bound together (It is a tight plant)!
Common Name: Zebra Plant (But I think it should be Lizard or Reptile plant)!
Min Temp: to 32 degrees F
Bloom: White/Off-White - Mid-Spring
USDA Zone: Zone 10
Exposure: Filtered Sun/Full Sun
Height: 6 inches tall
Origin: South Africa

And per The Cactus Collection:

"Haworthia fasciata, native to South Africa, is an upright, slender rosette with tapering incurved dark green leaves covered with silvery white raised "pearls" that connect to form bands that give the impression of "zebra stripes". Beautiful, heirloom favorite that makes an excellent house plant or windowsill plant. Haworthias are winter growers and are dormant in the hottest summer months. Require very porous soil with excellent drainage as many forms have thickened tap roots. Prefer filtered, bright light. Those species with red veining or chocolate faces will exhibit superior color in bright light. All forms that are green, especially included the variegated forms, will prefer filtered light. Water thoroughly when soil is dry to the touch. Protect from frost. "

By the way, I found two families for this plant, which are shown above, both referring to it's connection with the lily family.

JELLY BEAN - STONECROP: Crassulaceae Sedum Rubrotinctum

2008-02-04T20:28:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I had a rotten day today. I hate living in the apartment I've lived in for way too many years, they raised my rent a 100 bucks effective March 1st, and on top of it all, the hot water was out this weekend. I appeased myself with many entries on this Blogger and the planting of many plants. I couldn't bring myself to express my problems while in the midst of it all.

Anyway, on the ride home from work I picked myself up a little something to make me feel better; a Stonecrop, of the Crassulaeceae family. This is a real fun plant to look at!

Here are some of the scientific details:

Family: Crassulaceae (krass-yoo-LAY-see-ay)
Genus: Sedum (SEE-dum) meaning to sit or sedentary
Species: rubrotinctum (roo-broh-TINK-tum) meaning red dyed from the sun and pachyphyllum (pak-ee-FIL-um) meaning it has thick/fat leaves
Common Name: Stonecrop - Pork and Beans - Jelly Bean Plant
Min Temp: to 25 degrees F
Bloom: A variety of colors- Late Summer to Early Winter
USDA Zone: Zone 9-10
Exposure: Part Shade to Full Sun
Height: 6-8 inches tall
Origin: Mexico

Here are some details from The Cactus Collection:

"Easy to grow group of succulents with diverse form and color. Closely related to Echeverias. Some are like brightly colored jelly beans; others are tiny mat-forming ground covers. Most are cold tolerant, some very cold hardy. Water thoroughly when soil is dry to the touch. Require bright light."

This plant has two species attached to it, so I listed them both. I also read that they have a variety of flower colors, which I can't swear to, as I'm finding there are a lot of descrepancies out there. I'll adjust this as I find out more information.

Written: 2/4/08

WATCH CHAIN: Crassula muscosa

2008-02-03T16:34:00.000-08:00

This nifty plant is called "Watch Chain," that I purchased recently. I picked it up at the California Cactus Center in Pasadena, California. I really don't have a whole lot to say about it right now, so I'll just get to the details!

Family: Crassulaceae (krass-yoo-LAY-see-ay)
Genus: Crassula (KRASS-oo-la)
Species: Muscosa (muss-KOH-suh) - meaning mossy and lycopodioides (ly-kop-oh-dee-OY-dees), which I read comes from the word lycopodium a genus of clubmosses, also known as ground pines.
Common Name: Watch Chain
Min Temp: to 32 degrees
Bloom: Bright YellowWhite/Near White - Late Summer to Early Winter
USDA Zone: Zone 10
Exposure: Bright Light
Origin: South Africa

A note on the species: I came across two different species, as you see above, but I think they both work. Can you have two species? I have no idea, but here you go anyway!

Here is what The Cactus Collection had to say about it:

"Crassula lycopodioides, native to Africa, forms spreading clusters of slender stems with densely stacked tiny leaves. Leaves are pointed, light green in color and arranged along the stems like scales. Known as the "Watch Chain". In habitat, Crassulas usually grow in rocky quartz fields.. Bright, filtered light and ample airflow. Water thoroughly when soil is dry to the touch. Water with caution in winter, as the plant can lose its roots if the soil stays cold and wet for extended periods. Protect from frost to prevent scarring."

MORGAN'S BEAUTY: Crassula falcata

2008-02-03T16:20:00.000-08:00

Now for some more of my plants: Here's is Morgan's Beauty. I picked it up at the California Cactus Center in Pasadena, California. It's a real beauty. It's flowers are still going strong even after having it for at least a couple of weeks.

Here are some of the details:

Family: Crassulaceae (krass-yoo-LAY-see-ay)
Genus: Crassula (KRASS-oo-la)
Species: Falcata (fal-KAY-tuh) - meaning sickle-shaped
Common Name: Morgan's Beauty
Min Temp: to 32 degrees F
Bloom: Pink blooms - Late Winter/Early Spring/Mid Winter
USDA Zone: Zone 10
Exposure: Bright Light

That's all I have on it for now!

Kelly's Succulent Plant Propagation Project

2008-02-03T15:59:00.000-08:00

In an earlier post I talked about how I was going to attempt to create new succulent plants from succulent leaf cuttings. Yesterday, I worked on my project. I cut from several plants. In the picture above, working from right to left, top to bottom are the leaves from my Green Goddess, Baby Toes, Snowflake, Flippin' Flapjacks, Finger Jade, Chocolate Soldier and Anacampseros. I'm letting them dry for three days before going on to the next step, which is placing them in their pots, (see picture below), which is all ready to go; the pots are filled with soil and labeled with a clothing pin!

I can't remember if you stick the plant in the soil or just lay it on it. I think I've seen it done both ways, but I'll research it a bit and maybe try both methods. And in case you're interested, I mixed my cactus/succulent potting soil with some perlite. I used three parts potting soil to one part perlite.

Anywho...Stay tuned for more updates on this exciting project! Hee-hee!

RAINBOW BUSH: Portulacaria afra 'folis varigata'

2008-02-03T10:33:00.000-08:00

I was confused about this plant that I picked up and potted yesterday. I mean they had two at OSH (Orchards Nursery), and they looked the same, but one was called "Elephant Bush" and the other was this one called "Rainbow Bush." And guess what? I couldn't find a difference between them! I went home and did some "online" digging around and realized that this is the same as the Elephant Bush except it is a variegated version of it.

(Definition from answers.com: Varigated - Having streaks, marks, or patches of a different color or colors; varicolored.

I'm not sure which is the original Elephant Bush, but one has shiny green leaves as seen in this photo from http://www.desert-tropicals.com/:

...and then my Rainbow Bush, a.k.a. Elephant Bush has the light green stripe going down the middle, and the lovely "blush" magenta shade on the edge of the leaves and stalks.

It was named Elephant Bush simply because it provides elephants with needed nutrients and water. Elephants simply pull the leaves from the plant for sustenance. Doesn't that make these Elephant/Rainbow plants even more lovely?

Here's the not so lovely, but necessary scientific info from my favorite vendor and website, The Cactus Collection:

Family: Portulacaceae
Genus: Portulacaria (por-tew-luh-KAR-ee-uh)
Species: afra (AF-ruh) meaning a female from Africa
Variety: variegata
Common Name: "Rainbow Bush" - Variegated Elephant Bush

Min. Temp to: 36°F
Bloom:

Origin: South Africa

USDA Zone ZONE: 10
Exposure: Bright Light/Sun

Here's their write up on it too!

"Portulacaria afra variegata (Rainbow Bush) is a form of the South African "Elephant Bush". Beautiful shrubby plant with mahogany-colored stems that are accented by highly succulent yellow leaves with green midstripes. The habit of this plant differs from the upright stance of the "Elephant Bush" in that it is somewhat cascading and spreads quickly laterally, rather than vertically. Often used as a bonsai subject as the the stems are easily trained, and the contrast of the gnarly mahogany stems with the delicate round colorful leaves creates an Oriental ambience. Great as hanging basket in atrium or patio, or as a gracefully cascading bonsai. Porous soil with adequate drainage. Bright light. Water thoroughly when soil is dry to the touch. Protect from frost. "

Oh, and by the way, they call my Rainbow Bush an Elephant Bush too.

MORE ON BEAR PAWS: A.K.A. "Kitten Paws"

2008-02-03T09:08:00.000-08:00

I was surfing last night, while "enjoying" my neighbor's fabulous music, and I stumbled across a really great photograph of the Bear Paw plant that my friend Donna and I picked up yesterday! (She found two at Lowe's)! Anyway, this came from a website called: Daylily Hill, which I will add to my links on the lower-left of this page. Please check out their article on Bear Paws:

http://www.daylilyhill.com/subsublevel.php?id=411&lid=12

It's a great website! Lots of information on plants. I've included the link to this page, so please stop on over and check out what they have to say about what they call "Kitten Paws!" I guess it sort of looks like kitten paws, but if I had to choose one over the other, I would definitely lean towards calling them "bear" paws. I'm super impressed with the dark brown tips! I'm really hoping mine grows up to look just like this! It's pretty short and stubby. You know, I think I know why some plants have less leaves that are spread out and some are short and closely clustered like the one above; I think it's what I read about how when succulents do not receive enough light, they sort of spread out to draw in as much as they can. It makes sense that a plant receiving the perfect amount of sunlight and nutrients would be much more lush, robust and healthy, while others have to work harder to get what they need. I'm hoping for what I see above.

I stumbled upon the following government website:

http://www.usbg.gov/plant-collections/conservation/Cotyledon-tomentosa-subspecies-ladismithiensis.cfm.

Apparently, our beloved Bear Paw scientifically called "Cotyledon tomentosa ssp. ladismithiensis" is on the "rare and endangered plant" list. I need to check and see if any of the others that Donna and I are collecting are on it too!

The photo above belongs to the government conservation website mentioned above. It tells us that our Bear Paw does indeed flower. I can't make out the color of the flowers from this photo, but I read on one website that they come out as bronze/brown, and I know I read some where that the flowers weren't very showy. They bloom during mid-Fall.

Then I started digging around and I found the following picture of a Bear Paw succulent:

Okay, so does this look anything like my plant??? Not really! You can see the somewhat similar shape, but the color is competely different. It does, however, give a good example of the bronze colored flowers though. I did read that the color of the plant leaves can be blue-green, but my plants leans more towards looking like the government photo in the middle rather than this one which I found here:

http://www.desert-tropicals.com/Plants/Crassulaceae/Cotyledon_tomentosa.html.

What do you think?

BEAR PAW: Cotyledon tomentosa

2008-02-02T13:18:00.000-08:00

I found it!!!! I'm so excited. I found the succulent plant called "Bear Paw" and it looks just like a little bear paw; plump, soft and furry, and complete with pointy "nails." I looked all over for a second one for my friend across the street, but couldn't find one. I was so bummed. I found it at Armstrong Nursery in Glendale, CA. Here's their info:

Armstrong Garden Center
5816 San Fernando Road
Glendale, CA 91202
(818) 243-4227

http://www.armstronggarden.com/

Ironically, I had no plans of buying anything from them, as their prices are real high, but there is no way I could have passed on him. Oh, and he wasn't labeled real well either. The label info was smeared. I couldn't make it out too well, but the store clerk was sounding out the word "cotyledon" and I exuberantly exclaimed, "That's it! It's a Bear Paw!" I had thought other plants were like it confusing a Kalanchoe for it, but it really is one-of-a-kind, and the plump curved leaves really set it apart.

Okay, well now for some of the official information. I gathered this from The Cactus Center webpage.

Family: Crassulaceae (krass-yoo-LAY-see-ay)
Genus: Cotyledon (kot-EE-lee-don)
Species: tomentosa (toh-men-TOH-suh) meaning covered in fine, matted hairs.
Common Name: Bear Paw
Min. Temp to: 32°F
Origin: Cape Province (South Africa)

USDA Zone: 10
Exposure: Bright Light

I'm not sure if it blooms or not. It didn't say one way or the other on the website. I'll research it and update this post if it does bloom.

Here's a little write up on it:

"Cotyledon tomentosa, native to Africa, has large chunky ovate fuzzy green leaves with prominent "teeth" at tips that give the impression of bear's paws. Large orange bell-shaped flower in spring. Porous soil with adequate drainage. Bright light and ample airflow. Water thoroughly when soil is dry to the touch. Protect from frost."

SUCCULENT PLANT PROPAGATION: Leaf Cuttings & Such

2008-02-02T07:09:00.000-08:00

I am very interested in starting plants from leaf cuttings. It blows my mind that it's so easy. But first, let me tell you a little bit about how I became aware of this process. As I told you in other posts, my friend Donna got me turned on to succulent plants. I love her little succulent garden; I love the amazing varieties of the plants and their beautiful architectural forms. Okay, but how the heck was I going to get started? I mean, like most Americans out there, especially here in expensive California, I'm broke, so a couple of bucks for a plant and a couple more for a pot is a lot of money to me! Sad, but true.

Anyway, I looked into cuttings, and learned you can simply cut off a piece from a succulent plant, let it callous for a couple of days, and stick it in the dirt to plant it! Cool! But it got even better, and I think even more exciting: You can take a leaf from a succulent plant, (and other plants for that matter), let it callous over for a couple of days, and then simply lay it on top of the soil and a new plant forms at it's base. What th'?!? It's crazy, but true. When Donna and I talked about it more, she looked around in some of her pots and found leaves that had fallen of the plant itself, and a new plant began at it's base. We were blown away and thrilled. It's a great way to reproduce hard to find plants and, from what I've read, it's a lot easier than trying to grow the plants from seeds, (although I want to try that sometime too)! I've got a great link for plant seeds gathered from Africa...I'll give you that link later!

The picture above showing a new plant starting from the base of a leaf is from the following link:

http://www.desert-tropicals.com/Articles/Leaf_cuttings/index.html

I found some great links with step-by-step instructions on doing this yourself. Here's one of the better ones:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Propagating-Succulent-Leaf-Cuttings/

(By the way, this is a great little website. I might have to do some tutorials myself)!

Anyway, I am going to set up a spot on my balcony to start some plants using leaf cuttings. I'm very excited about this and will keep you posted as to how the process is going! I can't wait for a few of my brand new plants, from my brand new hobby to really get going, so I can start some plants from them!

Oh and by the way...I just got an African Violet plant that's just gorgeous. (I'm trying to get started on indoor houseplants again, since I gave up on them while having little kids running around). I found this photo at http://grow.ars-informatica.ca/grow_topic.php?subject=cut5 showing that you can start African Violets the same way....

I know that this should be obvious, but I'm just so stinkin' overwhelmed with the excitement of my new succulent garden, that I guess the obvious fails me at the moment!

PLUSH PLANT: Echeveria Harmsii

2008-02-01T16:33:00.000-08:00

And here's the last plant that I got today. It's commonly called a "Plush Plant." It's so pretty. Actually, my friend Donna gave me a cutting from her Plush Plant, so this would make three. I lucked out and this came with two plants growing in the pot! I'm trying to decide whether or not I should go pick up a bag of perlite to make the soil a little bit better for my plants. I bought a bag of soil specifically for cactus and succulents, but it doesn't look all that much different from regular planting soil! It still has some pieces of wood in it and there isn't that much perlite. My friend Donna had the same problem; her soil was from a different maker, but it looked much like regular potting soil too! Go figure.

Anyway, here's the details on my plant:

Family: Crassulaceae
Genus: Echeveria (ech-eh-VER-ee-a)
Species Variety: Harmsii
Common Name: Plush Plant

Exposure: Bright Light/Sun
Height: To 12" Tall
Bloom: Winter/Summer
Hardy to: 32 Degrees
Water: When dry

Here is a description of my plant:

"Shrubby Echeveria. Native habitat Mexico. Called the "plush plant" because of soft, fuzzy leaves that are covered with silvery hairs. Requires bright light. Leaves blush beautiful rose in cold weather or in drought. Humming birds love bell-shaped orange flowers. Water thoroughly when soil is dry. Protect from frost."

By the way, this plant is related to my Green Goddess, which is a hybrid of this plant, and that I bought at the same time as this. I didn't know this until I got home and did this Blog. Pretty neat!

FINGER JADE: Crassulaceae Ovata Gollum

2008-02-01T16:11:00.000-08:00

Okay, so here is the next succulent plant I purchased, commonly called a "Finger Jade." I like it because it's unusual. In fact, that's what makes collecting succulents so much fun; they're so unusual, almost alien like, plus the fact their inexpensive to buy! I can't believe how many breeds there are! Anyway, here's the details I have on it:

Family: Crassulaceae (krass-yoo-LAY-see-ay)
Genus: Crassula (KRASS-oo-la)
Species: Ovata (oh-VAY-tuh) meaning egg-shaped, (doesn't look like an egg to me, maybe the tip)?
Common Name: Finger Jade, Money Tree, Dollar Plant & Jade Tree
Exposure: Bright Light/Sun
Height: To 4 feet Plus Tall!
Bloom: Fall/Winter
Hardy to: 32 degrees
Water: When Dry

And here are some more details on this plant: "A monstrose form of Jade. This cultivar has fascinating tubular green leaves fluted at the tips and blushed beautifully with rose red in cold or drought. Excellent for windowsills patios and landscapes as well. Use porous soil, and water thoroughly when soil is dry to the touch. Protect from frost.

Check this plant out as a full-grown tree:

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/4282/

GREEN GODDESS: Echeveria hybrid 'haageana'

2008-02-01T15:31:00.001-08:00

I got some new succulents to add to my collection. Here's the first of them, commonly called a "Green Goddess." A beautiful, soft, fuzzy plant that reminds me of a tarantula when you look at it up close. I had to have it. Here's some of the details on it:

Family: Crassulaceae

Genus: Echeveria

Species Variety: Hybrid 'haageana'

Common Name: Green Goddess

Exposure: Bright Light

Height: Rosette

Bloom: Winter/Summer

Hardy to: 32 degrees

Water: When Dry

Here's what it says on the back: "Echeveria 'Haageana', considered to be a hybrid of Echeveria harmsii, forms frosty green rosettes that cluster quickly. Bell-shaped orange flowers loved by hummingbirds. Requires excellent drainage. Bright light for best appearnce. Water thorough when soil is dry to the touch. Protect from frost."

I really love it! Now I just have to find my Bear Paw succulent...the succulent addiction continues!

Winter Break and My Discovery of Succulents

2008-01-20T15:23:00.000-08:00

This is my first post on Blogger. I am bored right now. I know that I should be really enjoying my new found boredom, as I'll be starting two classes soon: Anthropology 101 and British Literature I at College of the Canyons, February 5th, but do you think I can stand still for a second? Not really. My mind craves entertainment.

Anyway, my friend Donna turned me on to succulent gardening. We both live on the same street and have difficult gardening situations. After seeing her success with succulents, I decided to give them a shot. They're so beautiful and there are thousands of varieties, so it's easy to get hooked on collecting them.

I created this Blogger to talk about my succulents, and other silly projects I'm working on, like my yo-yo runner. I must be really bored.